1. | Feb 9, 2014

Excellent article. I have been in the miaitlry for 8 years and have done a considerable amount of running both with and without a pack on. At about year 5-6 i started getting knee pain after running about 3-4 and eventually as little as 1-2 miles. It continued until I got a profile restricting me from running due to this. I also began having the symptoms of Periformis Syndrome (pain down right leg, soreness to the right of my tailbone, lower back pain on the right side) and was eventually diagnosed with it. I am not a fan of the recommended pain medications, shots or surgery to dull the pain and began looking for alternate methods to deal with it. I am glad I have found your articles as they explain more than doctors have been able to about how it can be caused, treatment options, and root problems. I lead a fairly active lifestyle and have been looking at ways of being able to run again and am going to begin your barefoot walk/running program. I have been doing quite a bit of walking barefoot and in five fingers and have noticed a drastic change in how I walk as well as how long I can walk without pain in my back or knees. I have seen several injuries of others due to transitioning too fast to barefoot running so have been cautious on that aspect, not being sure what a good transition program should look like. Now I have a good starting point between this and your other informative articles. I do have one question. On the soles of my combat boots and running shoes i have noticed that my soles wear very atypical of the soles of other people I have checked. Where the soles of many people wear evenly across the back of the heal, mine wear considerably more on the outside corner of the heal. Is this indicative of a bad walking/running posture? (aside from the obvious heel to toe approach I previously ran with)

2. | Feb 7, 2014

Jesse! I've been making the tnatsirion to a barefoot/minimalist lifestyle now for a couple of months. I decided to start the process after the mini marathon in May. I've been doing the corrective exercises, stretches, foam roller etc. When I began the actual training I started out with the walk/run routine completely barefoot. It was amazing what I could feel. Then I got a cadence tracker to help with my tempo. (that really helped!) I was strolling along, doing pretty well and now I'm getting really frustrated. I'm having that top of the foot pain that I was warned about, and I'm feeling it in my arch as well. This pain is only on the left foot. I have a raised right hip, giving me that awesome functional length difference. I've tried many different things to balance or realign, but just can't make any progress. (including chiro, massage, yoga, egosque method) Because of this when I walk, I feel like my left foot is landing harder and has the tendency to heel strike. Because of this I'm trying to walk, lifting my knees and feet and trying to land toe to heal. This ends up looking and feeling so unnatural, almost like a horses gait:) haha I'm not incorporating any running in right now because of the pain. I did get the vibram 5 fingers a couple of weeks ago and have been wearing them or going barefoot. Will my length difference eventually correct on it's own after my body adjusts? Should I add any exercises to strengthen one side? I also feel my waist shift on my left side slightly as I walk/run my right side stays neutral for the most part. Uugghh .I've watched a ton of youtube videos on technique that I don't see how I'm not getting it! Do you know of any barefoot running coaches in the Indianapolis area? I need help! I want to run again! Help!!! Thanks Jesse!~Amy