With Regret... You're Fired!

I decided to take up running in October 2010. I got a couch to 5k plan, I bought some gear including a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10 shoes.

My faithful Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10's

On my first run-walk session, I made the classic mistake of sprinting instead of running, hence running myself into the ground. That experience led to all my gear being consigned to the bottom of my wardrobe for 12 months.

Then in October 2011, I joined the beginner's sessions hosted by my local running club, saw the error of my ways and became a runner. My Brooks have taken me from run-walking to running, through ten parkruns and a 10K.

Here enters the influence of a book. Specifically 'Born to Run' by Chris McDougall. I dabbled in trail running and minimalist running in Vibram FiveFingers (VFF's). I entered a trail race and bought some Adidas Kanadia TR4 trail shoes. Recently, I've been doing more trail running than road running while gradually increasing my mileage in my VFF's.

There is a fundamental difference between my Kanadia's, VFF's and Adrenaline's. The Adrenaline's are 'stability' shoes with padding designed to eliminate unstable motion as the foot lands. Neither the Kanadia's nor the VFF's have this. So, as I've grown used to the trail and 'barefoot' shoes, my gait has subtly changed.

I first noticed this on a jaunt around the town bypass a couple of weeks ago. Toward the last 1/3 of the loop, my legs started to hurt and I felt myself fighting the shoes. The Adrenaline's were trying to force my feet to land in a way that had become unnatural for me. Instinctively, my legs tried to override this effect causing an ache in my ankles, shins and knees.

As an experiment, this morning I did the same run in my VFF's. No pain was experienced at all (although, as this was my longest ever run in VFF's, I felt the onset of blisters at the base of my big toes). Also, I was over a minute faster.

A screenshot of my bypass run data. The far left is in VFF's, the rest were in Adrenaline's.

So, today with regret, I've made the difficult decision to retire my trusty old Adrenaline's. It has become clear that they no longer suit the running style I've grown into. Minimalist footwear is the way forward for me.

I'm grateful to the Adrenaline's for getting me through my first hundred miles and establishing 'The Running Bug' in me for many years to come.