Footprints

by Budd Glassberg

Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on September 26, 2007

If The Shoe Fits

I must have purchased over 150 pair of running shoes in the 50 years I have been running. In high school, I ran in what was then called “cross-country shoes”. The uppers of those shoes were made of canvas with shiny white rubber as a toe protector. They contoured to the width of the foot with a narrow heel, narrow instep and wider at the forefoot and toes. The soles were made of a tan rubber with a wavy pattern for traction. They had no midsole. The shoes were light and flexible. I ran over 1,000 miles on them and only replaced them because my feet had grown. In college, I ran in a pair of Pumas. They were also light, flexible and stayed with me for 5 years and nearly 10,000 miles. I ran without injury that entire time.

In the mid 1970’s running shoes evolved along with the first running boom. They included more bells and whistles. With Nike, came the waffle sole, a novelty at the time that supposedly would help with traction and sole wear. The Nike Waffle Trainer was a big hit. It had a soft midsole which made the shoe feel very comfortable compared with the hard soles of earlier running shoes. Nike, figuring that if some soft rubber is good, more must be better introduced their next shoe that had a larger midsole and a wider heel. The wide heel was supposedly for stability. I found that it gave me pain on the outside of my knees. New Balance, Brooks, Adidas, Tiger (now Asics), Saucony and others joined Nike in the comfort running shoe design and a multi-billion dollar industry took off.

Best of all for these shoe companies was the soft rubber midsole. The soft rubber would compress over the life of the shoe and runners would have to replace the shoe after four or five hundred miles. In addition to providing the shoe companies an annuity paid by the addicted runners, they continued to “improve” the shoes with more advance models each year. Much like the auto industry, running shoe makers want their customers to feel that they don’t want to be caught running around in last year’s shoes. The result of this is that when a runner finally finds a shoe that fits her and appears to be one she likes, the shoe is discontinued in favor of one that will not fit.

For twenty-five years, I bought into the hype as well as the “science” of the industry thinking that the “experts” would protect my feet and joints with what they were manufacturing and constantly improving. Despite nagging injuries including monthly twisted ankles, occasional knee pain, IT band, and sciatica, I continued to buy the state of the art running shoes. It took a bout of plantar faciitis that lasted for two years to open my eyes to what was causing these injuries. Instead of relying on the experts at the running shoe store or a company with a vested interest to recommend shoes for my feet, I began to research the cause of such injuries. I discovered that how I was running, landing on my heel first, was likely the cause of my injuries.

Using my thick soled running shoes with the elevated heel was not conducive to changing my running form. I needed a shoe that would allow me to strike the ground with my entire foot. The stores no longer carried the kind of shoe I was looking for. I needed something without an elevated heel, with little or no midsole, that was light and flexible. I needed my old cross-country shoe from high school. Fortunately, Puma made a shoe close to what I was looking for and I purchased several pair to test my theory.

It was important to gradually wean myself from the thick soled shoes because the elevated heels in those shoes caused my calf muscles to shorten over time. Too much pull on those muscles would put them in jeopardy as well as my Achilles tendon. By progressively running more and more time in my Pumas along with calf stretches, I eventually switched over to the minimalist shoes. Despite nearly doubling my weekly mileage, I have not been injured since the switch five years ago. I attribute this good fortune to running with proper form and getting my periodic chiropractic adjustments from Dr. Kevin Anderson.

Over the last three years, I have incorporated barefoot walking and running into my training. This has been beneficial in helping me keep good running form. Since last spring, I have been altering the minimalist shoes to make running sandals which I use on very rough surfaces like trails. They have served me well this summer.

As a runner, I know that we are all experiments of one. What works for me may not work for others depending on a person’s body type, age, mileage and so on. I do believe that there are some constants though and hope in some way that my journey may be of use to others.

Budd Glassberg is a 23 year resident of Zionsville who works and volunteers in the community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns. You can reach him by email at budd@runz.com.