New Balance Minimus

So yesterday, I ran a little more than 11 miles with the New Balance Minimus.  It was an experience.  I've never worn shoes like that before, and it really worked me hard.  The Minimus is meant to help 'force' the individual to run properly with a midfoot striking style of running.  When using other shoes, I tend to somewhat use my heel (just a little bit) to land, and some of the energy going forward is lost due to the rolling of the feet.  When I was little, I was taught to roll my feet so that the energy could keep on going.  However, nowadays, we look at the midfoot striking style of running which is eliminating all of the energy loss that rolling has, and using a different part of the calves, move forward faster.

The reason it is called a Minimus is because it has minimum padding as well as minimum drop from heel to toe of 4 mm.  An average shoe has over a centimeter of drop from heel to toe, which helps pad the heel and lessens the jolt caused by those that run with heels landing first.  The idea is that shoes made with the significant drop helps with the effects of the problems.  The Minimus, however, focuses on working with the problem directly and encourages the runner to correct his/her running, not only eliminating the problem, but also creating a faster runner.

Solving the problem is always better than solving the effects the problem has, and the Minimus really helps out with that.  When I ran with the Minimus, my lower calves hurt a lot more because I was running correctly, using muscles that I have not used as much.  It said on the box as well as the reviews to slowly get used to it, and I didn't exactly listen to it because I wanted the results now.  The results I wanted was to correct (improve) my running form as well as run faster.  Yesterday's long runs really helped me understand the value of the Minimus. I know that I will not be able to be used to it when I run the marathon, but I'm hoping that the Minimus would help me take steps towards efficient running.

Being taught one way and correcting what I learned is a difficult situation, and it'll definitely require a lot of discipline to make that change.  Though painful, the outcome is definitely worth it, so I'm going to keep going and work on solving the problem rather than learning to deal with it.  Even if I turn out wearing my old Asics, I believe that the Minimus would definitely help me with my running technique and therefore help me out with my running overall, minimizing impact as well as running faster, using my body efficiently.