How did those old guys do it?

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What did runners do before the modern running shoe was developed. Did runners

only train on grass, suffer through the pain caused

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by bad shoes or did only unique physical specimens run long distances?

They were tougher than we are. We're just a bunch of mollycoddled wimps. Seriously.

Of course, they were a little bit slower for their pain, too. We can now train more and train better
in part due to equipment improvements. But if they'd had the advantages of modern equipment, they'd
surely embarrass us.

Gordon Pirie talks about his early (plain leather) shoes in "Running Fast and Injury Free," and the
subject is an eye-opener for those of us running in our ultra-cushy running shoes that we trade in
every 500 miles. Even spikes were not so easy back then, because they would wear and become short
from the abrasion, and they could not just be replaced with another screw-in spike. Pirie talks
about losing some races because his spikes had grown short.

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Through the years I have painfully learned which shoes work for me. There's so many choices and I
assume there's a solution for just about everyone's shoe needs. What did runners do before the
modern running shoe was developed. Did runners only train on grass, suffer through the pain caused
by bad shoes or did only unique physical specimens run long distances?

You are making a dangerous assumption: that modern running shoes are good for you. There is a
certain amount of evidence that many (but not all) running injuries are in fact caused by said
modern running shoes. The highly "cushioned" shoes with high heel lifts cause you to run unnaturally
and cause part of the musculature in your feet to weaken, which makes you both slower and more prone
to injury. Many "old school" guys like Joe Henderson know this and avoid the modern wonders like the
plague. Some of us who regularly post here feel the same.

If you have frequent injuries or pain, you might consider doing some barefoot running (on soft
surfaces like beach sand or grass) or running in minimalist trainers/flats, and learn how to run
(i.e., NOT on your heels). This can often do more for injury-plagued runners than every running
engineering contraption in existence...but the shoe companies obviously go to great lengths to keep
people from figuring this out.

Something you might want to contemplate (Abebe Bikila running the entire 1960 Olympic Marathon
BAREFOOT):

ethiopians.comAbikila.jpgOpen ↗

Lyndon

Lyndon "Speed Kills...It kills those that don't have it!" --US Olympic Track Coach Brooks Johnson

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Of course, they were a little bit slower for their pain, too. We can now

train

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more and train better in part due to equipment improvements. But if

they'd had

Quoted message said:

the advantages of modern equipment, they'd surely embarrass us.

They embarrass us anyway. They ran far more miles and they achieved far better times. Check out past
race results to see how many more people ran fast times at, say, Boston, a couple of decades ago
than do so nowadays. Jonathan

Lyndon said:

You are making a dangerous assumption: that modern running shoes are good for you. There is a
certain amount of evidence that many (but not all) running injuries are in fact caused by said
modern running shoes. The highly "cushioned" shoes with high heel lifts cause you to run
unnaturally and cause part of the musculature in your feet to weaken, which makes you both slower
and more prone to injury. Many "old school" guys like Joe Henderson know this and avoid the modern
wonders like the plague. Some of us who regularly post here feel the same.

This is always a fun discussion. The discussion is like cars kill people, Fluoride in the water
causes dementia and possibly one's ovaries will fall out if you run. Are these true maybe yes, maybe
no. Ok, the ovary crack is a little off the mark. 😉

What we do know is out parents stuff our feet into shoes before we even take our first step. Unlike
the Abebe Bikila's who grow up barefoot our parents never give us a chance to develop strong feet.
In effect we are victims of honest intentions.

Quoted message said:

If you have frequent injuries or pain, you might consider doing some barefoot running (on soft
surfaces like beach sand or grass) or running in minimalist trainers/flats, and learn how to run
(i.e., NOT on your heels). This can often do more for injury-plagued runners than every running
engineering contraption in existence...but the shoe companies obviously go to great lengths to
keep people from figuring this out.

On the surface this sounds goods - strengthen weak muscles. I'm suggesting if you plan to do this do
it very gradually over a long period of time. If your feet are used to being coddled you may do more
harm than good. I would suggest some very specific foot strengthening exercises long before you run
barefoot through the park.

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Something you might want to contemplate (Abebe Bikila running the entire 1960 Olympic Marathon
BAREFOOT):

ethiopians.comAbikila.jpgOpen ↗

And the Sherpa's can climb without Oxygen and the Copper Canyon folks do ultras wearing old car tire
swaths strapped to their feet.

--
Doug Freese "Caveat Lector" [email hidden]

I ran in canvas tennies the first few years, after reading Coopers book reprinted in Readers Digest
(mid-1968?). There were cleated shoes that track kids used, but they were way above my means at the
time. I didnt run year-round until the mid 1970s. By then, there was a mass market in running shoes.
Also I didnt buy running clothes until then. It was either sweats or street clothes. People then
considered special clothes "faggy" and expensive.

Quoted message said:

Through the years I have painfully learned which shoes work for me. There's so many choices and I
assume there's a solution for just about everyone's shoe needs. What did runners do before the
modern running shoe was developed. Did runners only train on grass, suffer through the pain caused
by bad shoes or did only unique physical specimens run long distances?

Quoted message said:

What did runners do before the modern running shoe was

Quoted message said:

developed. Did runners only train on grass, suffer
through the pain caused by bad shoes or did only unique
physical specimens run long distances?

Well, back in the early to mid-'60s, we were running in
canvas trainers - basically flats with rubber soles and very
little cushioning. We raced in spikes with next to no
cushion. In XC, we trained on grass, some dirt trails up
hills and alongside roads. However, during track season, we
ran exclusively on a hard, crushed brick oval. My high
arched, narrow feet never gave me trouble in XC, but broke
down annually in track. Most of my teammates did fine. I
wasn't fast, but the fast guys on my "60s teams would still
be state contenders today.

Paul

[email hidden] (PaulM1125) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What did runners do before the modern running shoe was

Quoted message said:

developed. Did runners only train on grass, suffer
through the pain caused by bad shoes or did only unique
physical specimens run long distances?

Well, back in the early to mid-'60s, we were running in
canvas trainers - basically flats with rubber soles and
very little cushioning. We raced in spikes with next to no
cushion. In XC, we trained on grass, some dirt trails up
hills and alongside roads. However, during track season,
we ran exclusively on a hard, crushed brick oval. My high
arched, narrow feet never gave me trouble in XC, but broke
down annually in track. Most of my teammates did fine. I
wasn't fast, but the fast guys on my "60s teams would
still be state contenders today.

Paul

We lesser mortals can but doff our hats to you, Paul,
and your ilk.

Randall

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What did runners do before the modern running shoe was

Quoted message said:

developed. Did runners only train on grass, suffer
through the pain

caused

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

by bad shoes or did only unique physical specimens run
long distances?

There is a theory that modern shoes with elevated heels and
all that cushioning are worse for you than the old canvas
shoes. I don't know if this is true or not.

jack