http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/01/09/youre_crazy/?page=1
Mr. Abel,
I appreciated your article on the VFFs as I had a very similar experience a few years ago. The only difference is that I was and am still committed to the ideals and principles of barefoot running. I did some more research and found, even in Born to Run practical advice was given about how and why these stress injuries occur. First and foremost, the issue isn’t the pavement, it’s the change in form. When we wear the built up shoes for so long the muscles in our feet become atrophied and weak. When we start wearing and running in minimalist shoes and our form changes from heal strike to forefoot strike, we begin putting a significant amount of stress on muscles in our feet that are not used to be worked. Over time and hard efforts, these weak muscles just give way to a stress reaction, then a stress fracture.
In fact, in Barefoot Running Step By Step written by Barefoot Ken Bob, he stresses the need to slowly build foot muscles over time with short, easy barefoot runs every other day. He also talks about what can happen to people who do not follow this advice and attributes stress fractures and stress reactions to “Barefoot Running Exuberance” or “Too Much, Too Soon”.
You and I had a similar problem. We bought in to the idea and tried it out, eventually liked it enough to try it over long distances and hard efforts, and we both ignored the same pain for too long. This is common. The only difference is that with more research, I found that we did it all wrong. I was disappointed that you went through all the trouble to go to the source of this research and they neglected to mention any of this, when it is mentioned clearly in multiple other sources on the issue, including in the book that started it all, Born to Run. At one point in the book, the author actually asks if he should just chuck out his shoes and start running, but the doctor and researcher with whom he is speaking says that by doing that, he would just get a stress fracture.
Real advocates of barefoot/minimalist running stress the importance of foot strengthening exercises along with slow, easy, short runs in minimalist footwear or barefoot only 2-3 days a week, then over many months, gradually building the runs longer and harder. It can take from 6 months to a year to develop the appropriate strength to run barefoot/minimalist injury free.
In my own experience, I have gone back to running in minimalist shoes, but this time I started small and worked on my foot muscles over time. I also stepped down into intermediate styled shoes with less heal and arch support, but that promoted a forefoot strike. I have been committed to changing my form to a forefoot strike and have finally started to increase distance and intensity with more minimalist shoes to the point that I now have 3 pairs of minimalist footwear that have zero heal drop, no arch support, and very little between my foot and the ground. Only one of those shoes are the same Vibram Five Fingers that I got three years ago, and I still wear those occasionally. Whenever I have tried to go back to traditional, built up shoes I have experienced the same knee pain I did in the past and shin splints, no matter what shoes I have chosen for myself or someone else has chosen for me based on a scientific selection process.
I’m sold on minimalist running, and I believe it is a healthier and happier way to run injury free because of a good amount of research and experience. But even if these “barefoot” shoes aren’t for you, I encourage you to look into at least changing your form from a heal strike to a forefoot strike. You will reap the benefits of barefoot running without all the sharp, pointy surprises out there... and I don’t know why it’s always the same spot on the foot, either.
Thanks again for your take on Vibrams... Keep running!
Paul Cherry
www.runandeatsimply.blogspot.com
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