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Minimalist sneakers send runner limping away

crobinson53
crobinson53 Posts: 164
edited September 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I came across this article, found it interesting, and thought I'd share it.

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/01/09/youre_crazy/

:glasses:

Replies

  • icerose137
    icerose137 Posts: 318 Member
    The stride between shoed runners and barefoot runners are completely different including how they land each step. I have to shake my head at runners who switch shoes and run all out expecting it to be great. Slow and gentle is the key to switching to minimalist designs. You have to change the entire way you run and that takes some adjustment.
  • fitniknik
    fitniknik Posts: 713 Member
    Intresting article! I have a pair of vibrams five fingers. I actually love them, but I would never never never run a long distance in them. I just them mainly for walking and I jog once in a while for a short distance. At first my feet hurt like hell, but they are great now! Super comfy, just gotta be real careful in them!
  • brbetha01
    brbetha01 Posts: 179 Member
    Ouch. Good article, though. I've wondered about those shoes and am glad I have not purchased any... I'm the kind of runner who needs a lot of padding, though.
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
    The shoes are not for everyone(no shoe is), but seriously, I do think they guy is unnecessarily whiney.

    Yes, you're going to feel rocks. That's the point. You feel everything. You need to look where you are going.

    EDIT: I'm not so sure this guy really knew what the heck he was getting himself into.

    It doesn't say what his transition was like, if he tried to change his stride or land lighter. All of those things can cause a stress fracture if you're not doing it correctly. Not including that in his article, makes me wonder if he pondered these things at all, and if he didn't, that is why it could have failed. And why he got hurt. You have to do some serious work transitioning into these things.

    Running on pavement is not a problem.

    EDIT: Runners are quirky about their footwear. It doesn't matter to me if a couple of Kenyans thought he was nuts. Many of the people in my running group thought I was nuts last year and that I was going to hurt myself. I didn't get injured. FOR ME, my slight aches and pains lessened.

    I've run 2 marathons and 1 50k ultra marathon on mostly pavement. One of the marathons was pretty rocky off pavement as well. It's not that bad. I train on pavement. I've been in the Five Fingers since 2009 and I train mainly on pavement.

    He got blisters, sure. You can get blisters running in regular shoes. You can get blisters running completely barefoot. There is a layer of fabric outside your skin, so yes, you can rub and get blisters. Do what you do in your regular shoes. Tape. Body Glide, etc. These are not new problems for runners.
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
    Furthermore, if you are completely comfortable with your shoes, there is no need to switch to barefoot and it won't work for everyone.

    There are 2 kinds of people that go into these shoes.

    1) the ones who research them and realize the major shift they are about to take on
    2) those that think that the shoes are a miracle cure that will make them faster

    1) These people actively work on their form. It takes a LONG time. They will pay attention when they run to make sure they are landing softly and correctly. If the shoes don't work for them, or if they feel pain, they stop the shoes. Why? Because they don't work for them.

    2) I swear to God I want to scream every time someone asked me if the shoes, "made me faster." These people are the magic pill kind of people. And in my opinion, it is the reason that many people end up hurt in these things. The people I've actually talked to either in person or online who have gotten hurt in these shoes, did it, by doing something stupid. One guy bought them and then went out and ran a 50k in them, no previous training in them before. Other people say, "what do you mean by transition" when I asked them how the initial transition went.

    I'm sure that some people get injured even when they do it the right way, but so do people in regular shoes.

    I think people get alarmist about new things and I think this is no exception.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    One moron, who happens to write articles gets injured in VFF's and decides to bash them...seems a little biased to me.
    He didn't mention too much about his transistion except for one spot where he said within 2 months he was doing 10-12 miles a clip in them.....that's too fast from my experience. I've been in mine about a year, and have just reached the 10 mile mark.
This discussion has been closed.

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