Saturday, July 7, 2012

Flat Feet is No Excuse

I don't have this issue, but know several people who do. So looking around, I found this Invisible Shoes blog post to share.  It's a couple years old, but the discussion is great for anyone (with or without flat feet) who is considering minimalist running.  

If you've read some of my previous posts, there isn't anything really new, but the comments after the post are very interesting.  Two flat footed people claim that barefoot running led to the "creation" or improvement of arches.  Scanning the blogosphere, there are some other anecdotal claims of the same phenomenon, but no actual study that I can find.  

This 2012 post on Dr. Gangemi's blog indicates that arches can be strengthened if the patient has "flexible flat feet" which apparently is the most common type (not caused by specific injury).  He is a chiropractor, not a podiatrist, but in the section titled "Natural Prevention and Treatment of Flat Feet" this doctor says "...running while barefoot is the ultimate way to naturally and most effectively strengthen the muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the lower leg and foot."  From my non-medical perspective, this makes sense, because babies start out with flat feet and develop arches when they start walking.

Image Source:  Myflatfeet.com 

So, if you're not trying minimalist running because you have flat feet, you may be missing out on exactly what the doctor ordered!

Progress Report - Another day over 100-degrees here in VA, so after two Rest Days, today was another treadmill run.  Starting to worry a bit, because I haven't done any "real" running in a few weeks.  My warm up was the usual 1/2 mile, followed by a 2 mile run and a 1 mile cool down.  No issues, twinges, or weirdness, except for a moment when I though I was going to fall as I leaned right to see who was calling....maybe they make some sort of seat belt for these things...

  • 2 miles - 20'00 (10'00 pace)
Total Mileage - 3.5 miles

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