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So, if running shoes don't make you go faster and don't stop you from getting hurt, then what, exactly, are you paying for? What are the benefits of all those microchips, thrust enhancers, air cushions, torsion devices and roll bars?
The answer is still a mystery. And for Bowerman's old mentor, Arthur Lydiard, it all makes sense.
'We used to run in canvas shoes,' he said.
'We didn't get plantar fasciitis (pain under the heel); we didn't pronate or supinate (land on the edge of the foot); we might have lost a bit of skin from the rough canvas when we were running marathons, but generally we didn't have foot problems.
'Paying several hundred dollars for the latest in hi-tech running shoes is no guarantee you'll avoid any of these injuries and can even guarantee that you will suffer from them in one form or another. Shoes that let your foot function like you're barefoot - they're the shoes for me.'
miracuously remained in its neutral position throughout the entire phase of gait perhaps?
I have an appreciation for a shoe that enables "barefoot-like" function (e.g. Nike Free) however when you consider that today's running surfaces are mostly flat, hard roads/paths they probably aren't very well indictaed. Perhaps if you were running on sand?
Last edited by delpod : 28th April 2009 at 06:26 AM.
The main cry for the new 'natural shoes' is likely to come from commercial interest keen to engage a lobby to remove the 'performance enhancing' clauses from professional running codes.
Years ago we posibly weren't running on the amount of bitumen and concrete as we do now. I agree that the shoes presented today are possibly "too much shoe" however we do need something for the runners who run on hard surfaces. Possibly the nike free styles are on the right track.
Running shoes cause injuries
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