I've recently started barefoot running. Chi Running has been my injury-free savior for a few years but I feel like I need to do something extra to break out of my current form plateau. Barefoot certainly seems to be doing the trick. I can feel my form improve every time I do it.

But I can't always be barefoot. I don't want to blow it and cut my foot running through a field or whatever. So I bought a pair of Vibram Five-Finger TROs (VFF TROs) to protect my feet. They do a great job of protecting the bottom of my feet. I smacked into a little tree stump hidden under some leaves the other day and I'm sure the VFFs saved me from a nasty gouge.

But... My VFF TROs keep chaffing the inner sides of my feet. The chaffing happens right where the TROs strap blends/attaches with the sole. And it hurts!

The first time I wore my TROs I just ran too far. I read online the the chaffing was probably due to my lazy feet not being used to running barefoot. Seems ironic but you need to run barefoot for a while before using VFFs. OK. So I ran short barefoot runs a few times a week and built up to about 15 minutes. Then I started wearing my VFFs for sort runs after getting home from the barefoot runs. I built up to longer runs of around 30 minutes in my VFFs.

Then came yesterday. It was raining and even had some hale. So I headed out in my VFFs and had so much fun I didn't get back for an hour and 10 minutes! ... What a fun run! ... Anyway. I could tell the chaffing was happening but was surprised to find how much when I finally took of the VFFs. ... Ouch!

So maybe it's just me. Maybe it's that they aren't good for running when wet. May there's a design flaw in the strap-to-sole seam. I don't know.

I am having a blast. But I wish the chaffing would stop.