Minimalist Running

Being inspired by the book Born to Run and having dealt with frustrating tendonitis the past two years, I decided to give minimalist running a try. I had had some limited experience with it earlier this year with the marathon training plan that I followed, but it was limited and only intended to build up foot strength.  I want to make this my primary way of running but it hasn't been easy. When I first started, I wasn't quite sure where on the fore foot to strike and kept my foot so tense that I ended up running almost on my tip-toes. After a few days, the soles of my feet were killing me. After a bit of experimentation, I found that if I relaxed the foot and landed on the balls of my feet that I could run without any pain or discomfort.  In fact, it felt so good that I ran a fast 6 or 7 miles almost immediately after figuring this out. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered my calves were not ready for that kind of workout. Once again, I spent the next several days in great discomfort. I've since been building my calf strength and stretching them like crazy and am now starting to really enjoy minimalist running.  I've definitely noticed less pounding on my knees.  The next step will be to build up my mileage.  Hopefully, all will go smoothly.