can't help with concrete advice but if you can, can you expand on the "taped knees", what's that about, and also who do you go to, to determine all them things, the deformity and such? thanks
this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
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I'm talking about kinesio tape. https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-tape-a-knee
I'm seeing an orthopedist and, when needed, a radiologist. I went through a round fo physio therapy too. Afaik a specialized sports doctor wouldn't be part of public health insurance. Either that, or it's just so happens that the ones in my city are all private. It's a pretty gentrified city with lots of rich people moving here for a few months or years specifically for sports (it's in the alps).
Although you probably have amazing cardio, your legs need to readapt to running. A run-walk program like the one in couch-to-5k will let your legs slowly adapt, even though it might feel boring. Basically accept that for the first few weeks your running can't get you to a high fatigue level because your legs won't like it and trust me when I say the injuries and niggles are not worth getting to that 10k a few months early. Add some good run-specific strength work (lots of bodyweight or low equipment options on youtube) to help your legs get stronger too.
Thanks for the advice! But yeah, as much as it sucks, I'd rather be bored during exercise than injure myself. I guess I'll have to start in parallel with swimming so I don't lose my cardio! I do have a a repertoire of exercises my physio taught me, I'll have to get back to doing them diligently.
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall was pretty influential for me as a runner.
Men's health journalist who had a bunch of injuries and couldn't figure out running even though he had tried to run his whole life, and then ends up traveling to a tribe in Mexico whose whole culture is centered around running.
There are some practical descriptions of their running methods, and I think the most important part was changing how I thought about running and placing the emphasis on running slow and safe and comfortable, especially in minimalist footwear since it's a lot more obvious in thin or no soles if I'm running weird than it is in thick soles, and once I'm running slow and safe and comfortable, speed naturally comes after.
I didn't start running marathons until after i reset my technique to a basis of running comfort and smoothness first.
What a fascinating recommendation, thank you! I'm intrigued
Since you brought up the minimalist shoes: one thing that's conflicting is thaty orthopedist recommended I always wear my orthotics when running or hiking while my physiotherapist recommended walking, and if possible running, barefoot as much as possible. I'm looking into barefoot shoes once it gets warmer (those thin soles aren't super appealing in the current freezing temps). I'll start out wearing them casually and see how it goes.
I'm siding with your physiotherapist, after I started running with thin soles I've never gone back. The running feedback is so much more clear with thin soles.
The only reason I don't run barefoot is because of broken bottles.
Christopher McDougall was prescribed all sorts of orthotics before starting his running journey but his injuries all cleared up after he switched to minimalist footwear and started running slow and comfortable.
I luckily didn't have any injuries except for normal muscle rolls and strains on my ankle if the ground wasn't even, but now all the muscles down near my ankle are so much stronger since I switched to thin soles and no ankle support.
I ran slow, built up those muscles and now they are pretty robust, even if I step wrong and my foot turns I don't pull any muscles anymore.
I hope you enjoy the book! even without all the interesting running stuff, it's a pretty great account of cultural exchange and exploration.
Thank you so much for the insights! I'll be trying barefoot shoes for sure. Are they comfy on course gravel? My park runs have a bunch of that.
That sounds right up my alley, nice!
For sure, I'm glad to help!
tldr: yes! haha,
Longerrr: Thin-soles are comfy on coarse travel, it can actually feel like a bit of a massage after the soles of your feet toughen up. Like I always thought that was just something barefoot runners said to sound badass, but then I experienced it and it is pretty cool, haha.
Gravel might feel tricky in the beginning if you're used to thick soles and thick ankle support, where we're kind of tricking our feet into believing they're on a flat stable platform each step regardless of the actual stability or safety of that step, but your ankle muscles and the bottoms of your feet will get tough very quickly running in thinner soles.
I prefer thin soles on gravel, and I've run on a lot of gravel, actually on every surface. I even climb mountains in thin-soled shoes because the feedback from the bottom of my feet is so much quicker and very accurate, so I'm able to adjust to loose gravel or use the muscles of my foot to stabilize myself in a way that I just can't with thicker soles because a thick sole won't conform to the muscles of my foot and padded ankle support won't let me adjust the angle and position of my foot on the fly with full mobility when I'm running or hiking like I need to in order to avoid injury if I step on a loose rock or overstep or something.
With thick soles it's difficult to tell if the ground underneath you is unstable or dangerously slanted until the ankle support has already twisted your ankle too far in the wrong direction.
Thin soles, I feel the direction and stability of the ground instantly, and at this point my foot adjusts correctly by itself, and that definitely started by jogging slowly and safely first, and letting my feet get used to actually feeling the ground underneath my feet. Your feet and ankles will get noticeably tougher over probably 2 weeks, and once those muscles are stronger, you'll feel more stable and naturally start moving faster, although as fast as you run, that foundation of running comfortably should always be there.
Comfortably as in running at a speed that you can maintain while only breathing through your nose. It's going to feel super slow in the beginning, but many people can walk breathing through their nose fine, so can probably go a little faster still breathing through your nose, and it'll get easier as your feet get tougher, ankles get stronger and your breathing control improves.
Man you know I've been walking a lot but actually haven't run now in maybe 6 months and talking about it is making me want to get out there.
By running comfortably and building up the muscles you use to run, you'll find your minimum pace that you can maintain for hours at a time. I also just made friends with a runner here, so maybe it's time.
In the beginning you might only be able to maintain that breathing-through-your-nose pace for 10 minutes, but your endurance should go up by at least a few minutes every time you're running at your comfortable pace.
And none of this is strict die by the nose-breathing code, haha. Every time you run in thin-soled shoes, your feet will get a little stronger and tougher, and every time you practice breathing through your nose, your breathing control will get a little better, so it's fine if you have to stop and pant occasionally, just means you have to dial back your pace a bit.
I didn't run fast marathons(usually ~6 hours), I just set up routes for myself so I could explore the towns near where I was living over the course of 26 and a half miles, but I also wasn't panting or dying by the end of the marathons.
I was enjoying the feeling of running(or jogging slowly) and then I had gone through a marathon and I got some food and beer and then taught English the next day at school.
I have been running for a very long time and have helped other people start running comfortably this exact same way. Another teacher in my school absolutely hated running his whole life, and he was like 38 when I met him, I think.
But he asked me how I was running marathons but was fine the next day, and I explained the above, so he started running comfortably and in thin-soled shoes and started doing half marathons within a couple of months.
In my experience this comfortable running method works really well and is safe and makes our feet and ankles stronger, so I hope it helps.
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!