Plantar Fasciitis

I'd heard about it. Even knew some people with it. But in almost fifty years on this planet, never experienced it for myself.

Except now.

Compared to the hamstring tendinitis, which has plagued me on-and-off for the past fifteen years, this one takes the cake. Not only is it painful to run, but even if you manage the pain, it changes the way your foot lands on the ground, altering your stride, forcing you to use more effort with each stride and get exhausted, tired much quicker.

Plantar Fisciitis is a pain in the Plantar tendon that's on the sole of your foot. It's tendinitis of the Plantar but could be more than just overuse. In my case, I switched shoes from my regular Saucony Ride (8mm toe to heel) with a comfortable instep a couple of years ago. My new shoe for the past couple of years was the Saucony Kinvara 4's (4mm toe to heel). It's a flatter shoe, lighter and now getting close to minimal, but not quite. Finally took the leap to an even lighter shoe, a shoe that makes your foot feel like it has no shoes at all! The New Balance Minimus

This is the Kinvara, by Saucony. Look closely at towards the heel and you can see the instep support.

I have flat-ish feet and this instep was perfect. With my previous Saucony Ride's, the 8mm was a bit too supportive so my foot wasn't working properly. Probably the reason for the numerous hamstring incidents.

A closer look at the instep on the Kinvara's to the right.

Now here's the Minimus, by New Balance. The first New Balance shoes I've ever bought and when I bought them in the store, they felt really good and light. I thought they'd be a great next step, because I really was trying to get to the most minimal shoe.




The Minimus

The sole is made by Vibram, same company that makes the Five Fingers shoe, the ultimate in minimalist running.

On this sole, you can "feel" the ground. It's really like you have no shoe. All the tiny bits of gravel on the pavement.

And it really is a very, very light shoe.

And I must say, this is the shoe that did me in. I think the lack of cushioning meant that my instep was working much harder, even though there's a 4mm heel-to-toe for both the Kinvara's and the Minimus, the total lack of cushioning was the difference.

So I'm back to the Kinvara's. I'll keep the Minimus for walking around in, but the amount of mileage I do requires a lot of cushioning.