Cuboid problem

I've been getting some pain in my left foot since a little while before the marathon, and its been getting worse.  Basically its a soreness on the outside edge of my left foot, just behind that sticky out bit, about half way along and it happens as I push off when running and, to a lesser extent when walking.

So last week I decided it was bad enough that I would have to see someone about it and booked into the RunRight podiatry clinic in Helston.  The podiatrist, Steve Bloor, came to fame last year when Tesco's staff refused to let him walk barefoot in the store (see here).

Anyway, I was quickly diagnosed with a stuck Cuboid.  Some manipulation and things seemed to improve almost immediately.  Steve carried out some gait analysis and basically gave me a full MOT from the waist down.  Being interested in barefoot running it was great to chat with someone who knows their stuff and could give credence to some of the ideals I am starting to adhere to.

I was especially pleased to have someone look at my gait and tell me I'm doing it right.  Basically I'm running mid foot now and have found, after a fairly long transition from heel striking, that it had all come together; but its always good to have someone else give the thumbs up.

So that afternoon, feeling liberated from my annoying pain (though, if I'm honest, a little tender from the manipulation) I thought I'd go for a run.  I dropped Bronwen off at Brownies in Hayle and headed out for a run I am very familiar with - across the dunes to Gwithian and back, a total of 8 miles, which gets me back just in time to pick up Bron at the end of Brownies.  For the first 4 miles I felt great; after that, not so much.  Rapidly feeling the returning pain increase I opted for running back along the beach rather than the dunes. By the time I got back I was really sore.

D'oh.  Should have rested up for a day I think.  Saturday came and went and there was no way I was running.  No improvement on Sunday either.  By Tuesday morning I was back to where I had started on Friday.  I called Steve and got booked in for a second visit.  He advised me I might benefit from an orthotic, which was really something I had hoped to avoid as it felt like a retrograde step; having just spent a year working down to as little shoe as possible the idea of orthotics just seemed wrong.  Still, if Steve, being a man who spends most of every day barefoot or in very minimal shoes, thinks its the way to go then I guess I have to give it a try.  Its not a permanent solution though, just something to help me recover.

I also got a spiky ball and instruction on how to exercise my foot and build up the strength to prevent this kind of thing recurring.  Since Tuesday I've run a couple of times and I'm still getting a bit of soreness so am staying below 6 miles but I think things are slowly improving.  Its frustrating though, I should be back up to some pretty high mileage weeks by now and I'm not very good at taking it easy.  

New Balance Minimus Zero MR00 review

I have to admit I've been lazy. Towards the end of last year I started running barefoot, fully convinced I would soon be recognised as that weirdo that runs around Cornwall unshod, gliding effortlessly along the roads, passing silently as my bare feet caressed the pavements, fully immersed in the primal joy of running as man had ever evolved to do.

Then it got wet and cold.  It’s not much fun running barefoot in November in England.

Enter the New Balance Minimus Zero running shoes.  Now if you are Barefoot Ted or a Tarahumara these are still going to look and feel like a running shoe.  However, for most mere mortals this is what is now generally known as a "barefoot-style" shoe.  

I've run about 50 miles in my pair which is enough for me to know I like them (a lot).

On the advice of the shop owner I went a size up so for me that’s a UK size 12.  This fits perfectly, rather than going too big in some places to get room in others.

So the first thing I noticed when I picked these up is their weight, they really are very light.  According to the New Balance site they weigh 124 grams; I assume this is for a size 9. In the interests of science I weighed my 12’s and they come in at 200g.

Putting them on is like putting on your favourite pair of socks. The upper wraps around your foot – accentuated by the “Taco-style” tongue – and I found I just had to do the laces up rather than pull really hard to bring the shoe tight to my foot.

The toe box is very roomy so, if like me, you want to be able to feel your toes splay out then these will suit you well.

The uppers appear to be very well made; the mesh has a kind of honeycomb pattern and is sort of double thickness.  There are several bands of paper thin tape in strategic points. I’m not sure if these are for structural or aesthetic reasons.  At first I thought these could come unstuck fairly easily but having worn them a bit they seem well adhered to the upper; only time will tell.

Underfoot there is a 12mm Vibram sole with no heel lift.  You can feel the ground underfoot and it is very obvious that you have no structural elements coming to bear – no arch lift or stiff sole – when you walk it’s like you are barefoot.

The insole is glued to the base and is comfy enough, although, rather than a smooth transition between insole and upper there is a definite ridge, which might annoy some people.  Unusually for me I hardly notice it (I am ridiculously fussy about this sort of thing).

Taking the Minimus out for a first run I had it in mind to carry a second pair of shoes and change after a couple of miles.  In the end I didn’t bother and ran six miles with no problems.  The sole is thick enough to absorb the odd stone without giving you a nasty bruise but you really do want to be landing mid foot or you’ll certainly know about it.

These shoes make me run fast!  I’ve still not gone over 6 miles and may never do. I ran in them three times the first week and three the second; to be honest this was a bit much and, with all the other running I was doing it left me feeling a bit like I’d done too much too soon.  So now I’m running once a week in them, though I will probably build that up over the next few months but, with the marathon looming, I want them as a tool to strengthen my feet and improve my style and once a week is fine for that.

Barefoot baby steps

Half way round my run on Saturday morning I decided to bite the bullet and take off my shoes.  I ran a short distance - maybe a mile - completely barefoot on a tarmac road.

Funnily enough there was none of the pain and discomfort I was expecting and, in fact, all the cliches about barefoot running came to mind as I looked for a way to describe it...liberating, free, light...

I made myself stop early as all the evidence is that this is something to transition into slowly.  Plus it was 7am in September in England and the road felt pretty cold underfoot.  Given the winter is only a few months away I might have chosen the wrong end of the year to carry out this experiment.  Even so my shoes felt heavy as I started running again.

I was quite keen to share my experiences but decided to wait and see what the effects of this short trial were.  Sure enough this morning I felt some muscles, or rather parts of muscles, were feeling a little more worked than usual.  The lower part of my calfs and the outside of my left foot felt a bit tender - nothing more - this morning. Since I'd spent yesterday afternoon jumping off sand dunes with my daughter I was prepared to put this soreness down to that and forgot about it for the day.

Later on though I went for another, slightly longer, run.  Again I took my shoes off half way round.  Turns out the sand dunes had nothing to do with the soreness.  I could feel that lower half of my Soleus working again as soon as I started off.  

Its a good ache though; an awakening, rather than a sign of damage.  The main thing to come from this was a feeling of having a bit of fun, forgetting about the clock and just enjoying feeling the ground beneath my feet.  I'll be persevering, but slowly, gently.

Barefoot running technique #2

I  thought I ought to elaborate on my previous post.  In trying to get over my normal tendency to over do it and get hurt I have spent quite a while on trying to improve my running form.

As I said before you don't need to take your shoes off to take advantage of "barefoot" running form.  There are three main points to take on board to improve your form:

1. increase your cadence and shorten your stride (cadence = number of step per minute).

2. Mid foot rather than heel strike - basically the front/middle of your foot should hit the ground before your heel rather than after.

3. Stop over-striding.  If your foot is landing on the ground in front of your hips then you are over-striding.

The good news is that if you take care of point 1 then the other two sort of fall into place.

Cadence should be somewhere close to 180 steps per minute (or 90 per foot).  If you were into hardcore techno in the 90's then you are in luck since your average hardcore mixtape will give you exactly the tempo you need - otherwise download a metronome app and work on speeding up your cadence.

Let your feet land fairly flat so that your heel is the last part to hit the ground and the first part to lift off.  The whole foot starts to acts as a spring, rather than the heel bashing into the ground with every step.

Finally concentrate on ensuring your feet hit the round below your hips.  Don't stretch out.  If, looking ahead of you as you run, you can see your feet and lower legs in your periphery, you are over striding.

Again, if you can achieve point 1 the other two fall into place.  If you find this is all new and unusual then take it steady; try a few hundred yards of this in your next run and take it from there.  Don't over do it.  That's my job!

Barefoot running technique

You don't need to take your shoes off to take advantage of barefoot running techniques.  I've been working on a shorter stride, faster cadence (number of steps) and mid foot (rather than heel) strike for a little while now.

Apart from a few runs on the beach I've not taken the plunge and gone barefoot though.  I'm thinking about giving it a go though, just once a week maybe to see how I get on.

I'll post up my experiences as I go.

In the mean time , in case you are the only person not to have read Born to Run yet (you should, its a great read - even if you have NO interest in running - seriously) here is a link to Prof Daniel Lieberman talking about barefoot.  Its not new, but it is pretty cool so if you haven't seen it yet I reckon you should take a look:

Click here for the vid