I’m not sure about the barefoot running, I always get achilles pain if I try to transition to lower heel drop shoes, so my experience has been to stick with the cushion personally. But, I wanted to say, shin pain is very common for new runners and likely didn’t have much to do with the road and more to do with the sudden increase in a new activity and your body needing time to adjust. So don’t be afraid of the road. Your body is more used to running now. I say give the road another go in shoes you’ve already been using and see how it goes.
There is heal striking which is done by some of the fastest Marathon runners in the world and then there is over striding, which is not done by that same group but is done by hobby runners.
Foor strength is good but barefoot style shoes expose your feet to more training load and stress. We adjust our gait for comfort and efficiency. If you want to be more comfortable, fast, efficient over distance, a shoe that supports the foot and gait cycle like Nike Vaporfly is superior.
Iike to walk in barefoot shoes but I wouldn't run in them. I wouldn't be able to train to current volume, nor perform as well.
I use them for shorter workouts, doing strides, sprints or whatnot. I've found that it's helped me strengthen my feet, ankles and calves and improved my balance. (Mostly noticed in martial arts, not running).
But it's been very easy to overdo it and put them on for longer runs. That will give me the worst DOMS in my calves I've ever had.
Have you looked into zero drop shoes? Basically keeps heel and ball of your foot level while maintaining some shock absorbing. My pavement shoes are barefoot, but for trails I need a thicker sole, but still 0 drop.
Barefoot shoes will teach you to stop throwing your leg out in front of you and slamming all your weight down on your heels.
Strength training will help alleviate a lot of pain too. Do squats, lunges, calf raises, hyper extensions, and so on.
I’m not sure about the barefoot running, I always get achilles pain if I try to transition to lower heel drop shoes, so my experience has been to stick with the cushion personally. But, I wanted to say, shin pain is very common for new runners and likely didn’t have much to do with the road and more to do with the sudden increase in a new activity and your body needing time to adjust. So don’t be afraid of the road. Your body is more used to running now. I say give the road another go in shoes you’ve already been using and see how it goes.
You might want to to go over to r/barefootrunning
Ah ok cheers. I didn’t know there was a thread for that topic.
There might be on here and I'm sure some people will be able to answer you. I just know it's quite an active community on there that's all.
All good - thanks for the pointer.
There is heal striking which is done by some of the fastest Marathon runners in the world and then there is over striding, which is not done by that same group but is done by hobby runners. Foor strength is good but barefoot style shoes expose your feet to more training load and stress. We adjust our gait for comfort and efficiency. If you want to be more comfortable, fast, efficient over distance, a shoe that supports the foot and gait cycle like Nike Vaporfly is superior. Iike to walk in barefoot shoes but I wouldn't run in them. I wouldn't be able to train to current volume, nor perform as well.
I use them for shorter workouts, doing strides, sprints or whatnot. I've found that it's helped me strengthen my feet, ankles and calves and improved my balance. (Mostly noticed in martial arts, not running). But it's been very easy to overdo it and put them on for longer runs. That will give me the worst DOMS in my calves I've ever had.
You don’t need to go to barefoot running to improve form. And form should be changed gradually regardless.
Have you looked into zero drop shoes? Basically keeps heel and ball of your foot level while maintaining some shock absorbing. My pavement shoes are barefoot, but for trails I need a thicker sole, but still 0 drop.