Hey everyone, name is Ryan. Here's a short wall of text to introduce myself....
I took a long break from running after high school (states level competitive sprinter) because I always hated running longer distances due to knee pain and shin splints. I'm an active outdoor enthusiast with a chocolate lab named Logan who's an excellent hiker, but not a fan of running weighing in at 100lbs, and no, hes not your typical couch potato tube sock with legs lab. I never got into running with Logan because he is fine just going for a couple mile hike in the woods, a swim at the lake or playing in the back yard. Logan has always lagged behind looking at me like, "seriously man? Whats the rush?" every time I've tried to run with him.
Well fast forward 6 years and I was looking for a pup to be a buddy for Logan and keep him youthful. That's where Hendrix came into the picture. I adopted him from a rescue organization in Louisiana. I immediately noticed that he was extremely lazy around the house as a young puppy, as most puppies are. Short spurts of energy, then sleep 4x as long as they were active. Once Hendrix turned about 7 months I tried short little jogs with him after walking him and Logan to see if he enjoyed it. He seemed to still be craving more action after a couple mile walk so I figured picking up the pace for a little while would help.
But, at about 10 miles a week my knees and shins started bothering me again. I was frustrated, I used to do more than 10 miles a week in interval training at a full blown sprint, there was no reason for me to be having difficulties with this light mileage. That's when I realized it. I have always run into these issues when running longer distances at a "jog" because my running form is so altered. The heel striking is what was causing my discomfort and joint pain.
I remembered seeing people wearing "those funny toe shoes" at the gym and figured I'd look into them further. That lead me in the direction of barefoot running and I figured what the hell, why not? Well now here I am, 30-40 miles a week of barefoot/minimalist running later, knee pain and shin splint free. I'd say I'm converted for good
I took a long break from running after high school (states level competitive sprinter) because I always hated running longer distances due to knee pain and shin splints. I'm an active outdoor enthusiast with a chocolate lab named Logan who's an excellent hiker, but not a fan of running weighing in at 100lbs, and no, hes not your typical couch potato tube sock with legs lab. I never got into running with Logan because he is fine just going for a couple mile hike in the woods, a swim at the lake or playing in the back yard. Logan has always lagged behind looking at me like, "seriously man? Whats the rush?" every time I've tried to run with him.
Well fast forward 6 years and I was looking for a pup to be a buddy for Logan and keep him youthful. That's where Hendrix came into the picture. I adopted him from a rescue organization in Louisiana. I immediately noticed that he was extremely lazy around the house as a young puppy, as most puppies are. Short spurts of energy, then sleep 4x as long as they were active. Once Hendrix turned about 7 months I tried short little jogs with him after walking him and Logan to see if he enjoyed it. He seemed to still be craving more action after a couple mile walk so I figured picking up the pace for a little while would help.
But, at about 10 miles a week my knees and shins started bothering me again. I was frustrated, I used to do more than 10 miles a week in interval training at a full blown sprint, there was no reason for me to be having difficulties with this light mileage. That's when I realized it. I have always run into these issues when running longer distances at a "jog" because my running form is so altered. The heel striking is what was causing my discomfort and joint pain.
I remembered seeing people wearing "those funny toe shoes" at the gym and figured I'd look into them further. That lead me in the direction of barefoot running and I figured what the hell, why not? Well now here I am, 30-40 miles a week of barefoot/minimalist running later, knee pain and shin splint free. I'd say I'm converted for good
