Why Minimalist Running Resulted in a Stress Fracture & Why I’m Still Doing It

There actually is a piece of footwear that causes strangers to stare more than vibrams do, and this fall, I wore it for 6 weeks.
I also had a “going out option” for when I wanted to look even cuter: No lie — the podiatrist called it a “going out boot”.

Over the summer, I was training for an October half marathon in Vibrams. This didn’t end up being the smartest thing a new minimalist runner could do — if you’re curious, here’s the post where I decided to accept that I was injured and stop running so much. After 2 wasted months (and many wasted dollars) of the podiatrist not trusting my google-diagnosis of “Stress Fracture in the Outermost Metatarsal” (which ended up being 100% correct) and having him inject me with cortisone numerous times, the MRI revealed a little stress fracture & I was instructed to wear the Boot for 4-6 weeks.

A Vibram Five-Finger Update

So I’ve had these crazy toe shoes for about two months now, and I’ve just gotten to the point where  I can go out and run for an hour+ like I used to do in sneakers.

The pain I had in my leg that eventually brought on this whole vibram curiosity? Completely a thing of the past. My entire running form has completely changed, and with every additional vibram run, I find something else to tweak in order to make running more natural and more comfortable.

Back straight, hips forward, upper body relaxed, knees up, heels kicking back, legs circling through, almost pedaling over the ground. The consistency in momentum is kind of remarkable with this running form — it’s not pavement pounding, it’s pavement gliding, I’d say, or maybe pavement…cycling? Whatever it is,  it’s a LOT more fun.

The Best Run. Ever.

I just got back from the best run of my life.

Well, I wrote this on Monday afternoon and now it is Wednesday night. But I’m not changing the tense because I don’t want to.

So yes. I just got back form the best run of my life.

My iPod battery was dead, I wasn’t anywhere near my favorite paths, I forgot my heart rate monitor, it was 88 degrees, humid, and overcast.

Not exactly ideal conditions, huh?

But it was So. Much. Fun. Probably the most fun I have ever had running, actually. These vibrams continue to make me into a completely different runner. But I’ll do more of a Vibram update in another post — here I want to write about the surprising joy of the run I just finished, because it was like nothing else I’ve experienced. And I am so relaxed and happy and sort of in awe of what running can be and can feel like.

Damn, these Vibrams are making me into a crazy hippie. I’m even laying out in the park, handwriting this post. Still sweaty from the run, still wearing the “shoes,” and just feeling amazing.

Vibrams & Barefoot/Minimalist Running

I’ve logic-ed it out, and I think this barefoot running stuff makes sense.

I’ve had Vibrams for about a week, and they only have 2 miles on them so far (frequently ignored muscles quickly became sore), but I’m psyched to get my body adjusted to running in them. It might take a while, but it will definitely be worth it.

These Bikilas are Vibram’s running-specific shoe

Among other things, Running in Vibrams is just more fun than running in sneakers. With them on, I felt like I was bouncing along the pavement, naturally moving forward, rather than pounding through it, pushing myself forward with every foot strike. I was a little kid discovering the most natural and exciting thing I had ever found. And with every other runner I saw, I wondered if they knew what I was figuring out — I felt a little bit sneaky, like I had found some elevated awareness of what running was supposed to be. I felt like my whole body was involved in my run– I could feel the ground my feet were interacting with and I could feel my legs and muscles working in a completely different way. I felt each step. And I’m still thinking about this twenty-something minute run.

Running in Vibrams was like discovering a secret. And I’ll try to share that secret with you all, by talking a bit about the shoe itself, the difference in my running step with the Vibrams, and why I am psyched about how sore my calves were post-vibramed run. 

The Transition from 5k Runner to 5 Mile Runner

stop being jealous of how cute I looked after this 5 mile race!

Since starting this blog, I have heard from many people that they can run around 3 miles, and would like to develop into someone who can run 5+ miles and can I please drop a bit of knowledge on that topic.

It’s taken me a while to get to writing this post because, well, honestly, I don’t really feel confident about the knowledge I have to drop re: this topic. I have no idea what it’s like to be a person who already can run a certain distance and aim to lengthen that distance. I was a person who could not run aiming to transition into a person who could run. But I must know this stuff, right? A year and a half ago, I couldn’t run for 2 minutes and now I can run for as many minutes as my sneakers/body-fuel-system will allow for (to be tested as soon as my leg muscles, sneakers, other obligations, and the weather cooperate enough for another long run). It was this time last year that I was wrapping up the Couch to 5k program and beginning to transition from running 2-3 miles each workout to running 4-6 miles.  Clearly I made this transition–I just guess I wasn’t focusing on it a whole lot.

Luckily, I have that massive excel sheet of all my workouts from 2010 and 2011, so while I wasn’t focusing on exactly what I was doing last year, I can examine & re-visit it now. And I’d like to share the following suggestions for transitioning from being a 5k runner to a 5m+ runner.

1. Just Run!

On Appropriate Running Shoes

So the plan was to sit down this morning and write a enthusiastic post about how my life was changed by switching from one variety of sneakers to another after realizing that the mid-run pain in the outer bit of my leg was caused by wearing sneakers with more support than I need. I even took this picture yesterday of the new sneakers stomping upon the old sneakers, proving their superiority.

The plan was that my lovely 11 mile run yesterday would have cemented the fact that the shoes the running store and I spent hours (okay, probably 40 minutes) deciding were perfect for my absurdly large feet with a confused arch were, actually, what I should be running in.

I was going to write beautiful words of joy and delight about how wonderful it is when you have finally found the appropriate sneaker. I was going to draw charts showing things about what different kinds of support structures do to your leg when you run on them, and I was going to do research and it was going to be a lovely post, all in all.

Instead, I am sitting on my bed moving an icepack around my lower left leg every 20 minutes, and staring at my “new, perfect, blah blah blah” sneakers with rage. Rage. Once I mentally collect myself, I will be going back to my favorite running store, where, once again, I will exchange shoes that I ran 15-20 miles in for another pair of new shoes which, fingers crossed, will do the trick.