Wednesday, Nov. 24th

Started with a .34 mile barefoot warm-up on the treadmill, then headed out for my run. I decided this would be a pure "run by feel," so I left the Garmin at home and just ran. It was a nice easy 1 hr. run in the Evo's. Total run was 6.27 miles, mostly on packed dirt.

I will say there's definitely a "sharpness" difference running in the Evo's vs. Nike XC's, Katana's or any racing shoe. I can't fully explain but but I believe it has to do with "sensory feedback," and "muscle pre-activation." How that relates to potential injuries, I have no idea but I can feel slight tension in my knees if I run too many days in racing shoes and I have no tension when I run barefoot or in Evo's. I can also feel the engagement of the Achilles in Evo's vs. less engagement in racing shoes.

It's clear that your gait does change to accommodate running in shoes as the body is highly adaptive but you do lose something. Several studies report that there's a 45% energy return in the Achilles and 15% in the arch but with a build up heel as is the case with most running shoes, the Achilles shortens and you lose that advantage and with arch support, you negate the other advantage. I can tell the difference when I run in the Evo's with no arch support and totally flat on the ground.

HHH