Walking 100kms in VFF's. Is it doable? page

[Kiwi-grok]

Hello my fellow Groks and Grokettes.

So I have signed up for the 100kms walk for Oxfam next year in April, walking around lake Taupo in 36hrs or less. I have never done anything like this before which is both exciting and daunting, luckily for me my teammates have done it before so a pretty prepared but they also live far away from me so I am doing the training on my own. I have read another post in relation to this and like him I want to do this as primally as possible (lack of sleep will be the hardest thing I think, for alot of reasons but mostly because it affects my descision making skills when it comes to what food I consume. ie if I eat the wrong thing I end up feeling worse. But hopefully by April I will have this more under control, the longer I am primal the better I get at it). I can't eat Bread (Gluten), so i'll probably want to take my own primal snacks.

But anyways other than any other helpful advice anyone as I am wondering if I could walk it in my VFF's? I enjoying walking in them both on the flat/road and hills but my longest walk is only around 7kms so far. Has anyone walked longer?

Also if anyone wants to support a good cause, please donate to my team (I will send photos)
United Nations of Trailwalker | Oxfam Trailwalker

I was also thinking of getting Grok t-shirts/ singlets for the team

[seaweed]

if most of it is off road, you should be fine. most of the bad press i have come across with vibrams has been from impact injuries on man made surfaces. and yes i have had one myself when i was running. that said, i've walked well over 20ks at a time on dirt roads and not had a problem. obviously, i would do all my prep in the VFF or similar. even actual barefoot on the beach. i find i feel my calves far more so think about stretches. do stuff like practise walking up stairs with flat feet vs on your toes to help get the tendons used to stretching. also road surface, if you do have to do dirt roads. if they have been graded of recent that can be painful in VFFs and slow you down. i have some new balance minimuses which i much prefer and they grip alot better. VFFs i find not so hot on the grip and if you are on slipperly surfaces and are tired, that is also something to watch.

best of luck with it!

[NZ primal Gwamma]

Hey Kiwi Grok, fantatstic goal. I biked round lake Taupo a few years ago - it is a LONG way !!!!!. I also have VFFs and have only done about 12km as the longest - so far. However that was totally on the road. Seaweed is right not so great when on the road, and yes my calves need a heap of streatching first.
I am really keen to do the molesworth 84 km, but that is all shingle - so will have to look at a more substantial shoe for that.
Anyway good luck in your quest
Gwamma

[Kiwi-grok]

Thanks for your feedback guys. I have found that walking on road in my vff sprints as been fine but I have had to build up to it and I sometimes start to get little blisters on bottom of toes when Iv'e been walking awhile and my feet start to sweat (that's what worries me more) and socks don't make much difference. Seaweed, I have Sport Treks so I wonder if that would be ok re: grip wise, they seem to work well on my short hikes up the hills. I guess I could take both pairs (which don't take up much room) and a normal pair of shoes (which do). I find my feet actually hurt more in tramping shoes now! weird eh

[seaweed]

gwamma check out the minimuses next time you go to rebel. the soles are much more protective. i would do a 84 k walk on shingle in them. screw ever running that distance tho. i have the KSO vibrams so i cant comment on the others. but it is the repetitive impact on man made surfaces that causes the damage. so you will most likely not notice that on small walks. the key prob is just to wear them all the time for a few weeks before the event and then you wont even notice. i have never liked tramping shoes. i have some tactical assault boots i wear when i go bush, they dont hurt my feet.

[Turnstone]

I signed up for a 100 kms walk this spring. I walked in Merrel barefoot shoes, and had to quit after 50 kms because my ankles were not strong enough yet. I didn't have any problems walking through the night, and had enough energy to continue, but the tendons and muscles around my ankle hurt too much. Muscles adapt quickly, but tendons need time to adapt.
Try to get strong ankles, and you should be fine!

[Kiwi-grok]

I signed up for a 100 kms walk this spring. I walked in Merrel barefoot shoes, and had to quit after 50 kms because my ankles were not strong enough yet. I didn't have any problems walking through the night, and had enough energy to continue, but the tendons and muscles around my ankle hurt too much. Muscles adapt quickly, but tendons need time to adapt.
Try to get strong ankles, and you should be fine!

Very True. My ankles are slowley getting stronger, they don't get as sore as they used too. hmmm I am getting excited now, I think this might just be doable and I am wearing my vffs EVERYWHERE now.

I am going to try and do a biggish walk in them this weekend as part of the training but will have spare shoes in bag just in case.

[NZ primal Gwamma]

Kiwi-grok enjoy your walk. Are there lots of tracks through the Kaimais now ???
Wasn't many when I was a kid, althou we used to do the waterfall walk a fair bit.
Good thinking about the spare shoes. Enjoy that walk !!!
G

[Dr. Bork Bork]

I did two half marathons this summer in my vibrams and was fine. I know it's laughable compared to your mighty 100km, but I think you can do it. I carried a camelback with a 70 oz bladder, too, and filled it with nuun tablets (electrolytes) as well as carried primal treats with me. 1 larabar lasts me 13 miles. There are all sorts of primal/paleo portable snack options these days. I really like gobites and larabars.

[Kiwi-grok]

I did two half marathons this summer in my vibrams and was fine. I know it's laughable compared to your mighty 100km, but I think you can do it. I carried a camelback with a 70 oz bladder, too, and filled it with nuun tablets (electrolytes) as well as carried primal treats with me. 1 larabar lasts me 13 miles. There are all sorts of primal/paleo portable snack options these days. I really like gobites and larabars.

Hello Dr, 2 Half Marathons is pretty impresive to me!! mind you I am not much of a runner.

I do find running and walking the the vffs very different to one another with running being a bit easier/ more natural and comfortable but walking is becoming easier.

I have never heard of larabars and gobites, I wonder if I can get them in NZ. We do have primal bites but I find them a bit too sweet (even tho they are all natural and GF, dairy free etc they still have dates and brown sugar). I don't know what I will really need on the walk to eat as it will not be high intensity, just long and slow so I don't think I will need much carbs/sugar. I read a post about this and if I stick to primal foods I should just be burning fat (someone said to me they weren't doing it becuase they didn't want to lose muscle mass, would that really happen doing this event once even if I ate enough protein?)