Vibram Bikila - Product Review

Originally posted on www.runluaurun.com on May 8th, 2010

Yesterday I picked up a pair of the new Vibram Bikila. They weren't supposed to be in the stores until this morning, but when I called to find out what time they thought they would be coming in, I was told they had just received a small shipment. They had received one pair in my size. I asked the salesperson to hold on to them and that I'd be there in 10 minutes.

I was there in 5.

The moment I slipped them onto my feet, I knew this was going to be my new favorite shoe. I have run in Vibram Sprints, KSO's and Treks. All were great for running in, but these Bikilas fit nice and snug. They feel fast. I jogged lightly from one end of the store to the other, "testing" them out. I really didn't need to...I just wanted to show them off. Now that they were on my feet, I didn't care if someone else with my foot size showed up. I mentioned to the salesperson that I was happy that I had called because I knew had I waited until this morning, I would have been told that they had just sold the one pair they had in my size. These shoes are selling like hotcakes. On Thursday, CitySports put about 150 pair up online. They were gone in 20 minutes.

I brought them home and showed them to my family. They were unimpressed, and quite honestly, I guess I could understand. I never was into the Air Jordan craze. I never understood the hysteria. Now I do. I've been itching for a pair of Bikila since I first heard about them. The fact that I could play with but not purchase them at the Boston Marathon Expo killed me.

Anyway, after dinner I went for my first run in them.

Over the course of my 3 mile run, I took them over a variety of terrain, including road, sidewalk, grass and brush. The Bikila performed perfectly in all conditions. The only place I might hesitate taking them is on truly off road terrain, but quite honestly, I wouldn't be surprised it they handled that decently as well. During my run I was able to feel the ground beneath as well as I could in my Sprints, but still get some traction like I do in my Treks. One of the reasons why I had switched to Treks in my long runs had been the fact that after 5 - 6 miles in my Sprints I would often feel the bottoms of my feet heating up a bit. That doesn't happen in my Treks (at least not in runs 26.2 miles or shorter) and based on the feel of the Bikila, I don't anticipate that happening with them either.

As I mentioned earlier, these Vibrams feel fast when you put them on. These truly feel like a second skin to me, unlike my previous Vibrams that in comparison, feel like loose fitting gloves. The tread on the Bikila is like a cross between the KSO's/Sprints and the Treks. Thick enough to feel like you've got some traction and protection, but light enough to feel the road completely. As I went out for my run, I told myself to go slow. My legs are still recovering from my 2 Marathons in 2 Weeks Adventure and I had originally planned on waiting until Monday to start running again. Of course, with the Bikila in hand, I wasn't about to NOT run. So I went out with the intention of running a slow 3 miler.

These shoes don't want to go slowly. Your feet just want to go in them and mine did. After starting off with an 8+ minute mile, I covered the last 2 miles in 15 minutes, without any realization that I was running that fast. Had you asked me to guess my pacing, I would have told you I ran 8 minute miles the whole way. For those of you who are not runners, but have made it this far in my review, a 30 second difference per mile is NOT insignificant. It is huge.

When I arrived home, I didn't do my usual routine of ripping off my shoes immediately after the run. I had to leave them on. HAD to. That's because not only do they feel fast, and not only do they have the perfect balance of tread on the soles, they are comfortable. I mean cozy! The feet feel great in them. If I wasn't moderately self-conscious, I would wear then 24/7 - from dropping off the kids at school, to going to the grocery store, taking the kids to their various activities - I would wear them everywhere - and then I'd run in them. Unfortunately, I am a little shy when it comes to wearing them for anything but running, but that's a Luau problem, not a Bikila problem.

I feel bad for my other Vibrams. I haven't worn the Sprints since last fall, and the KSO have only been pulled out a couple times over the last few month. I thought I had found my perfect Vibram in my Treks. They are a great running shoe, especially during the cold winter months up here in the Northeast, but they too are about to be relegated to being a back-up player. The Bikila's have taken the best from each of the previous models and improved upon them. These shoes were obviously made with the runner in me in mind. The Bikila are truly the runner's Vibram Five Finger shoe. I am sure you will feel the same.

My new favorite running shoe - The Vibram Bikila!

The Manchester Marathon 2009

I started running a year ago. Four months ago I decided to run a marathon with the hopes of qualifying for Boston. I was training to run Bay State in Lowell, MA with the hopes of running a 3:20:59 or better to BQ. Injury interrupted my training over the last 6 weeks and I was forced to stop running for four weeks, pass up Bay State and run the more challenging Manchester Marathon instead two weeks later. My last long run (19 miles) was 6 weeks before Manchester and I started running again 12 day before the race, never running more than 7 miles in those last days.

The hills were killer...felt like they went for miles at times...though they didn't really start getting to me until about 15. The thing I think what really killed me though was that I didn't hydrate enough (both before and during) and the pacer I was following went out at a blistering 6:30 pace...he was the 3:25:00 pacer...I'm thinking I'll follow this guy for 18 miles and then crush it at the end...instead he raced out and mentally I was screwed.
"Dude, you think 6:30 might be a little fast?"
"Huh...yeah, I guess I better slow down." Ya think? I tried slowing down, but I kept worrying about slowing down too much. Lesson? Don't follow the pacer...you know what's too fast or too slow. You've been training for weeks. If you can keep your adrenaline in check, you'll know. ***and just in case I can't, I'm bringing my iPhone with Runkeeper running to tell me my pace every 1/4 mile!!!***

All that said though, by mile 3 my head was back in it and I was cruising, feeling great. I wasn't thinking about my depleted stores of glycerin, nor was I thinking about sticking to my original game plan. The pacer had taken me out fast and dammit, I was gonna try and keep a decent pace!

Hydrating was tough. I kept getting water up my nose...I learned three days too late the art of the crushed cup. When I hit the half at 1:35, I was pumped, but going over the bridge to the western part of town I hit a huge, HUGE headwind and hill. Knocked my pace down 70 seconds or so. Got back on track on the next mile, but I think the damage had been done...I started thinking about the fact that I was doing this all over again...it didn't help that at 13.1, most of the people I had been running with peeled off to finish their half marathon...we went from a group of 8-12 to 3...that was disheartening...suddenly it was lonely...which is weird because I run alone usually. I'll very happily run 14 -18 miles alone early on a Sunday morning, either enjoying the peace and quiet or plugged into some pounding music. Truth is, after 13.1 miles with complete strangers, battling the same hills, a bond is formed. I wanted my unit to run with me...instead I was very quickly a unit of one. ...14 was a killer and then 16 hit me like a ton of bricks...I trudged along to 20 at a miserable 9:00 pace not realizing that the wall that hit me at 16 was nothing compared to the pain that was waiting for me at 20.

I kept thinking, "just make it to 20 and then drop the hammer. It's only a 10K at that point. Shoot! It's only 2 5K's. What's 3 miles? Nothing! I can do 3 miles hungover! I still have an outside shot at 3:20:00. Just make it to 20 and then drop the hammer. Put the foot on the gas!". I continued to push myself along in this manner. I knew the minutes were ticking away and that my chances of qualifying for Boston were slipping away, but dammit if I wasn't going to make it close!!!

Almost to the marker, my quads, both of them, froze. I came to a dead stop and couldn't move for about 2 minutes. Tick! Tick! Tick! Time was slipping away. Boston was disappearing into thin air. My thoughts of a 3:10:00 first marathon were long gone at 16. Now 3:20:59 was crumbling. I wondered if I could finish. My legs wouldn't bend...at all!!! I thought about quitting. I thought about my family waiting at 24.5. I was suddenly overcome with a sense of peace regarding Boston. All that training...all of the hard work would now have to be summoned up to finish this race. I slowly started walking like Frankenstein's monster. After about 100 yards I could bend my knees just a little...another 200 yards and I broke into a very poor excuse of a jog...from that point on it was will power and nothing else that was moving me. Off and on the legs would freeze and I'd have to stop. It took me 20 minutes to get from 20 to 21. At 24.5 I saw the family, dug deep, put on a smile and broke into a jog. I went around the corner knowing I had about 1.2 to go...I'm screaming at my legs to bend, but I'm struggling. As I turned the final corner I saw the clock...I had found peace in the fact that I wasn't going to qualify but I saw the clock...it said 3:54:14...at that moment I found one last gear...I wasn't coming in over 3:55...I actually ran the last 50 yards or so...clock said 3:54:46...net time ended up being 3:54:04...next time I'm eating more bananas to keep the potassium levels up...2 days later I wanted another shot at it...trying to convince the family to head to Disney for the Disney Marathon!