Do you have knee or back pain?

[BigT]

I must tell you all an experience I had 6 weeks ago which has changed my pain levels drastically as it relates to refereeing.

I fell in love with the Reeboks Zigs years ago and I wear them for rec ball to HS ball Lacrosse or Basketball. I just love the look and feel.

My running shoes were finally wearing out (love the look and feel for normal work) and a friend said I should talk to the owner of a local running shoe store named Hawk.

Hawk was an olympian and currently a consultant to the Oympic marathon team. He has owned the store for at least 20+ years and since I am a lurpy 6'5" 230 lb beast getting up and down the fields and courts I am always looking for something to help me run better and with less pain.

He told me once upon time 30+ years American shoes had no heel and US runners suffered 5% injuries compared to bare foot runners at 3% world wide.

Today they still suffer 3% while US runners suffer 87% injuries and it is due to the heels that marketing insisted got added to help sell shoes of all types including running shoes. The shoe heel cushion caused runners to shot pressure up the leg into the knees and the hips/back. Zero cushion or 4mm cushion was much better on the body. I experience this pain despite trying to avoid heel to toe running and running on the balls of my feet. He said just land flat. I tried on a Brooks and an ugly all black Altara zero cushion shoe and tried running around the store a few times. Hey my knees like these no heel cushion shoes. Though not cheap I bought a pair for walking/working/running and one pair for refereeing. I had 2 tournaments in Vegas and some Lacrosse mens league games to fully test out if his advice was true.

I am here to tell you not running in high heels... errr big fat cushioning thick heels makes a complete difference in my knee/back and hip pain. It dropped 90%. It felt more naturally. Yes I would like something as sexy as the Zig with 0mm or 4mm cushion. If you run a lot or do a lot of games and your body tells you as much after those long days or long weeks and considering how much money we make and how long we want to referee. You might want to try these out and add years to your career instead of at the doctors trying to repair issues brought on my marketing genius that have no idea how much pain their heels cause.

If you have any questions you are welcome to PM me or drop a reply here. For a guy who does 500-700 games at year at 48 I feel not only could I do more but feel I will do it much longer with this information.

[Freddy]

Lower back pain solved, pretty much, by massage therapist's recommendation that I "foam roll" my IT bands and glutes. When I did I enjoyed lack of lower back pain almost immediately. No more chiropractor appointments for my lower back. Do it each morning and when loosening up prior to games. I'm not a doctor and don't even play one on TV, but this works for me.
Never contemplated life after Zigs.

[BigCat]

I swear by my Hoka One One Clifton 3s. The drop from heel to toe is only 5mm. They are also cushioned all way through. I used to have hip, knee etc pain so couldn't run miles. (Now my only excuse is I can't breathe😞.) I'm up to 2 miles a day....that's a lot for me..

[Rufus]

I recently completed Born To Run, a book about minimalist running and was an instant convert. I started running on my midfoot/ball of my foot and, while ramping up the time spent running, felt much better in my knees (coming off two meniscus surgeries in the last 3 years).

I switched to a pair of no-rise shoes by Tesla and it's as close to running barefoot you can get while still being protected with a shoe sole. Things were going well with those too (although my calves were killing me after runs because they were being forced to work now).

Unfortunately I developed a stress fracture in my right foot 3 weeks ago and I've been sidelined since then. After another 3 weeks healing time it'll be back to heal/toe (better the devil you know...) for the upcoming season. Just not sure if it was the different stresses involved in changing running styles so drastically or a fluke thing, but I don't have the luxury of time to figure it out if something else goes wrong.

Will be back minimalist running after this next season as I think it's overall better for health but will be getting with an instructor to make sure I'm doing it right.