Barefoot Running - The painful truth about trainers (Read 3941 times)

What if it makes them just plain stylish???

When a nonrunner tells you that running is bad for you, dangerous, impractical, and painful, how do you react? I'm guessing you ignore them because you are the one who has actually lived it. You understand running because you run, and the nonrunner is just imagining problems that are really not that big a deal. We're having that same discussion right now. In 2008 I logged 1414 miles. 21% of them were barefoot, 55% were in FiveFingers, 19% in other minimal shoes like Teva Proton IIIs, and 5% in running shoes. Most of my miles were on asphalt and concrete in the city, but I've also run barefoot on rural roads and forested trails. I ran a 3:05 marathon in FiveFingers, which was a PR by over half an hour. I was always a thoroughly average runner, with weak ankles and ITBS, needing carefully chosen shoes every 400 miles. But now I can run in almost anything: old broken down running shoes, flip flops, water shoes, etc. My knees have been 100% pain free for the entire two years since I transitioned, despite more miles than ever. My ankles, hips, and abdominals are drastically stronger. My feet are tough enough that I can tread directly on most glass and never notice it. Today was my first recovery run since the marathon on Monday. Naturally I did it barefoot. I saw broken beer bottles. Miraculously I made it home alive anyway.

Makes me wonder if my Kayano is too much shoe for me.

I think minimal shoes break down less quickly than bigger motion control etc shoes. There's less "stuff" to break down in the shoe. I get 600-700 miles out of most of my lightweights.

But unlike crack use, which doesn't sound like interesting material for video, running over broken glass uninjured sounds tres cool, and sounds like great video material.