Too Much Too Young

I’m a little bit headstrong sometimes. I started this blog with the idea that I could perhaps run a marathon barefoot. Then I thought I could probably run a marathon in minimalist running shoes. I still do, but it’s obvious that I’m doing too much too soon. It’s not that I’m in tonnes of pain, but I have to say that I’ve been a tad foolish in pushing on with things when my heels have been sore, and my calves tense. The problem started a couple of weeks ago:

At this time I was wearing my Vivobarefoot Ra’s a lot, and I started running purely in my Evos. Fine, and for a little bit my legs and feet were okay with it. But pretty soon, I leanred two things:

1. don’t wear minimalist footwear too tight, and…
2. Easing into new footwear is best

I started noticing that my heels were aching. When I walked in my Ra’s, and when I ran in my Evos. to be clear, I had no pain form my left or right forefoot, but about halfway through three mile runs my heels would start to get sore. My first thought was Plantar Fasciitis, and when I started waking in the morning with a tender left heel, I was a little bit worried.

Last Friday I decided that I should seek some help. With just over 11 weeks until the London Marathon, I need to keep running and not to render myself incapable of training for fear of pain. I didn’t go to my doctor, but instead went to Runners Need in Holborn, London. My father (a keen runner in the 80s and 90s) suggested that I might need insoles just to take the edge off the pounding. But here’s the thing; I just as I was looking at the sorts of insoles you can buy, a store assistant came up:

Looking at insoles, or some support?

I confirmed that I was, and told him that I was running the marathon, and the problems I was facing. He nodded, but told me:

If you’ve a neutral gait insoles won’t help. Have you heard of Lee Saxby? I’ve got a pair of Vivobarefoot Neos, and if you’re having trouble while leaving the removable insole in, you want to check out his video on learning barefoot skills. Ease off, and [he pointed at the Free Runs I was wearing] interchange with those for your runs. Don’t overdo anything too soon, and make sure you’r posture is right.

So that’s the advice I took. I’m going back to my Free Runs to take some of the edge out of my training, and I’m studying the video he rceommended [below] to educate myself in the correct way to ease back into minimalist running.