Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Shoes - Nope, Still Not Good.

I managed to gash the top of my foot the other day, and because the tight-fitting mesh of the five fingers would have ripped open the wound again, I decided to put on my old running shoes and see how the experiences differs with almost barefooting.

The difference is pretty astronomical.

No wonder I injured myself before. As I ran on W. Main after just 5.5 miles, I was aching all over.

I was trying to maintain my new stride in shoes, and successfully landed forefoot first, but it felt odd.

After a few miles my knees and shoulders were aching, just like they always have in shoes.

When I was over at OMNI Physical therapy they were amazed at how jammed up my feet and ankles got when running. I think I may have found the answer. After hauling off my shoes my feet weren't moving too well, though they had been fine in my five fingers.

Remember when I OMNI told me about my right leg not moving right? I worked on stretching out the muscle and got it under control after a month or so, but I hadn't realized that the issue had healed. I haven't had to stretch after each barefoot run, but running in my shoes I felt a distinct painful pull in the area.

In short, no more motion-control running shoes for me. I should avoid these things like the plague.





2 comments:

Gray said...

I've been barefooting, wearing Fivefingers, and occasionally donning an old pair of flip-flops for nearly a year now. I went to a concert last weekend, throwing on my old favorite pair of shoes before I left the house. After just a few miles of walking in them that one night, my entire body ached for several days.

It's no wonder I had back pains in college.

Running Raw said...

I'm glad someone knows what I'm talking about. I've gotten some weird looks after telling people padded running shoes are injuring me.