Years ago I was plagued by joggers' injuries. I tried doctors, hospitals, physiotherapists, but I couldn't get rid of it, even though I did all the right things and wore proper jogging shoes.
Well, it now seems that the whole running shoe business was a multibillion dollar scam, and that many of these injuries are actually caused by running shoes. Someone has finally done the research which you'd think would have been done before they brought the shoes to market.
The verdict is that fancy running shoes have allowed us to develop lazy feet, and the running style that the books and the shoe makers advise - landing on the heel - is actually all wrong. Apparently the safest stride is barefoot-style, landing on the toes or ball of the foot, like the Tarahumara Indian runners.
It makes you wonder what other accepted wisdom may be similarly baseless. Next thing you know, they'll be saying that dogs should walk around naked.
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10 July 2005 at 18:53
running sore
Hotboy said...
The wonderful thing about running is that there are all kinds of different ways to do it. Like flatheids with ra bliss, it is difficult for non-runners to suss this. There are changes, gears, etc.
But if you ran the way those joes told you .... it's no right. If you run long distances, you roll. You never land anywhere. You roll along the outside curve of your foot.
But there are gears and changes. As long as you hardly feel the ground, so wonderful is your balance. Footballers run on the balls of their feet. Totally wrong. But running in shoes is unnatural. You have to teach yourself. At first, it's weird and doesn't feel right.The first guy who ran a marathon died of course. Hotboy P.S. I hope this helps.
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Heather said...
Hubby and I were just talking about the sneaker scam. He does Physical training daily and wears out running shoes fast - Brand name - cheap, expensive whatever...they all wear the same. So the sneaker companies are in cahots with orthepedic surgeons? I have heard of stranger!
P.S.
Whats a flatheid?? Something like a dork?
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Hotboy said...
Flatheid is a Scottish version of flat head. When I started to get loads of ra bliss, people I knew who didn't meditate (and get ra bliss)(of course, most people who meditate don't get ra bliss either because they don't do enough, I hope) started getting called flatheids. I thought I'd stop them being flatheids by being insulting, but it didn't work!
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Hotboy said...
I read the research link. I started running in Converse Baseball boots. Poisonous gave me an old pair. The boy in the research is running on trails, not the flat. On the flat you want to minimize impact. Hey, different strokes for different folks. Seb Coe was on the telly tonight. He ran the 800 as if he wasn't touching the ground at all. Gliding. Pity he's a tory! Hotboy
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