Minimalist shoes for foot pain

valerieschram

I have been suffering from plantar fasciitis in my right foot, so I have not been running for the last month. I did some research on running shoes and read a lot of polar opposite opinions on running with minimalist shoes while suffering from plantar fasciitis. Half the articles I read said to stay away from minimalist shoes because you need extra support to avoid further foot pain. The other half said that wearing minimalist shoes actually cured a lot of people's foot problems because running with them strengthened the muscles in their feet. I decided to give the minimalist shoes a shot. The tie-breaking factor for me was I wanted a shoe better for strength training, and they have improved my squat. I ran for the first time today, but only for about 10 minutes to get used to the new shoes and to ease myself back into running. My feet felt good while running, but my right foot is a little sore now (nothing too terrible). I am just wanting some reassurance that I am not screwing my feet up! Have any of you found that minimalist shoes have cured your foot pain, or have you found the opposite?

jimmie65

I've switched to minimalist (Vibrams, Skele-toes and GoRuns) and PF is rarely a problem now. The Vibram FiveFingers site has a great pdf with foot exercises to help strengthen your feet for minimalist shoes that I think helped my PF a lot.

valerieschram

I've switched to minimalist (Vibrams, Skele-toes and GoRuns) and PF is rarely a problem now. The Vibram FiveFingers site has a great pdf with foot exercises to help strengthen your feet for minimalist shoes that I think helped my PF a lot.

Thanks! That is good to hear. I will give those exercises a try. Stretching has helped it feel better.

jimmie65

Thanks! That is good to hear. I will give those exercises a try. Stretching has helped it feel better.

Stretching is the most important thing. I stretch, especially my hams, every morning and every evening.

ejwme

I didn't have foot pain to begin with, but I'm training for a marathon in NB Minimus, I've been running distance in them since October and love them. They've got a small heel-toe drop, and not much cushioning, they feel like nothing. I do some of my training on sidewalks, so I wanted SOMEthing. It's taken me a few years to get down to them from a standard running shoe. And even at that, when I first started running in them - my first run was 3 miles, and for a few weeks to a month even low mileage (3-5 miles a run, 4-5 times a week) informed me of my calves' particular weaknesses. But last Saturday I ran 12 miles in them and had no issues... Correction: I had a wierd bottom of foot pain in one foot that disappeared by the end of the warmup. Never had it before, haven't had it since. I chalk it up to sitting on it funny while eating breakfast.

It all depends on your particular foot geometry and gait. If you're a pronator, you'll want some kind of help correcting that while your muscles adjust. Keep in mind that yes, humans evolved to run barefoot across the Serengeti after antelopes - but you don't do that, and didn't grow up doing that, you (likely) didn't learn to run by watching your Kenyan hunter relatives take down game. You've got the musculature and gait of someone who grew up moving in modern Western shoes on modern Western surfaces, for modern (and likely) Western reasons. So you've got to find a happy medium that works FOR YOU, where you are NOW. Also, "good running form" is about as intuitive as the theory of relativity (at least to me, YMMV). Do some research (funnily enough, Good Form Running is a good place to start, just google it), watch videos, and make sure you're striking well and have a short stride length.

Standard reasoning always applies: take it slow. Listen to your body. Dynamic stretching after runs. Any increasing pain, sharp pain, asymmetrical pain, or pain that doesn't go away needs to be addressed (not "run through"). But you're fine, unless your body tells you otherwise.