Your running shoes are a lie
dailymail.co.uk
dailymail.co.uk
Yes, it's entirely possible that high-end running shoes aren't helping us as much as we think they are. Yes, it's possible that there's a correlation between high priced running shoes and injuries. On the other hand, the author claims a lot of things that are simply ludicrous:
"Logically, that should be obvious - the impact on your legs from running can be up to 12 times your weight, so it's preposterous to believe a half-inch of rubber is going to make a difference."
If my head was moving at 10mph towards brick wall, a half-inch of dense rubber would probably make a whole lot of difference. I don't see how it's "preposterous" to think that it might be a similar story for feet.
"Despite all their marketing suggestions to the contrary, no manufacturer has ever invented a shoe that is any help at all in injury prevention"
This is the sort of statement the author is especially prone to making. This is such a leaky assertion that it's difficult to address. Ignoring the obvious benefits of shoes in all-terrain situations, there are many medical conditions that are addressed by shoes that are undeniably helpful.
Basically, the author is claiming that with a bit of fairy dust and some marketing skills, the running shoe industry has hoodwinked everyone for thirty years. If the author provided more actual data and less statements like "no matter who you are, no matter how much you run, your odds of getting hurt are the same" with no source (how could it possibly be the same odds for everyone?), I'd be more willing to believe.
I dislike making personal comments, but this author simply seems to be a demagogue.
It could simply be that people that buy the most expensive shoe are also the people that jump into running too quickly, train too hard and do not have the body types (yet) for running. I run about 15 miles a week and all good runners that I know (they aren't injured all the time) do not own the most expensive shoes...they own the ones that feel the best.
An article by Adam Sternberg that appeared in New York Times magazine a couple of years ago does a better job at the barefoot question (http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/)
Once, yes it would help. Do that a few thousand times, you'll still get brain damage.
My best friend is a varsity track athlete who swears by his running shoes. We always get into a debate about the merits of shoes - perhaps I have finally won!
I've been wearing the same pair for at least 3 years now and I will never go back to any different kind. When I do wear new shoes I feel like I've got rubber blocks on my feet, I'm clumsy and awkward and uncomfortable.
Feeling every crack, in the side walk and letting your feet do anything they want is extremely rewarding.
Prior to switching to Nike Free's I had sever shin splints when I ran track after switching I never had to ice for them again.
I seriously cannot suggest them enough for running in our concrete environment.
When running with regular shoes you slam down on the back cause that's the only place you can, this put alot of impact on your entire leg. But when you run with these your foot is able to fall on the balls of your feet allowing for your foot, ankle, and leg to share the impact. Think of it as a spring.
I am not trained as an ortho or anything I've just been researching this a lot, so please take what I say with a grain of salt.
The shoe has three levels of padding Higher the number the more the padding. To help you adjust to the new experience.
By the way, while we are on this subject - I could never understand why people run on roads. You're getting car exhaust fumes and you're running on hard pavement; seems like a bad deal all around. I drive by people on Pacific Coast Highway who run on pavement, directly parallel to the sand - I guess people follow the patterns they know best...
I find loose sand to be tough to run in and kind of frustrating with the whole running through molasses feeling. In one running book I have (Running for Mortals) it recommends flat, firm sand only but does call it a "treat for most runners". The same running book lists these surfaces as being worst to best for running on in terms of bodily stress: concrete (e.g. sidewalks), asphalt, dirt paths and trails, grass. However, because of convenience, I run on sidewalks almost exclusively and I seem to be able to pull it off so far.
Also check out Terra Plana Vivo Barefoot shoes. They're more expensive ($140-$200) but they look cool. They're the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. I like them so much I've bought 3 pairs.
A couple of weeks ago I finally broke down and payed up for a pair of Vivo Barefoot Aquas ($109 on Amazon -- http://www.amazon.com/Terra-Plana-Mens-Aqua-Sneaker/dp/B0013...). I think they look cool but my wife rolls her eyes when I put them on. However they are incredibly comfortable to wear -- It's like wearing a moccasin only with a bit more style.
Yeah, my wife saw me looking at those and gave me that 'no way' look. I find it funny that our concept of footwear has evolved to the point where wearing something that looks like a foot is considered goofy. If anything I figure I can just claim I'm re-creating the Big Foot hoax.
One would assume that putting less on my foot would cost less, right?
http://www.vivobarefoot.com/ - looks nice, but at multiple times the price of my current shoes.. ok thinking back to summers as a kid, let's go to walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1082469... - Not pretty, but 8% of the price.
And for that matter, what about something like these:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002TW8A4 - $15 + shipping seems fair, and they seem to resemble the description elsewhere.
Is there some significant difference (well, aside from the sheer ugly of that walmart example) that I should expect?
The shoes I use (I did not like Vibrams) are http://feelmax.com/panka_leather.html. They have a very thin (3mm?) kevlar compound outsole to protect the foot from glass, sharp rocks etc. It is thin enough to fully feel the ground texture underfoot. I am a bicyclist, so aside from a few trials, my experience is limited to "barefoot" walking.
According to the fairly reasonable theory that the human foot and leg is best suited for toe-stepping (like most animals), not the heel, I also modified my gait to stepping on the ball of the foot. After an adjustment period (and finding some pretty much unused leg muscles), it provides for a far more fluid movement, with the leg muscles and ligaments acting as shock absorbers. Trying heel-stepping thereafter brings to focus the fairly harsh impact each step actually causes in that mode of transportation. Plus toe-stepping helps keeping balance on slippery surfaces.
My feet feel much stronger than they did before.
barefoot running seems like a great idea, but not in a park where geese and dogs like to leave stuff on the ground
"And then comes the grand finale: we cut back to the Kenyans, whose bare feet are now sporting some kind of thin shoe. It's the new Nike Free, a shoe thinner than the old Cortez dreamt up by Bowerman in the Seventies. And its slogan?
'Run Barefoot.'
The price of this return to nature?
A conservative £65. But, unlike the real thing, experts may still advise you to change them every three months."
As someone else said, these may be a better bet anyway: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/
Look at golf clubs. You can buy a driver the size of a VW Beetle and made of material that would have made NASA jealous 20 years ago ... but after several decades, the average golf score hasn't gone down.
Lots of things are a lie ...
I never EVER worse shoes in the summer time. By the end of it, I could walk across pavement without feeling the burn :)
They have a cool flash demo: http://newtonrunning.com/run-better/optimal-running-form
Until recently the local highschool track had nothing on it but a thin film of rubber on a solid cement. I remember being unable to run very well on it (hard), but I could run through my back yard even when we still had the underbrush and briers, I was in better shape when I was younger. ...I wish people didn't think going barefoot was socially unacceptable.