Purdy

Look at these pretty little things I picked up tonight: Aww yeah.

I stopped in at Sports4 on my way home to try on different minimalist shoes. I tried a pair of Adidas, but they were just okay. I wanted to love them, I really did. Then I tried a pair of Vibram shoes. Oh they felt so good. They actually reminded me of the dance shoes I used to wear when I did highland dancing... they hugged my feet just so. But sadly, they pinched my heel pretty badly, so they were a no go before I even walked in them.

Then I tried the Saucony Grid Type A4. These puppies are like heaven on my feet. I wish I'd known they came in neon green, too. I love neon green! Yes, I know I'm such a girl. But I've often been jealous of how awesome men's shoes are with their orange, yellow and red. Then we women get stuck with pink, purple and aqua. I have nothing against those colours, but the women's shoes just aren't quite as flashy.

I'm looking forward to re-learning to run in them. My legs are sore from working on the new stride. Bit by bit, I'll get there. Just knowing these are in my house makes me want to lace up and rush out the door to run around the block. I haven't been this excited about new gear in quite awhile.

Re-learning how to run

I attended an interesting clinic on Sunday at my local running store, Sports4 on Bank Street. A handful of runners attended the clinic on the merits of minimalist running shoes and mid-foot running styles. It was led by Bruno Lafontaine, of KinO2 consulting. He's an experienced runner/triathlete with lots of qualifications, so he knows his stuff.

If you have the opportunity to attend the session, do it! There's a lot of great info on the merits of minimalist running shoes. If you've read Born to Run, then a lot of the talk will sound familiar. You know, the evolutionary evidence that we evolved into distance runners. And the fact that some of the world's most successful running communities started from humble, shoeless (or practically shoeless) beginnings. There was also a lot of interesting information on the act of running and how heel-to-toe footstrikes are counter to the forces created by your body when you run. Another interesting discussion focused on how the cushioning and motion control features of modern running shoes could be contributing to injuries by impeding the brain's communication with the nervous system and muscle groups.

The clinic doesn't try to make you throw away your shoes and frolic in the snow barefoot. But it does have a lot of logical arguments to support transitioning to minimalist running shoes, trainers or racing flats. It's certainly not something you can do overnight. Bruno recommended gradually increasing your training in the shoes over time... 5 minutes one week, 10 the next and so on.

We also spent some time working on developing a midfoot strike. Oye. This was tough to do in my Adidas 1160s, as they're designed to faciliate a heel-to-toe footstrike. I'm sure our group looked ridiculous in front of the Supreme Court on Sunday morning galloping around in hugely exaggerated running motions. But the drills were very helpful in reminding us how running should feel and how to land on the midfoot, how many footstrikes we should have per minute etc.

When I got home, I spent a bit of time running barefoot in our hallway. And boy, I can tell you that I feel it today. There are definitely some underutilized muscles in those legs of mine. It really made me think about what I'd learned in the 2 hour clinic on Sunday morning and left me wondering if now is the time to make these changes.