What a change! The difference is impressive, I have to say. I just ran with my new shoes. Impressive. Much more comfortable, no pain at all. The difference is only due to a couple millimeters more at the sole. My 'old' Sprint had a 3.5 mm sole and I could feel every thing on the ground. My new Bikila LS have a 3mm sole plus 4mm additional cushions. The total sole is thus 7mm, just twice the one of the Sprint. And this makes a big difference. I could run anywhere, on every surface without any problem. I can still feel if I step on a stone, a branch or whatever. But now it is not painful anymore. It was clearly a mistake to get started with the finest sole possible. I was clearly overconfident. But I thought 'If I am going out with minimalistic shoes, I take the thinnest ones'. That was too much, too soon. As I said in a previous post "Too much, too young, too fast". Clearly, if you are considering going barefoot, or 5Fs, out there, go for at least 6 mm of sole. The feelings are the same, but you don't hurt yourself anymore on each stone or small piece of wood. I clearly enjoy the barefoot sensations but have no fear of stepping on something anymore. Great, it is a new beginning.
I went for only 47' at a pretty good pace, including one km on the track at a 3'50 pace. Pretty good for a first time since 10 days.
I went for only 47' at a pretty good pace, including one km on the track at a 3'50 pace. Pretty good for a first time since 10 days.
Next step, in april, I will run 24 km in belgium, La Bouillonnante, a beautiful race in the Belgian Ardennes, full of hills and beautiful views. One week after that, will be the Heidelberg 1/2 marathon.
Keep running minimalistic... but with enough sole.
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What do you think of this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/19/how-to-avoid-running-injuries?INTCMP=SRCH
ReplyDeleteThere is one short comment about barefoot running, in particular: 'If you want to take up barefoot running you should ideally have no history of injury, good mechanics and not be an overpronater.' I skimmed the comments and many seemed to say essentially 'barefoot running is great, but take it slowly' (as do you), but as far as I can tell none address the specific point of whether or not they are an overpronater.
Hi, thanks for your comment and sorry for the late reply, I have been away most of the time. I really couldn't tell. I am not an expert, but it seems to me that in contrast to the 'no history of injury', barefoot could help reduce or even get rid of those injuries. That is certainly what I feel in my limited personal experience. I really feel that I run better, safer and injury less prone barefoot. It might just be my own biased perception. But I know a few cases where barefoot running clearly reduced running-caused problems or even injuries.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about pronation.