Those look awesome.
Five years ago I started wearing barefoot shoes on the advice of my Pilates instructor. The trainer that followed him also pushed me into minimalist shoes when I started running. What I failed to do is read the fine print on the VIVO website that says if you switch “cold turkey” you can trigger plantar fasciitis. It took 8 months for it to clear up in my right foot, followed by more than a year in my left.
I started my Mall walk this morning in the SoftStars, but switched to the Clark’s after a short time. The impact on the hard surface didn’t feel good in my hips. I don’t think the zero drop was as much of a problem as the lack of cushioning.
Minimalist/zero drop shoes aren’t made for walking hard. Heel-striking is almost unavoidable when walking while minimalist shoes are supposed to encourage midfoot plant when running.
Once again, I’ll recommend Altra running shoes for hard surfaces. They even have casual styles, but they are zero-drop with varying levels of cushioning and a natural fit with a wide toe box. You might find that these are a good transition shoe to the Softstars or if the fat pad on the sole of your feet has thinned –it happens as we age– you may want to stick with a cushioned, zero-drop shoe.
Isn’t that kind of like saying “Feet aren’t made for walking hard.”?
What’s the difference between walking hard barefoot, and walking hard with a slip of rubber on your stole?
One doesn’t try to avoid heel-striking when walking in minimalist shoes. The flexibility of minimalist shoes do, however, allow the intrinsic muscles of the foot to activate while walking (as well as while running) and combined with the thinness of the sole, may reduce the heaviness of footfall over time. That can certainly reduce the fatigue caused by walking on hard surfaces, but there is some adaptation involved.
Feet aren’t made for walking on concrete either. Most of the surfaces we encounter are surfaces we haven’t evolved to deal with.
I went through a barefoot/minimalist phase, I think there’s a thread around here where I sing the praises of barefoot running. I credit that phase with getting me in tune with my body and learning how to run for the first time in my life, but ultimately I had to abandon the experiment due to knee pain that wouldn’t go away until I “accidentally” went back to a more conventional running shoe. I even had to stop wearing Vans as much as I like.
Thanks. 
Did you mention these before and I ignored you? Didn’t mean to. Sometimes when I read on my kindle, I miss stuff. Happens when we age… 
I disagree with this. Hard surfaces do exist in the natural world and humans have been walking, running on those surfaces for ages. They do so withand without minimal footwear.
This anecdote does not indicate universal experience. As a counter-anecdote, I am still successfully wearing minimalist shoes for daily life and recreation as a rule without chronic injury or pain.
Post #7. Don’t worry about it, though. It was one sentence in a post in which I rattled off several styles of footwear.
From someone who has tried a myriad of footwear, it’s a process to find what works in any particular situation and for me, it’s not just one particular shoe. As I indicated, I have many “minimalist”* shoes and I’m always wanting to try new styles. Some work better for some activities – or seasons, even – but not for others. Like you, I started with Vibram FiveFingers and I own several pair, but they aren’t my favorite and I rarely wear them. Fortunately, there are a number of companies operating under the same ideas, but executing minimalism in footwear in different ways.
Except you only hear of the ones who’s biomechanics allow barefoot/minimalist running.
While the photo shows them running on rock, how much time do they run on that surface as compared to soft dirt trails? There’s also the factor that they grow up that way but how many fail due to the mentioned biomechanics?
Bikila ran 3 minutes faster in his second Olympics with shoes. Shoes or better fitness?
When I started running (high school), there was no money for running shoes(such as there were in those days) so I ran in grocery store sneakers and did a number on my knees (moderate over-pronator) and was very limited in mileage. In college, with proper shoes, I did 70-80 miles/week.
I have no problem with minimalist shoes and if they work for a person, that’s what counts. But they’re not a cure-all as they’ve been promoted.
I agree that biomechanics plays a role, and also that physical adaptation to environment as plays a role, but as both of those factors are highly variable, I don’t agree with the assessment that our modern world of concrete prevents barefoot/minimalist footwear activity for everyone. And as a backpacker and trailrunner, in my experience, soft dirt trails used repeatedly become hardpack with rocks and roots interspersed. My understanding of human/animal nature in the backcountry is that they will reuse the same trails because it’s the easiest way to get through brushy terrain, and rockier areas are preferable to avoid dealing with brush. So, I’d say its safe to assume that a significant amount of time is spent on very hard terrain.
Are we now assuming that **ThelmaLou **is looking to improve her marathon PRs? I thought she was just wanting to walk comfortably in which case how is this relevant? I was only citing Bikila as an example of someone who successfully (i.e., without injury) ran/walked barefoot on hard terrain.
Didn’t you also operate under the instruction to lengthen your stride for greater speed? That was the traditional approach in those times and resulted in lots of former runners with chronic knee pain and reduced function.
Who, in this thread, has done so?
Well, it prevented it for me. I understand I am but a data point, but when I researched this a few years ago I think the science showed that it was a wash – some people had more injuries, some people had less, the overall takeaway was just to do what worked. For me, I tried it, whole hog, and resisted giving up until I couldn’t deny the obvious. Put me in the “more injuries” camp. I still think people should try it, I’m not an anti-barefoot zealot by any means and I still do short runs barefoot sometimes.
A couple more points – one, I was responding to a comment about minimalist walking, and I think it’s easier to run with a mid-foot strike than walk with one. Hence, I think I did more damage to myself insisting on minimalist shoes for around town than I did with my running shoe choice.
Two, I noticed a big difference in impact stress between running on concrete and asphalt. A bigger difference still between concrete and hard pack dirt. Trail running I never had a problem with, concrete sidewalks would wear me out though.
Just being cautionary.
As for stride length, that will automatically lengthen with improved fitness/strength. Stride length should not come from forcing the front leg(which leads to overstriding and excessive heelstrike) but from driving off the rear leg. Even that can’t be deliberate, it comes from improved fitness.
A typical 6:00/miler and a typical 4:00/miler will both take appx 180 steps/min. The difference in stride length comes from the greater forward velocity from a more powerful leg drive and leg speed to get the leg/foot in position for the footplant.
The only time I would look at increasing stride length is if someone is deliberately understriding.
Even there, I would advocate just running without thinking of stride length, just go by feel.
I actually never had a coach say anything about my stride.
Apologies, I didn’t intend to hijack the thread this far.
For what it’s worth, I’ve eagerly read your comments on running, fitness, and footwear in the past and will continue to do so. Your expertise is recognized and appreciated and your participation on this board is valuable and valued (at least to me). I am not at all offended by being challenged on their veracity or relevancy and relish the opportunity to clarify my statements.
I should have included this in my last post:
Fair enough. As is always the case, generalization and assumption is often incorrect. My apologies. IME with minimalist shoes and running, I’ve talked to numerous gentlemen of a certain generation who indicated they were instructed to lengthen their stride and land on their heels, all of whom could not even entertain the idea of running or even walking in shoes lacking cushion due to their chronic knee issues. It’s why I think Hoka running shoes immediately followed and replaced the minimalist trend. And yes, I do believe it was a trend. Too many people did think it was a solution for them than was appropriate. Minimalism is not for everyone, but many weren’t really as informed as the people commenting in this thread seem to be and really didn’t allow for physical adaptation.
I’ve worn Vibram Five-Fingers for a few years. Not all day, usually, but for walking, sometimes for doing casual errands, and the like. I find them incredibly comfortable. I still wear shoes for work and if I’m walking on rough terrain, and for sports.
This is a good discussion. Hijacks welcome. I’m learning a lot.
One reason I like walking at the mall is because there are no rocks, pebbles, sticks, uneven surfaces, not to mention no traffic, mosquitoes, or dogs (and I love dogs). Also, the temperature and humidity are perfect. Although even at 7:30 in the morning, the music is waaaay too loud. I’d love to have a cool, beautiful outdoorsy place to walk-- rural scenes like I see in my favorite British murder mysteries…
Thanks.
From you comments, I was afraid I has mis-/poorly explained stride length in the past and wanted to clarify.
The benefit to walking on uneven surfaces is that it activates other muscles in your feet, legs, and core providing a more varied and comprehensive workout than walking on the same flat terrain does. Even though I’ve argued that hardness of surface does not preclude comfortable walking, I do agree that more pliable terrain does reduce fatigue, especially for those of who are accustomed to walking around with cushioning under foot or have physical impairments that alter function.
But if the mall is your milieu, adapt your footwear for optimal comfort or allow time for physical adaptation to reduce that discomfort while paying attention to acute pain that does not stem from muscle fatigue. Answer that with adjustments to either surface, frequency/duration of exercise, physical form and/or footwear. Also, a good pair of noise-isolating earbuds and your favorite music or nature sound tracks would solve the ambient noise problem. At least you don’t have to worry about listening for traffic or animal hazards in the mall.
