I always wondered why I was so bad at sports as a kid. Yet all summer I rode my bike, played lawn games with all my cousins and friends. I have Hypermobility. This is a problem where my ligaments are too long and allow the bones to shift and dislocate. I always blamed my inability to participate in school sports without injury on this. After reading through the first half of the book "Born to run" I realized that in school I wore ill fitting shoes (my feet were long and skinny), but all summer long I was barefoot or in moccasins. In the shoes I would roll my ankles and hyperextend my knees. I don't remember ever having these issues while barefoot!
I bought a pair of Vibram five finger shoes last year hoping to get some relief from foot and ankle pain. I now have arthritis and bunions. I was only able to wear flip flops, all other shoes were painful after about ten minutes. The difference was immediate. The five fingers straighten my toes into a more natural position and I had no pain. I started wearing them every day in the house and at work (it was winter). I was able to start walking on my treadmill again in short spurts. As of last week I am running/walking through my workout. Every day I am able to run longer. I can't wait until the day that my feet and ankles (and lungs ha-ha!) will allow me to run on a path in the sun.
My siblings all run and I have always envied them. What an incredible freedom it must be. I'm so happy to be on my way to running. I'm feeling the best I have felt in a long time. The pounds are falling off and my feet have wings.
Glad I found this site. Lots of great info and motivation. Plus no one will say to me "those are weird shoes!"
I bought a pair of Vibram five finger shoes last year hoping to get some relief from foot and ankle pain. I now have arthritis and bunions. I was only able to wear flip flops, all other shoes were painful after about ten minutes. The difference was immediate. The five fingers straighten my toes into a more natural position and I had no pain. I started wearing them every day in the house and at work (it was winter). I was able to start walking on my treadmill again in short spurts. As of last week I am running/walking through my workout. Every day I am able to run longer. I can't wait until the day that my feet and ankles (and lungs ha-ha!) will allow me to run on a path in the sun.
My siblings all run and I have always envied them. What an incredible freedom it must be. I'm so happy to be on my way to running. I'm feeling the best I have felt in a long time. The pounds are falling off and my feet have wings.
Glad I found this site. Lots of great info and motivation. Plus no one will say to me "those are weird shoes!"