..there will be shoes (most of the time).
I just finished reading Born to Run. Wow. What a great book. It easily goes into my top ten list of potentially life changing books. This means that I've finished the reading list I set out to munch through in order to power up on the knowledge side of running.
I'll give my five cents about the value of this reading.
1. Lentävä lähtö, kuntojuoksijan käsikirja, by Jari Hemmilä.
If you know Finnish and can't imagine spending a lot of time studying the subject - read this book. It will teach you everything you need to know about running and closely related issues. A worthwile read.
2. Tavoitteena maraton, by Harri Hänninen, Raiko Häyrinen and Matias Möttölä.
This one focuses on Marathon training. If that's your goal (and you know Finnish) - read this one.
3. Marathon Runner's Handbook, by Bruce Fordyce with Marielle Rennsen.
After the first two books, this one didn't bring any new information. Basic stuff about running, injuries, marathon training, equipment, tapering and nutrition.
4. Be Your Best at Marathon Running, by Tim Rogers.
I didn't like this one. The style it was written in put me off. Skimmed through it though. The author seems to be or have been a race director at the London marathon. Some useful information about time management and running for charity - if that's the kind of information you want.
5. Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall.
Damn. By far the best book on the list. If you haven't read it. Do yourself a favor and read it. It might open up a wholly new perspective on running for you. Actually this book could change your life - if you are in a transition period and let yourself be carried away. The very least you'll get out of it is a very entertaining reading time.
In addition to theese books I've been skimming the web. There is literally tons of information out there - a lot of it is clutter and garbage but there is some really great stuff as well.
Reading Born to Run naturally sparked an interest in minimalist running. I'm not going to go 100 % barefoot, it would probably kill me and this project. But I couldn't resist to kick of my shoes after my last two runs. I jogged barefoot at the nearby golf course as a cool down. Niiiice. Refreshing. And I have been very conscious of my stride. Lucky me, my stride is mostly midfoot anyway. But why, oh why did I let myself get duped into buying pronation supported shoes. It buggs me. I'm probably going to run those shoes anyway.
It's not about the shoes, it's about the stride. Too much support and paddings all the time can't be good. It does make a lot of sense to me. Think about it. Last time I bought a pair of running shoes was in 1998. No pronation support - local shoe sellers didn't know about pronation back then. I ran with those shoes for ten years, on and off that is, but anyway. I believe those shoes could well have gotten more than 1000 km on their soles, as I was actively running in 1998-2000, 2003-2004, 2005 and 2007. I did other sports with those shoes as well. I do believe it's less about the shoes and more about the stride.
So, I'll try to get cheap shoes with a low or moderate heel drop. I will do some recreational barefooting just to get those feet strong and nice. Meanwhile I'll run my new adidas running shoes with pronation support. I believe there will be enough milage for new shoes as well. One more thing. I do want proper trail running shoes as well.
Who likes running anyway?
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