7 ms·

I just finished reading 'Born to Run' that talks about Tarahumara and ultrarunning. I would recommend it for anyone looking for more info on this.

renjimen 7y ago
Snap! Just finished this last week too. An emotional rollercoaster and really interesting to boot. It inspired me to go out and buy a pair of thin-soled running shoes.
- jdm2212 7y ago
  I don't want to discourage doing that (I've been using those for ~10 years and love them), but please be very careful getting ramped up with thin-soled shoes. They tend to put a lot of strain on your calves and ankles if you aren't used to running in them. Even for you're an experienced runner and in good shape, going more than a mile or two in thin-soled shoes can sometimes really mess up -- or even strain -- your calves if you haven't used them before.
  - ummonk 7y ago
    Is it just me or are thin-soled shoes harder to run in than barefoot?
    - saalweachter 7y ago
      In what respect? (There's like 12 ways this could be going, so I don't want to jump in the wrong one.)
      - ummonk 7y ago
        Just how quickly my feet / calves get tired (I'm not a regular runner, so that isn't very long).
  - frereubu 7y ago
    I can attest to this from personal experience. It's worth trying to gradually move from a heel-strike style to running more on the balls of your feet while using cushioned running shoes before changing thin-soled shoes. The first time I tried doing this I went too far and my calves were so stuff I couldn't walk properly for three days. Although I quite like running in thin-soled Vivo Barefoot shoes now, I'm thinking of changing to zero-drop cushioned shoes because I run on tarmac / concrete and found that thin-soled shoes seem to hurt my feet a bit more without any noticeable gain.
- bobjordan 7y ago
  Right about when I turned 40, I took my 15-year old daughter and her three high school friends to Disneyworld. After the first day of trying to keep up with them, I bought myself my first pair of New Balance. I'm never going back.
juskrey 7y ago
I just finished healing all of my chronic injuries after years of long distance running. I would recommend anyone to do sprints and weightlifting instead.
- ummonk 7y ago
  Yup. We may have been born to run, but we also weren't born to live to 80... Have to consider how the activity affects our body's long term health.
  - Unbeliever69 7y ago
    Yet, we also have to consider the joy we get from running and what we would be doing if we weren't running. If you told me at the age of 40 that long-distance running would take 5 years off my life, I wouldn't care. Running, makes me happier. It helps with my mental health and because I'm a trail runner, I'm constantly out in nature visiting new locations and conquering new challenges. By contrast I also fly fish for the many of the same reasons. Fly fishing doesn't fulfill me in the same way that trail running does. But dying with a fly rod in hand or running up a mountain would be a great way to go!
- mr_overalls 7y ago
  People are different. Training regimens and recovery methods and nutrition different. It's foolish to generalize in this way.
- segmondy 7y ago
  I know people who are healing from chronic injuries from years of sprinting and weightlifting. ;-) Everything in moderation.
  - bilbo0s 7y ago
    Especially weightlifting. It boils down to this, any workout you do, you really have to do it properly. As well as, like you said, in moderation. Any reputable physical trainer or therapist will tell you that recovery days are critical. (And if a physical trainer tells you that you can do all this weightlifting or distance running without recovery days, then that's your clue that they are probably not reputable.)

renjimen 7y ago

Snap! Just finished this last week too. An emotional rollercoaster and really interesting to boot. It inspired me to go out and buy a pair of thin-soled running shoes.

jdm2212 7y ago
I don't want to discourage doing that (I've been using those for ~10 years and love them), but please be very careful getting ramped up with thin-soled shoes. They tend to put a lot of strain on your calves and ankles if you aren't used to running in them. Even for you're an experienced runner and in good shape, going more than a mile or two in thin-soled shoes can sometimes really mess up -- or even strain -- your calves if you haven't used them before.
- ummonk 7y ago
  Is it just me or are thin-soled shoes harder to run in than barefoot?
  - saalweachter 7y ago
    In what respect? (There's like 12 ways this could be going, so I don't want to jump in the wrong one.)
    - ummonk 7y ago
      Just how quickly my feet / calves get tired (I'm not a regular runner, so that isn't very long).
- frereubu 7y ago
  I can attest to this from personal experience. It's worth trying to gradually move from a heel-strike style to running more on the balls of your feet while using cushioned running shoes before changing thin-soled shoes. The first time I tried doing this I went too far and my calves were so stuff I couldn't walk properly for three days. Although I quite like running in thin-soled Vivo Barefoot shoes now, I'm thinking of changing to zero-drop cushioned shoes because I run on tarmac / concrete and found that thin-soled shoes seem to hurt my feet a bit more without any noticeable gain.
bobjordan 7y ago
Right about when I turned 40, I took my 15-year old daughter and her three high school friends to Disneyworld. After the first day of trying to keep up with them, I bought myself my first pair of New Balance. I'm never going back.

juskrey 7y ago

I just finished healing all of my chronic injuries after years of long distance running. I would recommend anyone to do sprints and weightlifting instead.

ummonk 7y ago
Yup. We may have been born to run, but we also weren't born to live to 80... Have to consider how the activity affects our body's long term health.
- Unbeliever69 7y ago
  Yet, we also have to consider the joy we get from running and what we would be doing if we weren't running. If you told me at the age of 40 that long-distance running would take 5 years off my life, I wouldn't care. Running, makes me happier. It helps with my mental health and because I'm a trail runner, I'm constantly out in nature visiting new locations and conquering new challenges. By contrast I also fly fish for the many of the same reasons. Fly fishing doesn't fulfill me in the same way that trail running does. But dying with a fly rod in hand or running up a mountain would be a great way to go!
mr_overalls 7y ago
People are different. Training regimens and recovery methods and nutrition different. It's foolish to generalize in this way.
segmondy 7y ago
I know people who are healing from chronic injuries from years of sprinting and weightlifting. ;-) Everything in moderation.
- bilbo0s 7y ago
  Especially weightlifting. It boils down to this, any workout you do, you really have to do it properly. As well as, like you said, in moderation. Any reputable physical trainer or therapist will tell you that recovery days are critical. (And if a physical trainer tells you that you can do all this weightlifting or distance running without recovery days, then that's your clue that they are probably not reputable.)