If you have the right form, I think you’ll find less is definitely more in terms of shoes. But the problem is that having worn normal thick running shoes most of our lives, few of us have the right form.
There has been something of a movement in the running community in recent years towards minimalist shoes. The idea is pretty simple: Big thick soled shoes prevent your body from running the way it was supposed to. The natural shock absorption and spring built into your joints and tendons is compromised by a reliance upon EVA and air soles. As a result we simply do not run properly. We land on our heels and the tendons/joints/muscles that we need for proper form weaken. The Newtons are one response to this problem but “minimalism” is something different.
The next time you have a chance, take off your shoes and run barefoot in the grass. Notice how differently you land then when you are in shoes. I’ll bet your heels never ever touch the ground. That should give you an idea of how much big thick shoes alter your stride.
About 4 or 5 years ago, I started phasing in more minimalist shoes into my running. I started doing a couple of my weekly runs in what amount to little more than racing flats. Perhaps they could charitably be called “lightweight trainers” but the point is there was very little too them. I could not rely on them for cushioning so I had to run more smoothly. I had to find and use that spring that we all have in our lower joints and muscles. It certainly prevented any overstriding I might have had. Nobody is going to land on their heels when there is nothing there to cushion them.
Aside from helping to cure a nasty case of plantar fasciitis which had bothered me for a year, they also helped improve my stride a bit and find some consistency (via freedom from injury) which I had been lacking. Over a very short time I phased them in up to the point where I was doing almost every run in them. That is true to this day. I rarely run in shoes that weigh more than 9 ounces. I still do 80-100 miles per week so they do not limit my mileage. The biggest irony is that I get more miles out of the minimal shoes than I ever got out of regular trainers. Where my old Nike Pegasus used to last maybe 300-500 miles, I rarely get less than 1000 miles out of a pair of the shoes I wear now. When you don’t rely upon the midsole to protect your body, it doesn’t matter much if it compresses. I’ll never go back.
The key thing to understand is that the ***shoe ***is not providing relief or comfort. Joints and muscles are. The shoe (or lack thereof) forces them to. I land better over my center of gravity. My lower foot flexes more fully. My muscles and tendons stretch, absorb shock and spring back more so than they do in regular trainers
But this did not happen overnight. I do NOT recommend you go buy a pair of racing flats and suddenly do every run in them. That’s asking for an injury. Your body needs time to get used to something like this. But consider getting some sort of minimal shoe and doing a run or two per week in them. Do not worry about pace, just go easily. If the shoe is truly minimal, you will quickly be forced to run somewhat differently. This is a good thing and will produce good adaptations but you cannot just jump into it. Your body has years of running in regular thick shoes and will not adapt overnight.
Try that for a few months. See how it feels. Find some sort of minimal shoe. It could be a racing flat. It could be a lightweight trainer. The key is to find something without a huge built up heel. The drop from heel to toe in the shoe should not be much. I think if you do it right, you will find yourself wanting to do more an more miles in less and less shoe
Note that there are downsides to “minimalism”. You are forced to pay better attention to lower leg flexibility. You really need to stretch and massage those calf muscles if they are to help provide the extra spring required. You neglect that at your peril. Furthermore if you do get a lower leg injury - like an achilles injury - running in minimal shoes tends to exploit it and aggravate it more than regular shoes. In other words, if you hurt your achilles, go back to the regular shoes for a while or take time off from running. Finally, keep in mind that I had been running for almost 20 years before I tried this so I had a pretty good idea of how to recognize and back off from injury. If you are not good at backing away, well… be more careful.
But overall, I think it’s a good way to teach yourself to run better. I actually own the Newtons and while they are OK, I think the minimal shoe approach is better, provided it is phased in very gradually.
