I recently finished the Rock the Parkway 10k and sent a new PR for myself. It was a fairly flat and fast course. I have been training in the mornings fairly consistently and my long runs were getting up to 5 miles. I have felt good during most runs but recently started having some outside knee pain. Nothing severe but enough that I knew I should take a break before the race.
During the race I felt great. My legs were good and I was definitely happy with my results. Afterwards my right knee was very sore as where the muscles in my foot. This led me to consider some things as shoe changes. Currently I am running in a Nike Structure Stability Shoe. I begin to question myself Am I running wrong? Are my shoes causing the problem? What is the deal?
During this time of questioning and searching for answers I began to consider the idea of minimalist running. It is not that foreign to me. As a High School track competitor I spent much of my time in racing spikes which do not have much cushioning or support. I have found articles laying out the pro’s and con’s of minimalist running http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-400—13691-1-1X2X3X4X5X6X7X8-9,00.html. Also the book that seems to have sparked the revolution: Born to Run.
I believe I want to try it. The research makes sense to me. The idea of running the way our bodies intended to run makes sense to me. But can I make the giant transition to the Vibram Five Fingers? or do I need something in between such as Nike’s Free 3.0? I know the transition is time consuming and I will be retraining the way I run. It is my hopes that this will prevent any future injuries and I will be able to run for years to come.
With that being said…over the next few weeks I hope to come to a decision and begin training for another 10k (or maybe a Half Marathon by the fall if I am ambitious) while transitioning to a minimalist shoe.
kccycleandrun 