Hi folks!
About a year ago, I gave myself patellofemoral syndrome. At first I thought I'd overtrained, but turns out it was mostly wrong posture, resulting from unwittingly correcting a foot deformity I didn't know about. I also gave myself osteoarthritis in both knees and one hip from it.
Anyway, I got orthotics now, and can run pain free with them+taped knees. So I'd like to start again.
Thing is, most training plans I can find are aimed at either people who are in training, running wise, or starting from 'couch', ie, being mostly or completely sedentary. I'm neither, as I've replaced with walking 5k+ per day most days and swimming 1.5k (breaststroke, keeping my head over water, and in just under 40 min if it matters) once or twice a week.
I also hike, but not all that regularly. Did 20k with 300m altitude (I know, more of a long brisk walk than a hike) last week and it didn't cause any pain during or after. Just in case that's a relevant clue.
Since my pool membership is running out and running is virtually free, id like to get back into it now that I'm mostly pain free and have my orthotics. Does anyone have a link or advice for how to pick it back up without doing more harm than good?
tia!
Ha, fellow teacher here, though for my country's equivalent to GED maths.
I've never liked ankle support much. Never had running shoes that went up that high. My hiking shoes do, because on actual alpine trails I'd slice my ankles to bits on the rocks otherwise, but I never lace them up all the way to the top.
I love going genuinely barefoot, like no shoes at all, when I just go on a little walk through the forest. Always have, to the point that it was a rule in my house that we had to hose ourselves down before coming inside when I was a kid. But that's soft ground. Never gotten used to gravel, but even just a super thin sole may do the trick!
In case you live somewhere that gets cold some of the year, do you wear minimal shoes then, too? I feel like there wouldn't be much insulation
Hey, teach!
I'm with you on ankle support. I started with Nikes, moved to Chucks, never went back to ankle support. Also a big agree with you on barefoot, I love walking or running barefoot, it's so comfortable.
I use minimal soles almost exclusively, usually my DIY huaraches
on every surface, hiking mountains whatever, so thin soles on gravel should be no problem for you.
I walked from late December to mid-march from Tokyo to Osaka, as well as NZ, China, Alaska, a bunhc of places in sub-zero temps with socks and mesh shoes like this:
and soles like this:
Any conventional shoe or thicker material feels too warm or stifling on my feet. I used thrift store boots in damp wintery New Zealand for a month or so, but as soon as I wasn't walking through basically marshes every day I immediately went back to thin materials.
I remember the one time my feet got cold in Alaska, but then I realized I had been walking on straight-up ice in sub-zero for about 3 hours and things started adding up, haha.
Thanks for the recommendations! Some of those look pretty appealing to me, so I'll have to look into it!
One thing I can't abide though are wet socks. There's currently 20-30cm of snow on many of the sidewalks around me because it's snowing so fast it's impossible for the city to keep up, even with plows going every hour or so. Let alone out in nature. But then again, in snow and ice, I think I do prefer to have traction on my soles, and also with a high enough shaft that the snow won't fall into my shoes. So Ill stick to my blundstones for this weather, and hiking boots for hiking! But I'll see how it goes with thin soles when it's cold but relatively dry.
Yea, wet socks are rough. Wearing appropriate shoes for the conditions makes perfect sense, and constant rain and slush is no fun in mesh.
I brought extra socks with me and had a little box fan lying flat facing up in the corner of my apartment as a drying station, but usually it was dry where I was and snow didn't stick around too long, even after crazy storms.
Going thin-soled doesn't have to be 100% of the time, each time you wear thin soles your ankles and soles of your feet will strengthen and get a little more used to tactile feedback. Going to the gym twice a week is better than going none times a week kind of thing.
Those blundstones look comfortable and great for slush, do you have a lot of lateral mobility in them?
Yeah that's a great way of seeing it! Makes self improvement much less daunting, no matter the kind.
I've got the vegan Chelsea boots. Since the shaft isn't super tight and also stretchy, I can turn my ankle in any direction I think. Pretty important for balance in icy conditions!
All improvement is incremental anyway, no reason to insist upon a wider step than we're comfortable taking.
Those look very comfortable and stylish. I'll keep blundstone in mind next time I'm in a longer-term slushy situation, thanks.
Wise and true words! I've even seen the websites of barefoot shoes recommend you ease into it to give your feet time to adjust. I'll definitely follow that recommendation.
I think I will be going for these: https://www.groundies.com/uk/barefoot-shoes-women/sports-shoes/groundies-active-knit-women-teal-jade.html . Reviews are pretty good (I'm glad I understand German and French haha) and they're made in Europe
Great choice! Those look very comfortable and flexible.
Ha yea, French, German and English must help a lot shopping on the continent, I'm excited for you to try out your shoes!
If you remember after you get some runs under your belt, let me know how it goes.
Or if you ever just have a question, feel free to reach out, i actually did a short run in my sandals yesterday, and walked around the neighborhood for a couple hours barefoot yesterday and today.
Have a good one!