Page 17 | Michael T. Miyoshi

Reeducating My Legs · 4 July 2013

I thought that my legs would be ready for at least the same mileage in my FiveFingers as I could run in my Merrels. Unfortunately, they need to be reeducated. Again.

I remember ignoring good advice and running farther than I should have with mostly supportless shoes. I paid for it with sore muscles and a funny walk for a few days. When I got my completely supportless FiveFingers, my no-shoe shoes, I ignored the advice again. After all, I figured that I had already paid my dues and my legs would be fine. But they are not as strong as they need to be. At least not yet. Thankfully, the only payment I have had to make so far has been soreness.

Last August, when I decided to do the minimalist shoe thing, I did not realize that the running shoes I got had little bit of arch support. Like I said before, it took almost a year for that arch support to start hurting my feet, but looking back, I believe those shoes helped me transition to no-shoe shoes. They helped my arches get stronger by providing a little bit of support. However, now I need to take the time to make a final transition. I need to finish the reeducation of my feet and legs to no-shoe shoes.

I jumped right into running the same mileage with my new shoes because I thought that my calves and all my supporting muscles were stronger from having little support when running this year. I did not realize that they needed to be even stronger until I was sore after running a few miles in my new no-shoe shoes.

At first, I thought that my form was wrong. I thought that I must be overstriding. That my foot must be striking in front of my body instead of directly below it causing a braking effect and putting extra stress on my calves. But as I look at myself, I believe my form is good. I might be slightly overstriding, but I believe I just need to get used to having no-shoe shoes. Still, getting used to my newest shoes has been much better than when I first ran in minimalist shoes. And there is no comparison to what it was like in the old days.

In the past, new shoes usually brought blisters and pain. There was a long breaking in period to get used to new shoes. To get used to support in new and different places than the old shoes had. To get used to unnecessary padding. It seemed to take forever before the blisters and pain went away. Now, I do not have any blisters or pain, just a few aches. I know I just need to take it slowly and ease into the mileage. Thankfully, I just need to be strengthening instead of breaking my body.

I wish I could say that I had already paid my dues and was ready to run lots of miles nearly barefoot. But even though I still have soreness to pay for the miles, I am thankful that I do not need to break my body. For fortunately, with no-shoe shoes, all I really need to do is reeducate my feet and legs. Again.

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No-Shoe Shoes · 3 July 2013

People like to call them minimalist shoes, but I think that shoes which have no heel-to-toe drop and no arch support ought to be called “no-shoe shoes.”

Maybe it is my Japanese heritage, but there is something special about effortless effort – when we make something look easy because we have mastered it. Chinese martial artists who study Tai Chi Ch’uan call this effortless effort wu wei. The rest of us just call it making things look easy.

Regardless of what it is, tons of effort go into making it look easy. We need to work and work to finally get to a place of effortless effort. (At least usually.) This notion of effortless effort is why I am redubbing those shoes with no drop and no support as “no-shoe shoes.”

Like the martial artists and others who seek to make things look easy, wearing no-shoe shoes to run does not start out being effortless. It takes time to build up foot, leg, and supporting muscles. That is what most people do not realize about no-shoe shoes and effortless effort. That time to mastery tie-in with effortless effort is one reason I like the new name of “no-shoe shoes.”

I know it is really not my place to rename anything, but no-shoe shoes makes sense to me. These shoes with no support and no heel-to-toe drop are really just a barrier between the ground and our feet. They provide lots of feedback but no support. I can feel everything on the ground with my no-shoe shoes. That is the way they are supposed to feel. They really are just supposed to make me feel like I am barefoot and provide a little protection for my feet. They really are supposed to be no-shoe shoes. Which is the other reason I am giving these shoes a new name.

I really hope this redubbing of shoes with no heel-to-toe drop and no arch support (and other minimalist shoes) to “no-shoe shoes” will take off, but it does not really matter. No-shoe shoes is what I am calling them now because that is what they are. They are shoes that are not shoes. They are no-shoe shoes.

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No Excuses · 2 July 2013

Any excuse will do.

I do not have time to write or cook or exercise. My parents both have diabetes so it is inevitable that I will get it too. It is too expensive to eat right. I am not motivated. I do not have any energy. My computer is broken. I do not have access to the internet. I need to spend quality time with my family. I am not smart enough.

Wah, wah, wah. The list of excuses goes on forever. I would even venture to say that we all have our favorite.

Whether we are talking about writing or health or any worthwhile endeavor, we can use any excuse as to why we are not getting things done. But there are no good reasons why we cannot accomplish our goals. Especially, if we want to have better health.

While there may indeed be a conspiracy to keep us in the dark about what foods can truly do for our health, we can see that the status quo and making excuses are not doing anything but making people fat and unhealthy. We must take the time and energy to find out what to do to make things right. We must take the time to get healthy. We must stop making excuses.

In the end, we all do what we want to do. We merely make excuses not to do the things we do not want to do. Even if we say the opposite. Once we decide to write or exercise every day, to eat healthy, to do what it takes to accomplish our goals, we will.

In reality, we all know there are no excuses in life. We all know that we need to decide to do whatever it is we want to do. We know that if we do not decide or if we do not really want to do something, any excuse will do.