taladel

You should check out the concept "Fox walking." I also just read a good article (on Wired I think) about how new-age athletic shoes are causing ankle, knee, hip, and back problems. They were quick to point out that this doesn't mean you should immediately start running barefoot, but yeah.

I've seen these around a few times, although different brands I think. I've been thinking about getting some lately.

Anecdotal, but when I joined the Army and started seriously running for the first time in my life, I had relatively cheap shoes and I wore them far "too long"...and had no issues. Later on, I decided to "get educated" about running shoes and spend some real money on them. I started having foot and lower leg issues a few months later.

So yeah, couldn't give you a timeline, but I'm definitely thinking about trying to strengthen my feet again to their more natural state.

Oops! Left out part of that last sentence. Should say:

I couldn't give you a timeline of my feet/leg/back issues and scientific data to back up that it was my shoes or anything, but I'm definitely thinking about trying to strengthen my feet again to their more natural state.

I'm awesome. Forgot another thing I was going to add.

You mention wearing them when you work out, and that your form feels better. In my kettlebell training, my instructor told me flat out, "take your shoes off when you do this; athletic shoes compress, flex, and roll too much, and it will screw up your form and you'll hurt yourself."

You've got me thinking about these again, and a place right up the road carries them. I think I'll look into getting a pair. Probably either the Sprint or KSO.

So I went and looked up this "fox walking" you speak of; I was confused initially, since my immediate reaction was "isn't that how everyone walks when they're barefoot or wanting to move quietly"? I've been doing it as long as I can remember; I never thought of it as something that needed a name or to be taught.

Now that I think about it, though, I've had a number of factors influencing the way I walk in different circumstances (growing up in an extremely rural town with gravel roads where I often went barefoot; years of marching band; years of traditional martial arts practice) that have, without me ever really noticing, given me a much better awareness of how my weight works on my feet than I guess most people have.

These sound pretty rad actually. I might actually have to look into a pair of them. I normally run in a pair of running shoes but I started having some issues and have had to stop running so the tendons in my feet don't freak out again.

I'd love to run with something like these to, as the previous commenter said, strengthen my feet again to their more natural state. Awesome.