Just read Chris McDougall's book "Born to Run" a great read that explores barefoot or running with pretty minamalist footwear to reduce injury I have been going down this path for around a year now moving away from cushioned shoes to very lightly cushioned neutral shoes and fell shoes for trail off road in an effort to improve my leg strength and creaky knees with quite a degree of sucssess and have now started running barefoot in the local park for 20 minute sessions three times a week with an aim to building that up gradually so far no tweaks and it really does seem to be improving my running form plus its fun
anybody else having a crack at this?
PS the book realy is a very entertaining read and an alternative take on the line the big running shoes companies are feeding us
Comments
Been altering my landing to be more midfoot, and it feels better, quieter, but kills the calf muscles, so it could be a long and painful winter.
As to going fully barefoot, no plans at the mo', but who knows.
personally I'm not going down the barefoot running route - I'm too heavy to risk not using cushioning as a confirmed heelstriker - although I do go barefoot whilst just strolling around at home (and office) as I think it's a great way to keep the feet and lower legs in condition - plus it helps reduce stuff like athletes foot which breeds in the warm moist crevices of the toes when enclosed in shoes.
there are other alternatives to VFFs but they are also coming in at around £100
I have a pair of the original VFFs which I use to knock around in in summer - the 1st time you put them on (and that's a pain as well as the toes don't want to go where you want them to go!) they do look a bit freaky.
who needs vibrams...
Remember these guys at FLM - LINK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-557636/How-African-warriors--shoes-old-tyres--cope-London-marathon.html
Grrrr - why aren't my links working!
My point exactly I like the minimalist idea and dont want to shell out stacks of bunce there is a website here
http://www.instructables.com/id/Minimalist-Running-Sandals-Huaraches/
That tells you how to knock up a pair, I like to do off the wall stuff in the off season so I will be knocking up a pair of these and giving it some stick over the next couple of months as soon as I find an old tyre and some string
Failing that wouldnt a £5 pair of Plimmies do the trick for trail runs? minimal sole no support or cushioning just enough protection to stock a thorn, flint getting in your foot
http://www.rivalschoolwear.co.uk/index1.html
being an engineering type I had thought of that with a tyre you could cut it so that the knot falls within a tread groove sorted
FB I know what you mean could do the trick and 10 a penny down here
Okespor Frogs would probably be good
Okespor Frogs
Just a 1mm thick moulded rubber shoe... I used to wear them all the time for Windsurfing in, and they are just enough to stop stones hurting, but not thick enough to offer any support at all...
what worries me about all of this is thorns and other sharp stuff stabbing my feet. Maybe I'm just being a wuss!
I've read the book Max and I also run barefoot for about 20 mins in my local park at least once a week, as do a couple of my clubmates, although I think they've recently purchased Vibrams, which I can't afford at the moment.
Good luck with building the huaraches.
Running on the touchlines of the local rugby pitch was loverly this dinnertime but I would deffo want something on the bottom of my feet on "proper off road"
I cant beleive I am doing this as last year I passed some guy in the Snowden Mara in barefeet and thought...NUTTER
New to tri and the forum, got my second sprint tri in Brinscall near Chorley this Sunday. Swim can't be any worse than last time!! Looking for around 1hr 20m overall. Want to progress up to standard distance next year. (wetsuit for Chrimbo).
Any tips from you learned types would not fall on deaf ears.
My mate imports the VFF into the UK - I will see if we can get yellow and black ones - Calls Barlos
meface
I saw someone runnng barefoot at the vit.... wasn't sure if he'd forgotten to put his shoes in transition of if he intended to run it thatway!
more interesting thoughts here http://www.running-review.blogspot.com/
Minimalist shoes worth checking out are: Vibram Five Fingers, Vivobarefoot, Mizuno Ekiden, Asics Piranha and Nike Free.
check some youtube videos and see if it sounds the same. it was fairly easy for me to fix myself with a bit of patience, some rollers for my Achilles tendon and foot, and lots of stretching every day (even when not running)
anyway, to cut a long story short, started running again last year after a long pause. was in a pair of asics kayanos for about 6 months (used to be in asics GT2000 more than 10 yrs ago), but they were starting to feel a bit clunky. so i decided to give minimalist shoes a try. went with a pair of vivo stealth 2. have been taking it relatively slowly and took about 1.5 months to get used to them. now super happy with my runs. doing roughly 8km, 2 days in a row, rest 1 day. repeat. so nothing too crazy.
except that my knees feel stiff afterwards. calves and everything else is fine. just knees feel stiff. they feel better when i bend them. also since yesterday, left knee felt really tight on the outside towards the end of my run yesterday. today it's the inside of the left knee that feels tight. (so taking a day off. i went out with chronic injuries last time so i know i should take things easy.)
just wondering - is this just normal knee pain? or is it lack of cushioning? i can't imagine going back to my kayanos anymore. i tried an 8k in saucony's ride (after switching to minimalist) and hated it. so does anyone have another shoe to recommend. something like the vivo stealth but maybe just a little more cushioning?
advice, thoughts etc. much appreciated.