I Just Can't Find a Thing to Wear!

(a.k.a. Do My Running Shoes Make Me Look Fat?

So here's a question: what should or shouldn't us runners wear on our feet?

I certainly don't know, but I'll write a bit from my experience and would love to learn what others may have to share about this topic.

When I first started running several years ago, it hurt!  In retrospect, I realize that this was normal and that I could have just patiently let my body adapt.

But as perhaps a particularly naive and impressionable new runner, I tried just about everything that was suggested to me.  I followed the advice of runner friends, heeded the words of running book authors, altered my running form, delved into the wonderful world of podiatry and orthotics, and experimented with different types of running shoes.

Early on, a friend of mine who'd been running for many years told me how he'd experienced some rather serious injuries including a few stress fractures, but had been running injury-free since wearing orthotics provided by a certain highly regarded podiatrist.  So, I figured, I'd be a fool (even more than usual) not to pay this podiatrist a visit.

How excited he was, this Dr. Foot (name changed to protect the guilty) that here I was, Diligent Dave, seeking his help to protect my feet and body from the pounding of my new hobby. After only about a 10-minute exam he fit me for orthotics, and not only for my running shoes but also for my walking shoes, both of which he assured me were essential for my physical well-being.  So who was I to question this confident and caring physician? 

Well, I should have.  They cost a fortune.  Plus, every several months the running orthotics would wear down and have to be re-surfaced.  And when they were being resurfaced I couldn't run for several days because I risked injury if I were to suddenly run without them after having followed detailed protocol for getting accustomed to them.  On top of all that, when the orthotics were returned to me after resurfacing, several times I ended up with blisters due to the texture of the new surface.  Oy vey!

Eventually, it hit me that the orthotics not only were an annoyance, but that maybe they weren't necessary.  Maybe either I was supposed to ease into running more gradually, or it was supposed to hurt a bit until I adapted to running.

So I went to a running store that provides video gait analysis, and was sold a pair of running shoes that I was told would address my very mild pronation.  I then weaned myself off of the orthotics, and ultimately trashed them.  It's been about a year now since I dumped the orthotics, and I've been running comfortably and happily without them ever since.

But being Curious Dave, and impressionable, I also experimented with wearing running shoes that provided very little support and padding.  One recommendation espoused (don't you just love a good espousing?) by ChiRunning guru Danny Dreyer is to wear minimalist running shoes, including to enable one's feet to provide the body with important feedback.  Check out this brand new article about the minimalist shoe movement that quotes Danny Dreyer. 

Well, heeding the minimalist perspective, I went out and bought a pair of New Balance 709s.  They were extremely light and comfortable, and seemed to help me to land on my mid-foot, which is how I seek to run per ChiRunning principles. I ran on my minimalist running shoes once for just 3 miles on a boardwalk in Cape May.  But I didn't feel right toward the end of the run, with discomfort including along my IT bands that continued for several days.  I wore them again two weeks later for 5 miles, and the discomfort was worse than the first time.  I haven't worn them since.  Maybe I didn't ease into them properly, or maybe they just weren't the right shoe for me.

Yet I continue to remain intrigued about what to wear, or not wear, on my feet.  Recently, I read some Flyers posts about barefoot running and interest in Scott Jurek's Born to Run and I find it fascinating that barefoot running appears to be catching on.

I've also recently come across MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) shoes, such as Shugulis. The "B" in MBT is for barefoot, yet the soles of these shoes are massively thick and when I took them for a test-walk in a shoe store I learned that they're designed such that I should essentially rock 'n roll over them, and it felt almost like walking on wheels, or something like that.  I found them to be very comfortable, but also expensive.  I was told that they're supposed to strengthen the calf muscles, among the benefits.  Perhaps.  Or will I end up with over-stressed and strained calves that lead to running injury?

So, maybe I've evolved some from Impressionable Dave who'd try everything that anyone suggested to me, to now Slightly Cynical Dave.  But I do continue to wonder, including:

1. Does anyone else have buyer beware experiences with orthotics?  Do others want to sing their praises?
2. Is anyone having success with minimalist shoes and barefoot running?  Any disaster stories?
3. Do lighter running shoes make you run faster?  More important, will they make me run faster??!
4. What are the pros and cons of padding on running shoes?
5. What's the deal with MBT shoes?  Are they just another fad, and do they require Dramamine to get used to the rocking motion?  Or should I be wearing them, even to bed (yes, my wife is very tolerant :)?
6. And, seriously, do my running shoes make me look fat? 

-Dave K.

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