Growing up in the country of Mexico one can say that the majority of the population, from the small town I’m from, were minimalists by nature. Local running shoes stores have not really bought into the whole barefoot running thing. They will probably be at a loss of money if they did. For the people of my small countryside town, all they needed is a pair of guaraches (sandals) to run or walk anywhere they would go. Many of these sandal would be made by them personally, so there was no need to spend money on shoes. We would only wear dress shoes or tennis shoes for especial events, such as church or weddings. This is my experience as a minimalist runner.
I lived in Mexico for the first ten years of my life. All I wore was guaraches for everything I did. My grandfather and father did the same. When we would run around the fields as kids, it was with this footwear. I felt good with no pain anywhere. To this day that we now live in the United states my dad still wears guaraches when he gets off work. I didn’t join any sports until my high-school years in this country. My sophomore year is when I decided to join cross country to stay in shape for other sports. This is when i started using regular running shoes to run. I suffered from shin splints and knee pain for a little bit. Eventually my body got used to wearing those shoes. My dad stuck in his old ways decided to challenge me to a footrace. It wasn’t even close, he smoked me in his guaraches. I didn’t understand how this old man who hardly ever worked out just beat me that easily, when I had been training hard for the last half year. To this day he has not suffered any injuries what so ever.
Fast forward to 2010. Basically since 1997 towards august of 2010 I had worn regular neutral running shoes. In between that time I took about ten years off from running. It wasn’t until 2009 that I decided to start running again. I had seen online many people comment online about a group of people in Mexico who still run in guaraches or barefoot. I was a little scared to run barefoot but had heard about the vibram five fingers. I bought my first pair in September of 2010 while I was training for a half marathon. The first time I ran in them I felt like a kid again.
I went so crazy with these shoes that I ran five miles the very first time I wore them. This was a big mistake. My feet were not used to this anymore. I loved the way I felt everything I stepped on, but I expected to start off as if I was still in my childhood. I developed a lot of calf pain that took a while to relieve. The top of my feet hurt so much from all the pounding I was taking when I would run. I was pretty much not able to run until there was a couple weeks left for my half marathon race. I had gotten used to the protection regular running shoes provided for me, that I had forgotten how to run with footwear that had no padding.
Race day came along and I still had some pain. All that pain went away with the adrenaline pumping through my body. I was able to manage a 1:43 half marathon in the vibrams. Not bad for not really being able to train. In 2011 I signed up for a race in May. This time I took the time to ease myself into the shoes. I pretty much had to relearn how to run. It payed off I ran a 1:34 half marathon which is my personal best. If I had to give any advice for those of you who want to start running with minimalist shoes, it would be to ease into it and don’t rush it. You will eventually get the hang of it. So far I have ran five half marathons and two marathons since re-starting to use minimalist footwear.
I have had a bad back since the end of high school so I think my form has suffered a lot. I tend to over-pronate when I get tired and I don’t land with my forefoot. Luckily Brooks came out with a minimalist shoe for the over-pronator. I have now been running in this shoe for the last two months. It doesn’t compare to my vibrams but I have to do what it’s right until I may be able to fix my foot strike, if it’s actually possible.