So today I had my first run with my Vibram Bikila's, but strangely enough I ended up with blisters:
I checked the inside of the Vibrams and saw there were some stitching's on the place where approximately my blisters are:
Now I'm wondering why I got blisters in the first place and whether its to be expected to go away. If not, what should I do to prevent getting blisters or should I just 'bite the bullet' and wait until I get some callus there or the material softens a little?
Think like a dancer
Dancers (ballerina, tap, etc) obviously put a lot of strain on their feet and deal with blisters on a regular basis. Therefore, I'd trust that they have some pretty good advice on prevention.
The following quotes were taken directly from this site.
Make sure your shoes fit
The easiest way to get a blister is to wear dance shoes that are either too big or too small.
Cover your feet
Most dance instructors recommend wearing dance tights or socks with dance shoes. As your feet begin to sweat, your bare skin will rub against the inside of your shoes.
Use foot powder
Sprinkling a small amount of powder inside your shoes will help keep your feet dry and prevent them from rubbing. Use foot powder, talcum powder, or cornstarch. Sprinkle a small amount inside each shoe and on your bare feet before slipping on your shoes.\
Cover hot spots
A "hot spot" is a warning sign that a blister is about to develop. Hot spots are areas that appear red and feel warm to the touch. Cover suspicious areas with bandages, medical tape, gauze or moleskin.
Rest your feet
Overuse is a common cause of any injury, so allowing your feet to rest will help prevent blisters.
In your particular case, since I doubt you purchased shoes that don't fit correctly, your best option is to take action to mitigate the blisters by treating the cause.
Blisters are caused by friction and made worse by sweat.
First, you should prevent the current blisters from getting worse by covering them with a bandage and/or tape until they fully heal. Next, to prevent blisters in the future add a sock/liner to your feet and/or talcum powder to cut down on the sweat.
Considering that @dee is experiencing the same issue in the same spot, it's most likely a design flaw in the shoe. Unfortunately, until you build up a sufficient callous, you'll still need to be careful about preventing blisters.
The most likely cause for the blisters is the forceful rubbing of the Vibrams on your foot during the run. The fact that the stitching matches where you got the blisters supports the fact.
In order to prevent the blisters, you have a couple options:
Socks do provide a nice barrier that allows the shoe to rub the sock while the sock stays fairly motionless against the foot.
An alternative is to tape your foot, or use gauze over the most affected areas of your foot. While both of these options prevent the natural formation of callouses they also prevent the primary cause of the blisters.
If the blister still bothers you after the socks, a very small piece of masking tape sometimes helps to keep the stitching from rubbing against your foot which causes the friction.
I had an issue with the KSO and the logo on the big toe. I took an exacto knife to it and removed the backing to the logo. Looking at your photo, looks like you do not have that luxury.
I have a permanent red mark on my foot where the logo was.
