800girl, A Duck makes sensible points. Do you think cars would drive smoother and last longer if they removed the shocks? Be careful going from arch support to none, muscles get very used to repetition and can protest in the form of plantar fasciitis. Go back to what worked, Nike Free is some what light and very flexible with okay cushioning. I personally love the newer Nike Vomero , they kind of feel like my old Nike Tailwinds.
A Duck wrote:
Here's what they don't tell you about minimalism. While your body might be able to adapt to it and handle it now, think of your feet and body like a set of tires for a car.
When you were born you got a new set of tires for your body. Your feet, and bones, and tendons, have only so much pounding they can take in one lifetime.
You read through the years of threads here, and you will find threads called "calf/calve heart attack," or threads/mentions of arthritis or peripheral neuropathy ending older runners careers.
And you'll also see mentions of runners talking to their doctors and their doctors telling them they only have so many years of pounding / high impact that their bodies can take.
What the minimalist fad folk won't tell you, because they are not truly thinking long term, is that there is a genetic aspect too -- you have no real way of knowing if you are going to be one of those runners who can still be running at 106, or have a calve heart attack at 36 and are no longer able to run.
This whole "Born to Run" faddish aspect of "minimalist" running doesn't press a few points hard enough. --Those native people grow up without shoes/barely shoes, and on trails 99.9% of the time.
If minimalism were so great for you, you'd see ALL the elites running in them. And you don't.
You are rolling the dice with you life time, long term running ability by experimenting with minimalist shoes.
Your safest bet is to wear sensible shoes moderately cushioned shoes. Say, Air Structure, as opposed to HokaOneOne.
Good Luck.
A Duck is correct, and don't forget to also think of your heart as the engine of the car. There's only so many heartbeats it can have in one lifetime, so try to cut down on unnecessary things that raises your heart rate. Try not to walk too much. Take elevators whenever going upstairs. Take your Segway to get your mail. And try to get 12+ hours of sleep a day. And sex? Forget about it. That's like redlining your engine. You're just asking for blown pistons.
800girl wrote:
"If minimalism were so great for you, you'd see ALL the elites running in them. And you don't. "
Well, elites are sponsored by running shoe companies, so that's probably why they wear their shoes...
Also, do you think we are genetically inferior to the tarahumara and our bodies can't handle the pounding but theirs can? Or, because we have been wearing shoes for so long it is impossible to transition back? Is there any evidence that wearing a more cusioned shoe will prevent inuries?
Every company has minimalist shoes. You seem to ignore that. You don't see any Nike runners training in the Nike Free Hyperfeel. Rupp uses the Structure Triax and Farah uses the Pegasus.
A Duck wrote:
800girl wrote:Okay, one coach is pretty chill and would be okay but the other is a little more old school and would probably confront me about it. They didn't really make me get new shoes, they just strongly suggested it. It's more the whole team attitude towards minimalism. My teammates have made fun of people who wear "minimal" shoes. I guess I'll just have to not worry about what they think.
Here's what they don't tell you about minimalism. While your body might be able to adapt to it and handle it now, think of your feet and body like a set of tires for a car.
When you were born you got a new set of tires for your body. Your feet, and bones, and tendons, have only so much pounding they can take in one lifetime.
You read through the years of threads here, and you will find threads called "calf/calve heart attack," or threads/mentions of arthritis or peripheral neuropathy ending older runners careers.
And you'll also see mentions of runners talking to their doctors and their doctors telling them they only have so many years of pounding / high impact that their bodies can take.
What the minimalist fad folk won't tell you, because they are not truly thinking long term, is that there is a genetic aspect too -- you have no real way of knowing if you are going to be one of those runners who can still be running at 106, or have a calve heart attack at 36 and are no longer able to run.
This whole "Born to Run" faddish aspect of "minimalist" running doesn't press a few points hard enough. --Those native people grow up without shoes/barely shoes, and on trails 99.9% of the time.
If minimalism were so great for you, you'd see ALL the elites running in them. And you don't.
You are rolling the dice with you life time, long term running ability by experimenting with minimalist shoes.
Your safest bet is to wear sensible shoes moderately cushioned shoes. Say, Air Structure, as opposed to HokaOneOne.
Good Luck.
This is some of the worst rubbish I've seen in a while.
Car analogies? Get real.
Think about it like flying a rocket to the moon.
The moon has low gravity, so you should be able to land your rocket nice and softly, as the impact forces are low on the soft lunar surface.
Now think about the moon having higher gravity and a surface made of concrete instead of that nice soft, lunar sand you see in movies.
Still wanna land your rocket there? Didn't think so.
This great insight is directly translatable to running shoes.
I'm sure you can now draw the correct conclusion from my example.
You're welcome.
800girl,
It sounds like you have done your homework. You are probably not surprised to hear of the research studies linking cushioned trainers to injuries. If people think cushioning is so great, why aren't they running with pillows on their feet?
Less is more with running shoes. Motion control, cushioning, orthotics, etc. cause more problems than they help. I support your efforts and wish you the best with your training and educating your coaches and teammates.
because running with pillows would suck all your energy with every stride and give zero energy back.
To me, the Free 5.0's are basically a lightweight neutral shoe with good flexibility. I think you should be able to run in what you want, but if you wanted to avoid the issue you could run in a similar, but more "normal" looking shoe. I alternated between Free 5.0's and Mizuno Wave Ronin's for a while (the Ronin is a lightweight trainer/racing flat).
Ralph Wiggum wrote:
because running with pillows would suck all your energy with every stride and give zero energy back.
Bingo! So why do people run with highly cushioned trainers which are like pillows on their feet?
Aren't pillows normally filled with down or similar material?
You may be thinking of cushions.
800girl wrote:
"If minimalism were so great for you, you'd see ALL the elites running in them. And you don't. "
Well, elites are sponsored by running shoe companies, so that's probably why they wear their shoes...
Also, do you think we are genetically inferior to the tarahumara and our bodies can't handle the pounding but theirs can? Or, because we have been wearing shoes for so long it is impossible to transition back? Is there any evidence that wearing a more cusioned shoe will prevent inuries?
All shoe companies have minimalist shoes. Why would shoe companies "force" their sponsored runners not to use them?
I had achilles tendonitis for 25 years before I figured out that the shoe companies were working against my health (and yours too). Now I train in Nike Mayflys. It's not the best but they still don't really make a good shoe. Minimalism is really not a good word for what you need. Normal is what you need. Most shoes require your feet and legs to do abnormal things but at least it's getting better. Minimalism shouldn't really be thought of as a new thing or a fad. It's what we all wore 40 years ago before shoe companies started marketing their latest gimmick to make a quick buck at the expense of the runner's health. If your coach doesn't like it, tough. It's your body. I would think an 800 runner would want as little shoe as possible.
several years ago wrote:
When I was in HS I was cranking out 110-120 miles per week exclusively in racing flats. I used the Nike Streak XC, now called the Nike Streak LT. It was all of 5.4 ounces and and had a 3mm heel-to-toe drop. My calves were initially sore but after a few weeks I adjusted and there was no unusual soreness.
After I made that transition I experimented with going back to cushioned shoes and they always felt heavy and clunky. You think "what's the point of this?" Your legs will be stronger if you train in racing flats.
And your butt gets more toned if you train in Shape-ups.
I would just like to point out, and maybe you could do the same with your coach: Nike Free 5.0's are not strictly speaking "minimalist" shoes. They have a thick-ish sole and are well-cushioned, but they also give you the benefit of natural flexibility, which can really strengthen your feet and lower legs, and thus greatly improve your footspeed. I am a heavier runner at 6' 190 lbs, and I have no trouble with running 80 miles per week at 7 min pace at the slowest in nike frees. It's a different story if I try to run in saucony hattoris, though.
I have found that truly minimalist shoes are fine to run in and have a lot of benefits, but they aren't the best for competitors, since it is difficult to run at a high intensity for a longer distance without experiencing inflammation. Obviously, a competitor wants to minimalize inflammation while at the same time handling high intensities at a moderate to high mileage, so running on asphalt, some cushioning is necessary. That said, I think Nike free 5.0's are the perfect training shoe for non-track workouts, and you can tell your coach that a d-1 all-american said so.