Today I went for a small 1/3 mile barefoot run down the street. I started out on the cobblestone street for the first half then came home on the sidewalk. I think I like the street much better... It's totally not level but it is SO much smoother than these old sidewalks. Today I decided rather than try to force my foot into proper alignment and not overpronate I would let it fall where it may. Everything I've read up to this point supports this idea as well, they say that your foot will slowly strengthen and the overpronation will become less severe. I'm not sure what to think. It's easier to run this way as it requires less muscle but OUCH! Half way in my ankles started hurting and it was not a comfortable way to run at all. Apparently the danger to forcing proper alignment is that I can cause stress injuries to tendons like my achilles and peroneal tendons but I'm not sure if it's worse to do that or to micro-sprain my ankle with every step... I threw up the question at the Runners World Forums and we'll see what the guru's say...
A positive is that in normal day-to-day walking around I'm walking with much straighter ankles and my feet actually seem to have a slight arch to them. If I completely relax I can still pancake my feet but I'm finding more often than not I'm walking more "normally." Also my wife commented out of the blue that my posture seems to be improved!
That is awesome Ty. I read a good book about a native group called the raramuri (sp) called "born to run" and parts of that book went into to detail about 'barefoot' Ted, this guy that ran very long distances totally barefoot! Hang in there.
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