Vibram FiveFingers Alert
One of my coworkers has become a FiveFingers convert. He used to run but knee and gait issues caused him to stop. FiveFingers, he realized, allowed him to run again. He is in training for a triathlon this fall. His runs are short - two to three miles.
FiveFingers are all the rage. Many runners are buying them. Non-runners read Born to Run and decide to by a pair of Vibram FiveFingers (VFFs). Many do not understand the basic tenets of barefoot running and become injured. Others preserve and love the unique footwear.
This sudden surge in popularity has led to a host of fake FiveFinger being sold on the Internet. The only surefire way to protect yourself from fakes is to be informed.
Vibram's Warning
Vibram has the image (shown here) on their VibramFiveFingers.com website homepage. It opens an alert to inform readers about issues with fake FiveFingers. In part, it says, “We want to inform you about our efforts to fight the sale of counterfeit merchandise, a serious menace that has recently surfaced after the success of our authentically unique Vibram FiveFingers. Fake merchandise and trademarks appear daily in the market, often sold from unauthorized or fraudulent Vibram or FiveFingers websites.
Please refer to this website to:
◦ Find the list of authorized Vibram FiveFingers retailers and distributors:
◦ Verify our phone number, address, and contact information; many counterfeit sites won’t provide this information.
◦ Verify the stock list of colors and styles we produce.”
Vibram Protecting its Copyright
I love this ad that Vibram uses to enforce their brand.
If you have questions or concerns about suspicious websites, on-line discounted sales, or counterfeits of Vibram designs please contact Vibram at www.vibramfivefingers.com/info/contact
A great website to bookmark as a favorite is http://www.BirthdayShoes.com. This huge website does a fantastic job of informing readers of what’s new with VFFs. Their website says,
“ALERT! As many as half of the search results on Google for [Vibram Five Fingers] are fake five fingers retailers and MANY fake five fingers retailers are utilizing Google Ads to hock their counterfeit wares!
“All authentic Vibram Five Fingers are going to have the Vibram yellow octagon stamp on their sole. Additionally, any “Vibram” branding should be yellow (and not white or blue or some other color).
The site adds, “The BirthdayShoes Store lists out many (but not all) online retailers of Vibram Five Fingers. Realize that in the United States retailers are only allowed to sell Vibram Five Fingers online if they have a brick and mortar store. Ever wondered why VFFs weren’t on Zappos? It’s because of this policy. To my knowledge, there are no brick and mortar stores that exclusively sell Vibram Five Fingers! By extension, there should be no online retailers who only sell Vibram Five Fingers and no other products - except for VibramFiveFingers.com, of course!
“If you’re on a website that is selling Vibram Five Fingers to U.S. buyers, look for a physical address. If the site indicates it will be shipping you the product from some place around the world, raise an eyebrow! If said online retailer appears to be only selling Five Fingers (and no other products), this is a red flag!
“Many of these fakes are making it onto eBay. Reality is that no legitimate retailer of VFFs is allowed to sell Five Fingers on eBay! So apart from one-off eBayers trying to unload a single pair here and there, be very suspicious of eBayer resellers who are selling VFFs!”
BirthdayShoes.com even maintains a list of known fake Five Fingers retailers - and the list keeps growing.
Fixing Your Feet Goes to the TransRockies
In two weeks I will take Fixing Your Feet to Colorado for the 2010 Gore-Tex TransRockies Run.
The TransRockies is a six-day stage race where teams of two tackle different sections of trail each day. August 22 to 27 is the official race. Before the race is registration and the typical “get to know you” meetings. The current start list shows 118 teams. Runners will start in Buena Vista and end in Beaver Creek, about 115 miles.
In addition, the TransRockies Run3 will take place the first three days of the longer race. This shorter race is limited to 50 solo runners.
I will be assisting on the medical team - working on feet. If you will be there, make sure you come up and introduce yourself.
With over 250 runners for six days, I hope they come with some of their own foot care materials. I will pack my usual supply of tapes but it is hard to anticipate the quantity I need for that many runners over six days.
If you have a chance, check out their website: http://www.transrockies.com.
What’s Next in Footwear?
When I started running in the early 80’s, there were the usual “brand” name shoes. I remember buying my first pair, New Balance, and that they cost $45.00. Since then, I have owned many pairs of shoes. Some for road and many for trails.
In all that time, there have been only one or two pair that were bad choices. They simply weren’t right. The rest have served me well.
Now, shoes have become more complex. There are many more to choose from. Companies are coming out of the woodwork to get a piece of the running shoe market. They all have their acronyms and fancy names for the features their shoes offer. Some of this makes we wonder how different are some of these features? Many shoes seem to be so similar. Every company wants us to believe that their shoes are perfect for our feet.
Now the tide has turned.
Shoe companies have designed footwear that takes us back to our roots. Born to Run has inflicted athletes with a desire to run natural. In bare feet or something as minimal as possible.
So now one of the big sellers is Vibram’s FiveFingers. With their individual toes, many runners are trying them. People are finding FiveFingers help them walk and run in spite of old injuries that, with “normal” shoes, they could not do.
Are these the next footwear design?
So, what’s next in footwear?
I found this photo and thought it was great. Maybe this is where we are going. Vibram will offer a new design in their FiveFingers line. You’ll be able to but the shoes in a variety of skin colors, with or without toenails, or with a few black toenails. Maybe even a fake blister painted on.
Would buy a pair. Just for fun?
As a disclaimer, I wish I knew the source of the photo so I could credit it. Sorry.
The Pesky Little Toe Triangle
Quite some time ago I wrote about the “Little Toe Triangle.” Working recently at Badwater, I was reminded again about this little appendage. A runner had completed the grueling 135-mile Badwater race through Death Valley and had come into the medical room for foot care.
He really had pretty good feet. With on exception - his little toe on his right foot. A callus on the bottom of the toe had evolved into a substantial blister that had ruptured. The skin was movable from the bottom of the blister all along the inside of the toe to near the top, where the blister ended. There was no quick fix. The image here is not this runner’s toe, but very similar.
Removing the skin was not an option. I pulled the skin into place, added a dab of antibiotic ointment, and wrapped it with Coban self-adhering wrap.
Unfortunately, this runner was planning on running a 100-mile race this weekend. He and I talked about his options and I gave suggestion on how to manage the skin. I would doubt his ability to finish a 100 miler with this severely blistered pinky toe.
The number of problems with these little appendages has impressed me. “What problems?” you might ask. It’s all about that little triangle of skin where most problems occur.
If you look at your little toes, your toes may be well rounded and soft. Or they may have the often-typical triangle look where the skin on the bottom of the triangle is hard and callused. The skin on the bottom of the toe forms the point of the triangle. The problem is that on many of our little toes, this bottom point is hard and callused skin. The hard skin is prone to blisters forming underneath as pressure creates friction. Often this hardened skin is partially under the skin of the next toe, another pressure area. The outside of the foot, the little toe area, is often more wet and damp than the inside of the shoes, leading to macerated skin. Once softened, this skin can easily blister underneath, or worse yet, the skin can separate, leading to major skin problems.
One of the best ways to tame the callus on the bottom of the little toe is the Heel Smoother Pro. I reviewed this great tool last November. It comes with two tips. The smaller one is shaped like a little Christmas tree. The curved sides are perfect for toes. This is the best callus tool I have ever seen.
The little toe is so small that it is hard to patch well. The use of Micropore or Kinesio tape is a good choice. Even better, in my opinion, is reducing the hard callused skin. Injinji toe socks can also be helpful. Good shoes are vital too. Shoes with a good toebox that allows the toes room to wiggle are good. Once the skin has blistered, 2nd Skin is good to use as a patch. Cut it to fit the blister. Too much and it becomes bulky and rubs on the neighboring toe.
During a race or hike, be watchful of your little toes. This small but potentially troublesome triangle of skin deserves special care.
Don’t Do This to Your Feet!
This was a good week. Badwater in Death Valley always is. Fit runners, great crews, fantastic scenery through the harsh reality of Death Valley - and for me, lots of feet needing care.
For the most part, things were pretty normal. Blisters and more blisters. A great case of severe capillaritis (heat rash) on one runner’s ankles. Ugly toenails. Stinky feet. And more. Lots to like for someone who does foot care.
At the closing ceremony, I noticed Monica, a runner from Brazil, was favoring her right heel. I had met her several years earlier at a previous Badwater when I patched her feet at the 40-mile mark. This year, she finished her 2nd Badwater and that was important. However, she had not come in for help.
She should have.
After the awards ceremony, Denise Jones came and told me I had to see this blister. She talked as if it was really a great find. Denise, as the Badwater Blister Queen, has seen everything and it takes quite a bit to faze her. This blister did. And yes, it was good.
What started as a small blister, one that could have been treated to prevent it from getting bigger, was now an enormous blood blister. The image shows you the size.
An enormous blood blister
There were several issues we had to consider. First and foremost, Monica is a diabetic. This makes foot care a huge issue because any foot infection suddenly becomes a huge health issue. Secondly, the size of this blister, filled with blood, would make it difficult to patch. As always, blood-filled blisters must be managed with care.
We debated the issues and gave Monica advice on how to take care of the blister for her trip home. We advised frequent soaks in warm/hot water with Epson salts and sticking to sandals or other open heel footwear.
What I want to emphasize here is that this never should have reached the size it was and worse yet, filled with blood. For those wondering, a blood blister is bad because, once opened or torn, it can introduce infection into the circularity system if not kept clean.
I wish Monica had taken care of this earlier. She may have never mentioned it to her crew. At any rate, what could have been easily treated now became a huge issue.
It’s a good lesson on not allowing small problems to become large problems. In other words, “Don’t do this to your feet.”
See You at Badwater?
Sunday I will arrive at Furnace Creek in Death Valley for the Badwater Ultramarathon. For those unfamiliar with Death Valley, it is a beautiful place. And, contrary to most people’s imagination, it is not flat.
My role is to serve on the medical team and assit the 80+ runners as they start in three waves Monday morning: 6:00, 8:00 and 10:00 AM. The route is 135 miles through the National park and into Lone Pine, before starting the long road up to the Whitney Portal. This is a very extreme event and all runners and crews have my support. They are allowed 60 hours to finish.
Here is the link to view the webcast: http://www.badwater.com/2010web/index.php
And the link for Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/adventurecorps
Catch the webcast if you can. Maybe you’ll see me. I expect to patch quite a few feet and many of my best patching jobs and the worst feet I have seen, have been at Badwater.
When I return, I will share what happened and what I learned about feet. I wish all the runners and crews a good and safe experience.
To tide you over until my next post, here’s a photo that I shot at Western States two weeks ago. The runner came in for a bit of foot care and his, yes, his, toenails surprised me. I complemented him on his colors.
Foot Care - What Were You Thinking?
Continuing our story of working on feet at Western States 100 last weekend, I have to share this story. Tonya and I were working side by side as runners came over for our help. She was a quick learner and asked a lot of questions - which was good. Twice, she seemed perplexed, as I was also.
The first time was with a runner who had stubbed her toe, which lifted the big toenail off the nail bed. There was blood under the nail. We noticed more than blood. There was also a large build-up of residue from toenail fungus. I drained the blood blister but could do little to reduce the angle of the nail. It stuck up quite a bit. Putting pressure on the nail to try and get it to lay flatter didn’t work. It hurt her too much. There was too much nail fungus build-up under the nail. That is common with nail fungus. I ended up running a strip of Kinesio-Tex tape from the top of the toe over the tip and underneath. Then a wrapped a length of tape around the toe to help hold the nail down. I talked to the runner about her toenail fungus while I worked. She was aware of the fungus, but hadn’t done anything about it.
The second case was a runner who came in with macerated feet. We cleaned his feet and looked them up and down for anything to patch. Tonya pointed out a bunch of opened skin between his toes. Not a couple of tiny tears, but a lot of open skin around several toes. The skin was soft and wet, and had torn open. It looked pretty painful. It was Athlete’s foot. As I worked on his feet we talked to the runner. He worked in a running store. The advice I gave him was to get out of shoes during the day and let his feet air. And to start taking a proactive approach to medications to rid his feet of Athlete’s foot.
Both cases were interesting in that they knew that had a pre-existing problem condition with their feet. And both had chosen to do nothing, Ignore the problem. Maybe it will go away on its own.
The problem was that these two runners had entered this 100 mile run, and paid a large amount of money for gear, travel, crew and pacers, and spend a lot of time training - without thinking about their pre-existing foot condition. Toenail fungus in the first case and Athlete’s foot in the second.
Each condition was not run ending on a normal day. However this is a 100-mile run. The trail was wet and full of rocks, roots, sand and dirt, and in a race where things “happen.”
A stubbed toe led to a raised big toenail that now pressed even more on a toebox. It must have hurt - especially on the downhills. The Athlete’s foot led to easily opened and torn skin between the runner’s toes. The wet conditions had made it worse. That open and raw skin must have hurt too.
I hope the runners finished. I did not write down their numbers so couldn’t find out.
As I worked on their feet, I talked to each and told them they needed to take care of their conditions. I really wanted to say, “What were you thinking?” Truth be told, I wanted to yell it at them, “What were you thinking?”
Both runners had made choices that jeopardized their finishing. When you invest all that money and energy into a race, why not make sure the two feet that are responsible for getting you there are in the best shape possible.
Foot Care at Western States
Yesterday I work medical at the mid-point Michigan Bluff aid station at the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. We had a team of about 12 people: doctors, RNs, LVNs, a chiropractor, a physical therapist, and paramedic. What happens when I work medical is that I spend my whole time working on feet. Of course, that’s what is expected of me. If there was a major medical that stretched the “pure’ medical folks, I would step over to that side of the aid station. So, what happened?
Runners kept us busy the whole day - from about 3:00 pm until we closed at 9:00 pm. We did not keep count. I had a good time because of Tonya, a physical therapist, who wanted to learn foot care. She was a quick learner.
In short, the day can be summed up with three words: maceration and toes. The snow in the high country had created a wet day for runner’s feet. Snowmelt ran down the trail and made for slushy conditions. Runners’ footwear ranged from regular trail shoes to lightweight minimalist shoes like the New Balance MT100s and Inov-8 models. I didn’t see anyone running in Five Fingers. Virtually everyone had wet shoes. And that, of course, led to macerated feet.
Michigan Bluff medical aid station
I set up with a pop-up and tarp and two reclining chaise lounge chairs. Tonya and I often worked side by side. She watched me for the first batch of runners and then, after a while, she took on feet alone. Her skills were good. Importantly, she asked questions.
How should blisters be lanced and when and why? What’s the best way to tape toes? How about heels? How about between toes? Wow, what’s that? What can we do for those toenails? How can you drain fluid from under a toenail? How can we modify footwear? What are the best supplies? What tools do you use?
Over the coming weeks I will address these questions.
Problems with Mesh in Running Shoes
Filed under: Foot Care, Foot Care Products, Footwear Products
Footwear made with mesh is lightweight and many trail shoes use it liberally. Your shoes may be lighter and cooler, but the mesh allows junk to get inside the shoe. It then can increase friction.
Whether or not you wear gaiters, if you are running trails a lot, try to use shoes that don’t have too much mesh. The mesh allows trail dust, grit, sand and other debris to get inside your shoes where it gets under your insoles, into your socks, and onto your feet. This “trail junk,” along with the movement of your feet inside the shoes, can tear up the shoes’ inner material, causing even more irritations to your feet.
To a certain extent, gaiters can help control what gets in your shoes. Typically, gaiters cover the top of the shoes and a bit up the leg. While this helps control debris and grit from entering at the top of the shoes, they often don’t help in controlling it from entering in other areas. When you have a lot of mesh over the toes and instep, you’ll find these mesh areas allow fine grit inside your shoes.
Racing the Planet's 4 Desert Gaiter
I know some runners who will apply duct tape over the mesh. Others will make gaiters that attach to the soles of your shoes. One pair of gaiters made for this are the 4 Desert Gaiters from Racing the Planet are made from nylon and spandex and are ankle high. Their uniqueness is the design, which attaches to the shoe’s sole to provide sand protection. They suggest having a cobbler sew the Velcro onto the sole for strength. Make sure the stitching can’t be felt inside the shoe - www.racingtheplanet.com.
If you use lubricant on your feet, make sure you clean your feet when changing socks and reapply another coating of lube.
You may like lightweight mesh running shoes. I do too. But it helps to recognize one of the potential problems with mesh and deal with it. Next weekend I will be at Western States 100, patching feet at Michigan Bluff. I know I will see lots of runners without gaiters - and many will suffer because of skipping this simple choice.
Disclosure: I have no financial interest in Racing the Planet. It is just a good product.
Fake Vibram FiveFingers!
The Vibram FiveFingers are so popular they I guess it had to happen. Fake ones are being sold. Here is an email I received from BarefootRunningShoes.org.
“If you were considering buying Vibram FiveFinger shoes and haven’t yet done so we just wanted to let you know that quite a few copycat/counterfeit FiveFinger shoe manufacturer’s have popped up selling their own versions of the popular line of barefoot shoes. While these fake versions might be cheaper often they are not made with the same materials and hence the quality is not as good (meaning they’ll probably fall apart soon after you purchase and use them). The other risk when buying these FakeFinger shoes is that you might end up giving your credit card information to less upstanding citizens.”
Here’s the link to learn more about their recent blog post about Fake Vibram FiveFinger Shoes. On the site, I read the following, “Not only are other companies copying their trademarked style, but many of these companies (which happen to be Chinese in origin) are just outright pretending to be the Vibram! They are making their own fake versions; putting Vibram’s logos on them, using the same shoe names, and flooding the market with their Vibram FakeFinger shoes.” They even list 25 websites where the fakes are sold.
If you decide to buy a pair of shoes online, shop carefully.
BarefootRunningShoes.org offers regular emails on a variety of minimalist shoes including reviews, how to make modifications, tops, and more. Check them out.
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Circulation