I had one other thought on Vibram Five Fingers that I realized I forgot to include in yesterday’s post. Now, I don’t have any personal experience in this area, but it seems to me that they would be the perfect thing to wear for a triathlon. You could wear the same pair of “shoes” for all 3 events, with no need to change in between. Obviously, you would have to train qute a bit in them to be proficient in all 3 sports wearing VFF’s, but I think it could work out pretty well, and save you some transition time.
If I ever do a triathlon – and I think that I probably will – I’m pretty sure this is what I would do!
What do you think? Crazy idea, or pure genious? Has anyone tried this?
Unless swimming is the final event, wouldn’t you be risking some serious blisters by running or biking in wet shoes? Having never done a triathlon I’m not sure in what order things are done, but I do know wet + stuff on feet = potential problems…
Could be true, though in my experience so far, they dry out pretty quickly. I do think that the swim is typically the FIRST event though.
I’d say that they would be good for two legs (running and biking)…I’d hate to have one slip off or something while swimming. But they don’t really hold on to water too much, so I wouldn’t worry too much about blisters…
Good thought. You should totally do a Tri! I’ll try one again in the future, since my first attempt wasn’t successful…
One thing I thought about was biking. I think most *serious* triathletes don’t use standard pedals on their bikes. I think most of them wear the special clip-in style ones for better performance. I honestly have no idea. That’s just what I remember hearing.
I actually did think of that, but I guess since I’m not a “serious” biker, it doesn’t make that big of a difference to me. But you’re probably right, for those that are really serious about it, that would probably be a deal breaker.
Haven’t done a tri yet, but I have swam several times competitively in open water (1, 3, and 5.5 miles.) It’s amazing how much small differences make and I would not want to wear the vibrams for the swim as they would slow me down. (And that’s after a fish bit me on mile 1 of a 5.5 ocean swim!) Salt water + open wound = less than fun.
Aside from that, I don’t believe in any of my races that any covering was allowed. Might get you DQ’ed if they were ruled as flippers.
For the running / biking… who knows?
Ahhh, hadn’t even thought about them being considered flippers or anything like that. I guess it’s something I’d have to look into before I just assumed that they would be allowed.
INTERESTING!!
as a nonbiker Ive nada to add but as a swimmer I think theyd be perfect…
You’ve really made me think about getting these shoes. Before reading your first post about them I was shut off, not interested in looking at them thinking they were just a fad. After seeing you tried them and liked them I’ve given them more thought. I have a 15 mile trail run in April. I do my first 1/2 marathon in January. I may buy a pair following my 1/2 marathon to use for my trail run (if I like them).
I’m not sure about the triathlon either. If they do dry quickly then I agree with you, they would be totally awesome. 🙂
As they say, the swim is to warm up, the bike is to dry off from the swim and the run is where the race is at. Even the smallest tri’s are usually 20km bikes so drying time is good.
I like that you just casually wrote that you will probably do one, like it’s going for a walk or getting the mail. That’s how far you’ve come, right there.
Too awesome!
I’ve been thinking about it for a little while now (actually, pretty much since you wrote about it). It’s definitely in the plans, although there’s even fewer of those up here than there are marathons, so it will have to take some careful planning. At this point I want to focus on running my first marathon next summer, so a triathlon may have to wait until the next year.
You’d want clipless pedals and shoes with cleats for the biking section, ding dong.
I guess I was thinking more for people like myself who aren’t super serious bikers, and not necessarily competing, but just more into it for ourselves. I realize that for those who are really into biking and want to perform their best, doing it in Vibrams is probably not the best option.
Ran an offroad event with some swimming involved in these. I hated the wet feet.
But, I am not as bit a fan of VFF’s as everyone else seems to be. Must be something wrong w/ me.
Eh, there’s nothing wrong with you Joe. To each their own 🙂
My thoughts on VFFs as tri shoes:
1. Unless I was disallowed, I would never do open water swim WITHOUT something on my feet.
2. You can ride in what you train in. Not everybody clips in.
3. They’ll dry off some on the ride, and unless you’re running really far, wet VFFs do not bother me.
Then again, I always run in my VFFs or barefoot, and I always ride my bike barefoot. So maybe I’m notthe best person to answer. 🙂
Thanks for the comment Deb, it’s good to hear someone chime in who has as much experience with VFFs as you. I agree totally that you can ride what you train in, and I guess that was one of my main points that maybe I didn’t push hard enough – if you train like this, and are used to it, I think it would be very doable.
I also haven’t had any trouble running in wet VFFs, as they don’t stay that way long.
You get more power output if you where cycling shoes clipped in your bike. Now, I didn’t wear them for my first triathlon, but I was amazed how I seemed to be passed by everyone, and I wondered if it was due to the better bike, better fitness by others, or the cycling shoes. (“its got to be the shoes”, says Spike Lee)
Some triathlon’s allow water socks. The question is are VFF considered Water Socks?
The other part, I wonder is the safety of using VFF while riding at 15 to 20 MPH. What happens when you wipe-out?
As for the swimming part, the VFFs dry out super quickly and running in them wet is actually super fun and no blisters (I experienced this during mud run).
As for cycling, it’s a bit different depending on what kind of pedals you have. Most people do clipless pedals because your feet become one with the bike, and I think there’s a purpose to that.
Personally, when I DO do my tri, I’m going to only wear VFFs for the run portion. Swim bare, transition bike bare, and clip-in shoes for bike, then hop out to VFF.
Then again, I could also try to run bare. I need to get on that one.
Hope you’re seriously enjoying them gorilla feet 🙂
I am training for my first tri and had the exact same thought two months ago when I commenced training. After consulting the race coordinators and getting the green light, I purchased a pair of black KSOs. Running in Vibrams has cut minutes off my time. When riding I use a cage for the all important pedal pull and conservation of energy. I am unsure about whether during the swim I experience drag, or whether it is just perceived. Has any one else swam competitively with their Vibrams? At any rate, I think the time saved during transitions is bound to outweigh the slight increase in swim effort.