Hi, I'd like to start this thread introducing myself: my name is Adriano, I come from Brazil and have started barefoot running 1 month ago.
The story of how I got there is not very different from other people's stories: after experiencing runner's knee, I went to an orthopedist, who sent me to a physiotherapist, according to whom I overpronated and had to strenghen some muscles, work on my flexibility and get some stability shoes. Since I lift weight, it wasn't that difficult to implement the strenghening exercises and work on the flexibility issues, but I always kept experiencing a mild pain.
That's when I discovered the minimalist shoes and started using the Nike Free RN Motion Flyknit. Although I stopped experiencing any kind of knee pain, I started to have issues with blisters, what made me wear more socks than I thought possible. This "solution" ended in a case of plantar fasciitis.
While recovering from it, I tried to get back to my old shoes, but the knee pain was back again and because of that, I decided to read Ken Bob's book and to give barefoot running a try.
Even though it is amazing, I'm still conscious of my left knee when running. It doesn't actually hurts, but it bothers me after 10 minutes running, and because of that, I haven't been able do run for more than 15 minutes. Yes, I bend my knees and try to run softly and running barefoot is much more comfortable for my knees than running with my old stability shoes, but I'd like to make this mild pain to go away.
There comes the question: should I wait a while and avoid running while my knee gets better, or should I keep running in small amounts and cycle for my aerobics? And is it relatively safe for an overpronator like me to run barefoot? Yes, I know that, according to thebarefoot principle, my feet will adapt and I will be able to run softer with time, but I've also read a thread here where an user had issues with the knee and had to stop running.
Thanks for the help, people!
The story of how I got there is not very different from other people's stories: after experiencing runner's knee, I went to an orthopedist, who sent me to a physiotherapist, according to whom I overpronated and had to strenghen some muscles, work on my flexibility and get some stability shoes. Since I lift weight, it wasn't that difficult to implement the strenghening exercises and work on the flexibility issues, but I always kept experiencing a mild pain.
That's when I discovered the minimalist shoes and started using the Nike Free RN Motion Flyknit. Although I stopped experiencing any kind of knee pain, I started to have issues with blisters, what made me wear more socks than I thought possible. This "solution" ended in a case of plantar fasciitis.
While recovering from it, I tried to get back to my old shoes, but the knee pain was back again and because of that, I decided to read Ken Bob's book and to give barefoot running a try.
Even though it is amazing, I'm still conscious of my left knee when running. It doesn't actually hurts, but it bothers me after 10 minutes running, and because of that, I haven't been able do run for more than 15 minutes. Yes, I bend my knees and try to run softly and running barefoot is much more comfortable for my knees than running with my old stability shoes, but I'd like to make this mild pain to go away.
There comes the question: should I wait a while and avoid running while my knee gets better, or should I keep running in small amounts and cycle for my aerobics? And is it relatively safe for an overpronator like me to run barefoot? Yes, I know that, according to thebarefoot principle, my feet will adapt and I will be able to run softer with time, but I've also read a thread here where an user had issues with the knee and had to stop running.
Thanks for the help, people!