My Shoes are Catching Up to Me

I recently bought two new pairs of "running only" shoes, the Nike Free 3.0 V2 and the Saucony ProGrid Kinvara 2.  Both shoes are part of the new "minimalist running" or "barefoot running" shoe line.  I wouldn't exactly call them barefoot running shoes, as there are plenty of other shoes, such as the Vibram Fivefingers, that are much more like barefoot running.  Without getting too in-depth tonight, as I want to review each shoe individually, I'll touch briefly on the shoe features.

I have been using both sets of shoes for a few weeks now for my marathon training.  Slowly, I have been logging miles in running more on my mid-foot, with my toes pointed down, rather than pointed up with a typical running shoe.  I used to be more of a heal striker, landing on my heal first and rolling my foot from heal to toe while running.  Striking on my mid-foot allows me to shorten my stride, lessen the blow on my bones and joints, and lets me run in a more natural way.

Anyway, they finally caught up to me.  My legs finally feel like crap.  My calves feel it the most, with some bigtime soreness in the middle of my calves.  I was 1/3 of the way through my speed intervals tonight and had to just stop.

If you have read this, my second daily posting, I appreciate you sticking around.  My shoe reviews, plus a page on barefoot/minimalist running and its benefits will be updated as well soon.