The Start Of It All

After decades of running and suffering from knee, ankle and back pain, It didn’t matter how well conditioned I was, I could not run more than three miles. My knees would hurt too much to let me go any farther. I limped through the third mile and spent the rest of the day avoiding any strain on my knees.

No matter how well padded the heel of my running shoe was, there was still too much impact transferred from my heel through my ankle, through my leg, through my knee, hips and into my back. Overall, I was shaking my body apart.

I thought about bringing an end to the running portion of my life but then I read several articles about barefoot running. They talked about all the benefits to your body and joints but I had heard that before about the latest and greatest running shoes. What made me interested was how one barefoot runner mentioned it forced you to run the way our ancient ancestors ran, the way your body is designed to run. Just for fun I thought I’d give it a try.

It only took one run for me to realize the problems I’ve had all my life were from running in shoes. I did my usual three miles, this time on grass, only to find I had absolutely no pain in my knees.

The next day I ran five miles for the first time since high school, (twenty seven years ago). Again, I had no pain in my joints. I did have stiff sore ankles and some blisters on my toes. The soreness was not from the impact of no shoes, it was due to the fact I was using muscles in my lower ankles that I have never used (peroneus longus, and brevis, gastronemius, soleus, posterior and anterior tibialis). Our shoes have compensated for these muscles all our lives.