My biggest problem is that I HATE running. HATE it. I know there are other things to do to get into shape, but running is the quickest, and you don't need a bunch of equipment, or a pool, etc. (I do wish I had access to a pool - I love swimming workouts). Mountain Biking is a great cardio workout, but I do need a new bike, and a new bike (well, the one I want) is temporarily financially out of reach. For running all you really need is just some shoes and a bit of motivation.
My brother and sister-in-law are bona-fide runners, and have been trying to inspire me to pound the pavement once again. Recently they've approached running in a new/old way - barefoot. Minimalist running has been in vogue for a long time, but seems to be getting a bigger following as of late, and after reading up on it I decided maybe that approach was worth a try. I mean, it does make some sense. Running shoes keep getting "better" and more complicated to reduce all kinds of pain running causes, which seems kind of silly when you consider we were already born with all we needed for running and walking - our bare feet. For example - running shoes have all kinds of heel padding to minimize the shock of hard heel striking - when barefoot running eliminates the heel strike altogether. The general consensus seems that during all of human history human feet were just fine, and in just the past 200 years or so we've really started messing them up, even changing their shape with shoes, which works against the way our feet were designed to function.
For me the biggest draw is the promise of "no shin splints", which have been the bane of my running attempts my entire life. So, all scientific evidence and hoopla aside - if I can escape shin splints, I'm sold.
My brother and his wife don't actually run with bare feet, for obvious reasons - sharp rocks, glass, gum, bugs, dog poop, roadkill, and all the other stuff you may find on the road or trail. Instead, they use slip-on footie shoes called Vibram FiveFingers. (I still haven't gotten a good answer as to why they're not called "FiveToes.") There are numerous minimalist shoes currently on the market, but the FiveFingers are supposed to be the closest thing to barefoot other than actual bare feet. The individual toe slots - a feature unique to the FiveFinger - train your toes to spread apart, adding balance, stability, and strength.
First, when I strapped these puppies on, I thought, "No Way. Not going to work." Not only did they look stupid, I usually hate the feeling of things between my toes. But, after a few minutes they started to feel pretty good. After walking around for about ten minutes, they felt DARN good. They felt freeing...I got the strong urge to flit and skip around the store with my arms in the air. Instead I calmly walked to the register, handed over my debit card and purchased these:
I can sum up my first run in one word: OUCH!!! Holy Moly! While it felt great running with just my toe-shoe footies on, the different foot-strike I naturally used caused me to heavily use muscles that have been lazy. My calves in particular screamed for mercy. It's essential to ease into minimalist running, especially when you consider most people have lived a majority of their lifetimes in shoes. This really works for me, since I've been away from running so long I have to ease in, shoes or not. So far I've been at it for a week, alternating running/walking short distances. Even if I'm on a running workout off day, I still try to put on the FiveFingers to at least walk around the house. Despite their idiotic looks, I'm liking the results.
If anyone else has tried this approach to running, I'd like to hear your two cents.
For a good article about the science behind minimalist running, click this: LINK
1 comment:
Yay!!!! Don't worry. You will soon be blazing by people so fast they won't notice the odd shoes. At least that's what I tell myself. :)
Post a Comment