More Willie

I’ve never been a runner. Not until last January when I decided I was going to start doing triathlons…two weeks before my first one. Yes, smart move right? Anyways, this got me into the whole racing thing and I ended up doing about one 5K a week with other events mixed in…triathlons, duathlons, a half marathon (13.1 boring-ass miles). As I immersed myself in the whole racing culture, I started reading nerdy running magazines and blogs and was shocked to find out that apparently I was ruining my body.

Nice Wired Article on Toes, Evolution, and Running

You see, I was running like a lot of people who take it up later life (or are fat), I was landing on my heel and then rolling and pushing off with my toe. No good. Apparently this can cause all kinds of problems ranging from knee issues to becoming a serial killer. It’s true, you can trust me. Since neither of these outcomes satisfied me, I decided I better quickly change my stride.

This meant landing on my forefoot or midfoot, easy enough right? Well most people recommended running barefoot on the beach for a few weeks to condition yourself for the change. I did this…kind of. I ran on the beach about five times over a six week period. Then I got tired of kicking up sand all over me so I jumped straight into road running again. I’m very disciplined.

Running like this is bad. So is wearing high, white socks.

The first time that I ran on the ball of my feet for the entire run (only 3.1 miles) was two days ago. I’m still walking around like I just got out on parole from federal rape you in the ass prison. I can’t help it. My calves refuse to loosen up. It’s not so enjoyable. I guess the whole point of this rant was just to tell you not to rush the transition. Really a lot of reading for a small message if you ask me. You’re not going to turn into John Wayne Gacy overnight if you’re a heel striker. Make the switch over to the ball of your foot or your midfoot over an extended period of time. Or don’t, but I promise I’ll spread vicious rumors about you if I see you hobbling around like an invalid.