Yes, yes I too have fallen into the fashion trap and bought a pair of Vibram Five fingers from Drifters Xtreme.
I certainly hope this purchase does not remain a fashion accesory but hopefully improves my running.
I have been wearing them for a good few weeks now and have been amazed how comfortable they are. So today was the day to take them out for a little spin on tar. 5km it was to be. I combined minimalism with high tech by attaching my Polar footpod to them to see if anything would be different.
Straight off I noticed a destinctive slapping sound as my forefoot hit the ground. (similar sound when running in slops).
Then I noticed my cadence was way high. Normally I run at 82 (this is up from about 78 a year ago). Today my average was 88! Normally I can only hold this for very short periods of intense concentration.
Yes my calves felt like they worked harder than before!
At this point I think 5km is about the max.
No knee pain, no ITB niggles.
Yes you do get A LOT of looks!
I intend to do this easy run once a week and see how it changes the rest of my running. Will keep you posted.
leo rust 
How are the 5 toes shoes going ??
I really love running barefoot.
Is it just a fad?
Hi Niq
The fingers are going well.
I have only run in them twice (once a week for the time being) and 5km of running at a time. I wore them for a full day on my feet over the weekend and this was the first time that I felt my feet being tired. Nothing more than I would expect if I was wearing shoes. I think the big thing here is to start slowly and not overdo it.
VFF are definately a fad. However I do believe that they will stick around for a while. Yes many people will get injured due to using them (I suspect this will be due to overusing them to start off). I do think it is too early to get some really good independant research here but I hope this will come from somebody who does not have a vested interest in either regular shoes or the new “minimalist” ones.
For the time being it is just really good fun and I feel the big benefit for me is to increase cadence. This I hope to take with me when I go back to normal shoes.
If in the future I am able to strengthen my feet so that I do not need more supported shoes then that is great. This is at least 6 – 12 months off though I suspect.