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To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes

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Re: To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes

#21

Post by ZachS »

rdouble wrote: post #7

It seems a little suspicious that these articles and books about barefoot running were published at the same time Nike and a few other shoe companies come out with shoes meant to emulate barefoot running. The first thing I thought of when I read this article was "The Suit is Back!" In any case, track and field athletes have always, and still do, wear paper-thin shoes with spikes.

Those paper thin spikes are NOT meant for comfort, and aren't for running more than 800 or so meters. For distance events (1600+) spikes resemble more of a running shoe.

Re: To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes

#22

Post by delackner »

gregwebs wrote: post #16
pmorici wrote: post #3

It isn't really about the shoe, strictly speaking. It's about running form. Good form means you land on the paw of your foot instead of the heal. If you have good form you will have less injuries. landing on the paw of your foot is something that is hard to do when wearing regular running shoes unless you are going faster. All these new sock shoes are doing is making it easier to have good running form since you natu…

Great point. There are also other negative aspects of shoes besides promoting heel striking that have little to do with form. Every shoe besides the Vibram Five Fingers I have ever seen has too small of a toe box. Arch support and cushioning don't let you use your arch and the rest of the leg properly. [1] The Vibram Five Fingers get this right also. 1. Mark Bishop,* Paul Fiolkowski,† Bryan Conrad,* Denis Brunt,‡ and…

I have a pair of shoes that have the big toe separated from the other toes (based on traditional japanese worker shoes) and while I haven't tried running in them, walking in them feels really joyful.

Re: To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes

#24

Post by metra »

metra wrote: post #14

To whomever wants to run barefoot: good luck. Try it out for a few months and post about how it went. It seems like there are a lot of articles lauding barefoot running but not a lot of barefoot runners - at least in the US. To me, switching from my Asics to bare feet is asking for trouble after years of heel first running. The switch would require months if not years of slow and steady adjustment, which I don't thin…

Again, go ahead and run 20 miles a week without any shoes on. Let me know how it goes. Unless you're running in circles in a park or on a track, you'll have problems. As much as our feet were meant to be bare, they weren't meant to hit concrete.

Re: To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes

#25

Post by mannicken »

brown9-2 wrote: post #13
mannicken wrote: post #11

To run better, seriously, start by losing some weight. I've ran 35-50 mile a week for some time, also eating like a pig, and I just kept running worse and worse and gaining weight, in the end was unable to break 6:20 i the mile and 8:30 pace was the hard pace.. I took a two month break (5-15 mi a week just because it's hard to stop so suddenly), started counting calories and lost some serious weight. After that, I'm…

What pace do you find fun to run at?

7:20-7:50 minute/mile seems to be the equilibrum of fun/ease. Under 7 minutes is pretty painful, over 8 feels pretty slow.

Re: To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes

#26

Post by mannicken »

pmorici wrote: post #3

It isn't really about the shoe, strictly speaking. It's about running form. Good form means you land on the paw of your foot instead of the heal. If you have good form you will have less injuries. landing on the paw of your foot is something that is hard to do when wearing regular running shoes unless you are going faster. All these new sock shoes are doing is making it easier to have good running form since you natu…

Sudden change to forefoot-only form will give you shin splints. When I dropped weight and forced myself to run on forefoot most of the time, in three-four weeks of 40mpw my shin muscles felt like they were being dragged away from bone.

Re: To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes

#27

Post by mcav »

mannicken wrote: post #11

To run better, seriously, start by losing some weight. I've ran 35-50 mile a week for some time, also eating like a pig, and I just kept running worse and worse and gaining weight, in the end was unable to break 6:20 i the mile and 8:30 pace was the hard pace.. I took a two month break (5-15 mi a week just because it's hard to stop so suddenly), started counting calories and lost some serious weight. After that, I'm…

To each his own; I jog a 9-ish mile pace (4-ish miles) often. I find it enjoyable, and it provides good exercise, yet it's not daunting enough to make me drop the good habit.

Re: To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes

#29

Post by yangyang »

pmorici wrote: post #3

It isn't really about the shoe, strictly speaking. It's about running form. Good form means you land on the paw of your foot instead of the heal. If you have good form you will have less injuries. landing on the paw of your foot is something that is hard to do when wearing regular running shoes unless you are going faster. All these new sock shoes are doing is making it easier to have good running form since you natu…

I wouldn't say that forefoot landing (part of the POSE method) is strictly "better" - it's a hotly debated point.

Many top runners do not run this way.

Re: To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes

#30

Post by San »

About two months ago, one of my shoelaces broke. I was still three miles from home, and walking wouldn't get me back there in time. So I took off my shoes and socks, and continued my run. It felt a bit awkward at first, but after twenty strides or so my feet started to figure out the proper technique. After half a mile, I was able to really start running, and boy it felt great! (I made it home in time without any problems, except for some pretty sore calves the next day.)

Because it was such a great, joyful experience (and I still didn't get new laces), I've continued my barefoot runs. Yesterday morning I ran 10 miles (6 miles brick sidewalk, 4 miles sandy forest path), without any problems whatsoever. You do have to watch out for broken glass trough, so when I go between dusk and dawn I put on my aqua socks. But otherwise, I've found my bare feet to be incredibly resilient and wear-proof. Also, I am running completely pain-free for the first time in years. It does require some changes to your stride, most importantly not landing on your heel. But not being constrained by rigid running shoes anymore, your body is able to figure out the rest as you go.

In a few weeks, I'll be running the half marathon in my city. The self-conscious part of me wants to wear shoes and avoid the questions and strange looks. (You will get those, anything from people shouting "Hey, you forgot to put on your shoes" to others nearly walking into trees and lamp posts while staring at your feet in amazement.) But the Dvorak-typing, trackball-using part of me just want to do what feels best, regardless of any social standard, and go barefoot: zero pain, maximum joy.

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