OK! I get it. This barefoot running trend isn’t going away anytime soon, and a large part of me is wondering if that is because its totally legit. People ran for hundreds of years before Nike or Asic or Saucony even existed, and I imagine they didn’t deal with plantar fasciitis or shin splints as much as we do today. So what gives?!
I’ve been debating this over the past few weeks as I continually–and painfully!–roll my foam roller over my shins and my IT band. (I knew something was a bit off when I got a pedicure last week. The manicurist smacked my calves during the lower-leg massage and it hurt! That is NOT supposed to happen!) I have good shoes and don’t feel like I push my mileage too much…so why the aches and pains?
My friend Cindy and her boyfriend both purchased the Vibram toe shoes and swear by them. They both agree that it focuses your running in a more natural way. However, neither of them do big mileage and I don’t think either of them run more than 3 or 4 miles at a time. Cindy even admitted that she needed to work her mileage up in the toe shoes to be able to wear them for a 5k. Not sure thats something I want to deal with! And even more, do I want to spend the money on new shoes that I might totally hate?! Ah! Jury is still out on this one 🙂
On an entirely different note…..can you believe it is almost here?! SO EXCITED!