Posted by Kit Barker | Posted in Fitness progress, FiveFingers, Logistics | Posted on 09-04-2010
in normal shoes anymore!
To test how my blistered feet were healing I went for a run in my normal, cushioned running trainers. I was cautious about wearing my FiveFingers as I really didn’t want to hinder the healing process (I’ve had far too long out as it is).
Setting off through the park was hard. Nothing to do with the shoes, but not running for three weeks ruins your fitness! Once through the mental barriers, I got into my stride and started noticing pain in my left knee and ankle.
It got slowly worse through the run. By the time I’d finished my 4 miles I certainly wasn’t in agony but it wasn’t pleasant. I also noticed that my thighs were killing me. They were really tired and the next day they felt awful still.
I went out and did the same route in my fivefingers and what do you know? My legs, knees and ankles were fine. No pain, no real tiredness, no hurting blisters.
This is far from a conclusive, scientific test here but wearing fivefingers for the first time changes your gait: you absorb shock using your calves rather than relying on the shoe. Running on cushioned shoes seems to bypass the calves and concentrate effort in the thighs. I’m sure there’s a PhD thesis in there somewhere…