Well a lot has taken place since my last blog. I do have to ask…. Where do people find time to blog all the time, or is it I don’t make time?
Christmas has been, so has New Year! So I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a fantastic arrival into the New Year!
I had a true White Christmas…. And it really started to snow! We had so much! Then very quickly New Year rolled round and I got to buy Fireworks and then let them off! So much fun!
Sadly my wife was sick on New Year’s Eve, and on New Year’s Day I felt a little off….. Then felt like I was dying! I didn’t do out the house for 7 days and was sicker then I had been for so very long! It took a good couple of weeks to really come right from the flu or what ever I had.
Finally I was well enough to be able to build up my Road Bike. It’s beautiful Custom Build Frame by Rob at englishcycles.com. I couldn’t believe it when I got out on the bike….. It was awesome! I found when I was a Pro that the first ride on a new frame didn’t show the full story, it was always on the second and third ride that you found the faults. I am very very happy to Report the English just got better and better each ride! Well done Rob- another Awesome job!
Also finally got back into training….. This hasn’t been easy for me as I am now in my second winter in a row and it has been cold, wet and snowy. Yet my first proper week back I got a little luck, I started the week training in -2 and then it got to 10 degrees by the end of the week! Man it felt good. I have been mixing my training up a bit, as I see this period as getting fit and about time rather then about distance. So I have had my Mountain bike, Cyclo Cross and Road Bikes out. Due to a crack in my stem face plate the Ironman bike hasn’t been out. Yet it will once the weather is warmer. I have also been running, and I will start swimming on Sunday….. I am meeting someone there so I have to go! At least it isn’t at 5:30am…. That is just tooooo early.
I have read an interesting book. I am sure some of you have read it as well, yet I want to express some thoughts about it and see what others think. One of the main points in the book, and what a lot of people seem to have really focused on, is the barefoot running. The author really pushed this idea and made shoes out to be the work of the devil! Part way though reading I started looking stuff up on the interweb and found so much information and so many websites saying the same thing, pushing this idea that barefoot is the way to go. Once I pushed further I found other sites so against barefoot running, this lead me to think a lot about the pros and cons.
I also started thinking about my running experience and what I have found works and what doesn’t. So here goes my 2 cents worth on the topic of shoes, good, bad and barefoot running.
When I started running (not long ago) after so many years of bike riding I found right a way that running is hard, also hard on you and your legs. I built up slowly and it was great. I then started training for my first Ironman and had a blast doing it. Then started training for my second, I wasn’t doing as many km as I should have been doing and I got a sore knee…. Really sore, so off to the sports Doctor I went. After looking at it, plus how I ran, I was given strength training to do. This didn’t help so I was off to the podiatrist, how said I needed arch support, and this would fix it. He made them charged me even when I first stepped into them I told him I couldn’t walk for 5 minutes with them like this. Of course his answer was I was being soft and need to try them. I did, not only did I have knee pain (worse than before I went to the Doctor) I also now had real foot pain. Back I went…. He changed them and sent me on my way. Again knee and foot pain…. I at this point just about threw my shoes out the window and said I will never run again.
I was lucky at this point to read an in-flight magazine by Air NZ saying about barefoot shoes. I read and thought wow that makes some sense, yet couldn’t find any in New Zealand. So that was put on the back burner to simmer away. I then bought some Asics fashion shoe. No padding in the heel, no arch support, just looked cool. I was walking around a lot in them and my feet started to feel better, till I ran…. So I got rid of the Orthotics and Bingo no knee pain and no foot pain.
So this is a very long winded way of saying I think Doctors don’t always get it right and I think there is some good in free shoes. YET I think we need to be very careful. The Barefoot Movement and the Anti-Barefoot movement are picking trenches and doing battle. One side yells that research show this, then the other side shows something else. The problem is, as far as I can find there is no clear research supporting either side. We have a lot of stories like mind were using minimal shoes or barefoot helped, and others were people got hurt barefoot running.
My personal belief is barefoot or minimal shoes can really help your feet and biomechanics and as part of everyday life can add to your enjoyment of running. Yet I will not get rid of my running shoes. I will no longer buy supportive shoes. I have had experts tell me I pronate and need a supportive type of shoe, and I disagree. Neutral shoes work great and I have no problems with pain anywhere, and this has to do with making my feet stronger.
Some people will pick a side of the argument and not listen to what is being said by the other side. This type of close mindedness is always dangerous. Do what works for you, yet be willing and open to new ideas. Try something new and you may find it wonderful. One thing Born to Run did do for me was to remind me the running should be fun! We need to find a way to make it fun. That maybe barefoot, it maybe leaving the heart rate monitor at home. What ever it is, do it!
Please give me your feedback and your ideas and experiences. I am interested in what works for you and why. I love learning new information.
Ok. That is it from me…. Next time I will be more about training I think….. Writing about house work isn’t so interesting.!
Cam
