I wrote a post a few months ago that highlighted Newton Running Shoes and their growing emergence on the running scene. Last week I went to a running clinic at a local running store named The Sneaker Factory that was sponsored by Newton. One of the guys running the clinic was Ian Adamson, adventure racer, ultrarunner, and Guinness World Record holder. He was a great guy, very friendly and I was able to chat with him for a while before the event began. We talked about why he thinks Newton’s are a better running shoe, why I didn’t necessarily need my Nikes (these were my questions, he never tried to push me into buying anything!), strength training for runners among other things.

There are a lot of articles, and more popping up every day, on the benefits of running in a “minimal” shoe, ie. a shoe that doesn’t have a thick heel that essentially throws off your running gait and makes your muscles over compensate for your altered gait thus increasing your chances for injury. I’m always a little incredulous when a new trend pops up and wait to see if a. this is something that would work for me and my body and b. to see if there’s more to it than just a fad following. But the more I read and talk to guys like Ian, the more I’m realizing that it’s time for me to make the switch. Ian also mentioned not switching 100% in the beginning, but combining your runs with maybe a mile at first in a minimal shoe with the rest of your mileage in your normal shoes. I’m sure there are other philosophies as well, but that sounded like a logical method to me!

In addition to chatting with Ian, he and his colleague took the group outside to practice some drills that essentially mimic how you should be running. These drills, with practice, should allow you to run the way your body is meant to rather than the heel striking way many of our bodies have been conditioned to run due to added heel support in the majority of running shoes. To find more on how to run naturally check out Newton’s Run Better page or the book Natural Running by Danny Abshire.

Happy Running! 🙂