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| PureCadence 2: Keith Wright El Presidente color scheme |
The effect of the missing heel is that, when you run outside in these and you heel strike, it hurts like a sonofabitch. You feel a nasty jolt pretty much up to your knee. It's not pleasant, and it certainly works to remind you to land forward.
Now, landing on your midfoot is weird, and it's awkward, and it takes a ton of concentration if you're used to heel striking with abandon. I have some experience with this kind of running, ironically from playing baseball. In high school I played a lot of outfield, and I pitched. Outfielders are taught to run on the balls of your feet so that your eyes don't bounce around too much when you're tracking a fly ball. The idea is that you can more easily run the ball down if your eyes stay stable and locked on it as it flies. Pitchers are taught to land on the balls of their glove-side feet (left foot for me, as a righty) as they come down off the mound. The concept mirrors the philosophy behind the PureCadences: the balls of your feet have muscles that can decelerate your body more efficiently and safely. If you land on your heel with every pitch you throw, it puts a ton of stress on your knees and back.
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| Action shot of me running |
So I had some experience with running on the balls of my feet. That being said, running on the balls of your feet, with a midfoot strike, is a graceful, athletic, controlled movement. I am neither graceful nor controlled nor athletic. I run like a caveman: my feet slam, HARD, and I run very, very heavy. I'm something of an angry and aggressive runner. All you people who say you think clearly and tranquilly when you run? Yeah, I know nothing about that. I run because the world pisses me off, and I'm trying to kick it in its stupid face with the bottoms of my feet.
And therein probably lies the root of my injury problems. Currently I have a proto-stress fracture in my right foot, severe tendinitis in both ankles and feet, pain behind my knees, and bad shin splints. I've seen an orthopedic surgeon about the stress fracture, had x-rays and MRIs, and was advised to rest it for two months. I did, and immediately on returning to running, the same problems returned. I've had my left ACL reconstructed, my left meniscus reconstructed and eventually removed, and in general I have no cartilage to speak of in my knees. I also have some bone necrosis in my right foot, the result of using that foot to block a slap shot in ice hockey. I'm trying the PureCadences as a way to run more gently and sustainably.
As I began the run, I felt like my feet were clenched, fist-like, because I was afraid of the impact. I had to consciously try to relax my feet so that my toes would accept the impact, rather than brace for it and clench tightly, which felt very unpleasant and I'm sure would lead to injury after a while.
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| Toe groove |
As I got to about the half-mile mark, I started to feel a little better about the stride. Every 6th or 7th strike still felt a little too far in the heel, and I had trouble going downhill without completing slamming my heel. The PureCadences have a toe groove that's designed to keep your big toe off to the side of the foot (think of spreading your fingers and you'll get the idea of what it's doing). I didn't feel that at all as I run. My feet just aren't in that position as I'm running. So I'm not getting any benefit from the toe groove.
I did feel like this was a promising start, however. I sprinted the last 50 feet or so of the run, and I felt fast. FAST. I felt very light on my feet and very strong in my push off. Whether that will translate into fixing my injury problems remains to be seen.
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