I switched to minimalist and barefoot running after sustaining a host of stress fractures and soft tissue damage that affected both legs and feet. The damage took me out of physical activity for quite some time. Even once the stress fractures healed, when I tried going back to running, my body made it pretty clear to me that it didn't like what I was doing. Well over two years after I first was injured, I saw a copy of ChiRunning in my local B&N. That put me on to running more efficiently.
Not long after that, I started playing around with my footwear. I started on my quest searching for the "best shoe". Ultimately, my research led me to minimalist and barefoot styles of running. The day I wore my first minimalist shoe, a pair of black Vibram Five Fingers KSOs, was the first time in nearly three years that my feet and legs didn't hurt after walking around for a mere half hour. Since then, I've somewhat moved away from using VFFs for running (although I love using them for hiking), but that first step got me hooked. As I'm an information junkie and a total gear head, I'm always interested in the latest studies done and products developed in the barefoot and minimalist running world.