Why change your stride?
I'm not advocating this particular shoe necessarily, but the advice is good.
How to change your stride?
Learning the Skill of Barefoot Running from Terra Plana on Vimeo.
Starting out:
It's important to transition from a heel strike to a forefoot slowly. You're using different muscles, specifically those in your calves. At first, I ran half my normal mileage in shoes and then finished for about 20 minutes, shoeless, in the grass. I did this for about a week. My calves were sore and I didn't push it, but I was persistent with the training. I then found a pair of over-sized crocs sandals. They had plenty of room for the toes to splay out, they had marginal cushioning, so I could transition to the forefoot while still running my normal distances, 4-6 miles. I ran in the crocs for little less than a week before the soreness in my calves eventually went away. I now have running moccasins, and I'm in the midst of another adjustment phase, as they are nearly close to running barefoot.
The most important aspect of this whole transition is moving the strike from the heel to the forefoot. It's liberating to know that you already have the equipment to run, you needn't even have the 'perfect' shoe*. You could pick-up any cheap, flexible tennis shoe, take out the overly cushioned insole, and with some trial and error achieve the same result. At first, it's not solely about bare-feet and it's not about the shoes, it's about changing your strike and getting closer to actually using the machinery of the foot.
When I feel my form slipping during a barefoot/minimal shoe run, I tell myself:
Head up, and still
Shoulders up, never slouched
Arms in, not pumping (unless going fast)
Shorter stride, not longer (unless sprinting)
Faster cadence
Bouncy
Knees up (especially when I feel the beginning of a blister, or some pain somewhere)
I think about trying to imitate the incredible Haile Gebrselassie, you know, why not!?
If something hurts, slow down and just 'spin' the legs underneath you, as if you were running in place, although you're still running straight. In other words, trot.
Cushioned running shoes make it easier to just push through discomfort. Running on your feet, however, makes you deal with the cause. Always adjust the stride, pace, posture in order to make the discomfort actually stop. You actually cannot run in pseudo-bare-feet without adjusting. Feet are designed to constantly adjust to the surface, let them do that.
A Simple Exercise for making the transition to a forefoot strike:
Jumping rope is one of the best exercises I used for building up to running on my forefoot. When you jump rope you must do all of the above: keep shoulders and head up, your arms are mostly fixed as your hands rotate the rope, they aren't flailing around, you're jumping from your forefoot only, and you're using the spring tension in you calves and quads for the power, just as in a forefoot stride. Bonus, you can do it in regular training shoes, at a gym, at home, anywhere safe from rain, snow, and hail. And it really practices the good form you need for running efficiently.
Now for my 'Testimony'
I've been running just about everyday since 1999, with several down periods due to injuries. The last year in Taiwan was the worst. I injured my ankle while I was bending down to sit in a circle with some kids. When I got up I couldn't walk without pain. What the hell, right? So the 7 month (boring and sucky) recovery began. I stopped running, started swimming and walking. All I wanted to do was run, but I couldn't, that's a crappy feeling. As soon as I thought my ankle was recovered I gradually started jogging, only to find that I would re-injure it, undoing the recovery. Up until changing to a forefoot strike, I had to wrap my ankles after every workout. I was depressed with the thought that I will have reoccurring injuries forever.
The best thing I learned from this period was all the preventative exercises that built balance and proprioception, which in this case, is the ability of the ankle to react faster to situations where there is too much strain on the ligaments. I now make these exercises a part of my regular routine...google: proprioceptive exercise, balance exercises for runners, etc. There's lots out there, but here's my suggestion:
Several times a week, stand on one foot with your eyes closed, count to 30, or 50, or 100, whichever is most challenging, do it twice on both feet. (There's a cute story here**) That's a basic and good one. Build up to a higher count, add arm circles, touch your nose. There are tons of articles like this one that conclude that even at such a low prevention efforts such exercises have extremely good results in preventing injuries.
Also, at one point I had low-level metatarsalgia, which is forefoot pain in my right foot. I couldn't walk barefoot without feeling some kind of pain. After running on my forefeet for only 1 week, that pain disappeared. It's called strengthening your feet by using them! Why spend money on fancy, expensive insoles that coddle your feet and promote foot atrophy?
So, coming back to the States this fall I was psyched to pick up the book Born to Run looking for the inspiration and some new (old) ideas about how to run. This book is the current running zeitgeist, and I'd really recommend it for people that love running. It's a fun and easy read rolling through all sorts of natural histories about running, the Tarahumara of Mexico, ultramarathon culture, the Shoe Industry. Lots is introduced, though little is really expanded upon. (Ch. 25 to the end is the good stuff) But that's what the internet is for, right? I'd read this book to get yourself encouraged to change your stride. It makes you want to run; and it made me not give up on running, and not succumb to the idea that I will be forever injured.
(Not surprisingly in Taiwan I couldn't go to a local track without seeing some older man in trousers rolled up to his knees running or walking barefoot around the track. If the Chinese are doing it, there's usually something to it. )
*I looked around at some of the popular minimal running shoes. I was reluctant to spend a $100 or more on shoes, when the whole point is to simplify. I'm a cheapskate, I want to find something cheap, un-fancy, and good-enough. I finally gave into the purchasing a running moccasin from Soft Star Shoes if only because they are, in my eyes, a model business: family-run, local raw materials, good craftsmanship, solar-powered factory, all in the USA. Yay! Not to mention the product is super quality and un-techy. After a decade of forking over $60-80 every 6 months to New Balance, a company that is more than likely entirely overseas manufacturing and sweat-shopped-up, I had zero qualms with giving my $100 to Soft Star Shoes, it felt really great, in fact.
** In my class in Taiwan, in order to a get a little proprioceptive exercises done while at work, I'd have my young students practice counting to 100 in English as I stood on one leg with my eyes closed. I'd flail around and look funny, they'd giggle and count loudly. They loved it. Cute, eh?