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Surprisingly there is lot to obsess about in Running for such a simple activity.
For example, each feet has 26 bones, 30 joints and 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments (https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/about-arthritis/where-it-hurts/anatomy-of-the-foot). And of course you can obsess about each one of them. This is really impressive that just the two feet have 25% of all the bones in human body.
But feet are at the tail end of things to obsess about. Running shoes are much higher in the list. The astounding number of choices available boggles the mind. Recently, my friend introduced me to barefoot running shoes and that was a personal breakthrough for me for reducing knee inflammation that has bogged me for last few years.
Reducing knee inflammation is really big deal. I have come across many people who are curious about Running but avoid it because of risk of knee injury. But like all other activities in life, the risk has to be managed. If you are wanting to run for health benefits and do not have any other related health constraints, it is easy to manage risk of knee injury by running slow, using barefoot shoes and doing some simple knee strengthening exercises.
If you have related health constraints that prevents you from Running you can always do other exercises such as walking, biking, etc. You can discuss with your doctor if Running is still feasible option for you. My guess is most people give up too easily on Running, which is a pity as it is one of the easier, low cost option to get intense exercise available to most people. Essentially, you can get olympic athlete grade intense exercise with very little overhead effort and cost.
The term “barefoot running shoes” confuses the non-initiated. So I even found a definition for it on the internet: “Barefoot shoes come without heel drop, so the heel of the foot is not lifted up or otherwise elevated. The sole has the same thickness along its entire length. This means that the whole foot is flat against the ground, the same as when going barefoot.” (https://www.groundies.com/what-even-are-barefoot-shoes/)
My barefoot running shoes journey started with Vibrams (https://us.vibram.com/shop/shop-all-products/mens-fivefingers/training-fitness/kso-mens-M14.html). It took…
