Running Injuries and the Law of Unintended Consequences

In the late '80's, I was a decent runner, able to run 10K in 32 minutes.  Not world class, but capable of winning local races if the stars lined up.

I had plans to increase my mileage, and as an ambitious runner in his late twenties, had goals of moving to a higher level of competition.  I was convinced that good running shoes were paramount to withstand the increased stress that speed work and higher mileage would impart on my joints.  I was particularly influenced by sports medics, who at the time urged me to find ways to stabilize my foot during impact.

I remember the Nike Pegasus feeling good and fitting well.

Unfortunately, as I ran "harder", my knees and hips could not tolerate the aggressive pounding that the stability of the shoes allowed.  As I've recently learned from studying the benefits of barefoot running, the unintended consequences of localizing stability to the foot results in more aggressive striding.  The result of this stride is that knees and hips are the absorbers of the shock, instead of the natural leaf spring of the foot, and my pains worsened.

Now in my late forties, I've been gently running every other day for years, never able to handle recovering from daily runs, until now.  Barefoot running, triggered by my frustration after spraining an ankle, has revealed to me that the forced stride changes required to run on barefeet is actually sustainable.  My knees and hips don't hurt after 7-8 mile runs.  I don't run barefooted, but I've switched from super supportive, orthotic-laden shoes to minimal, flexible trainers.