Barefoot running
May 10, 2008
I’ve long thought that running barefoot could be quite beneficial. I used to regularly do strides on grass, and noticed my feet getting stronger. I’ve been doing some reading on barefoot running lately, and it’s commonly believed by barefoot runners that running barefoot may have the following benefits:
- Better proprioception - you know where your feet are relative to the ground
- Landing softer - you learn to land more softly, thus having to absorb less impact
- Midfoot strike - you have a natural tendency to strike with the midfoot, rather then the heel, which is commonly believed to be more efficient. Almost all elite runners run in this manner.
- Better efficiency - you’re more able to convert the energy from the shock of landing from one step into forward motion for the next
- Stronger feet muscles
- Injury prevention
Of course, the last point is key, and has a lot to do with the others - with better proprioception, by landing softer w/ a midfoot strike, and by having stronger feet muscles, you’ll be much less likely incur maladies such as plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains, and impact-related injuries. This is of course assuming that you have built up to running barefoot gradually.
So, in summary, running shoes are believed to make you run in a far less natural manner. Because running barefoot is more natural, it’s how our bodies were “meant to” work, so it’s more likely to work well. There are, however, obstacles and drawbacks to running barefoot, in particular, sharp objects on the ground. Any runner can tell you getting a cut on your foot is a very bad thing.
With all this in mind, I thought it would be cool to have a minimal shoe - really more like a “foot glove”, a small layer of rubber on the outside, just enough to protect the feet, but not any real structural support like conventional shoes. Later that week I was reading up on the Bull Run Run, a race I did couple years back (my first 50!), and I came across this article for a test run of the Vibram Five Fingers. This is exactly what I was thinking of! I did a little more research, and was just so intrigued by the product that I decided to go out to Winchester (one of three places in Virginia that sells them) to buy a pair.
Now that my race is over, and I’m in my two-week offseason, I’ve been experimenting with this shoes. It’s quite a unique experience. I’ll post more on that later. In the meantime, here’s some links about barefoot running, the debate between barefoot and shod running, and the Vibram Five Fingers:
http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2006/08/athletic_footwe.html
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/barefooting/barefoot_running.cfm
Other bloggers’ experiences and debate:
http://www.keith-in-training.blogspot.com/2008/03/vibram-fivefingers-ksos-part-i.html
http://bryanontherun.blogspot.com/2008/04/sorry-keith-counterpoint-on-barefoot.html
May 13, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I think the shoe companies, and by being inundated with shoe marketing rhetoric, normal folk too, over-dramatize the risk/danger of sharp objects (if one builds up to barefooting gradually).
Yes, we will probably, occassionally step on a sharp object (mostly when we are not paying attention), and, if we are landing with the kind of impact and sloppyness we would with shoes, such incidents would most likely cut our bare sole.
But, since our sensitive barefeet practically force us to land gentler, with less twisting, skidding, or sliding motion, even when we do land on, let’s say a piece of broken glass, it rarely does anything more than cause a bit of discomfort, like a pebble, for a few steps.
And, the cool thing is, we have other senses to help us avoid stepping on larger sharp objects, like our eyes.
I don’t consider myself a great marathon/ultr-runner. After all, I could barely finish ONE marathon with shoes.
But I have completed 65 marathons (both roads and trails), one 50K trail run (in the mountains), and hundreds of shorter races (on a variety of terrains), not to mention tens of thousands of practice miles in between all of these races - all barefoot.
I’ve had, let me see…
- one cut on the side of my foot, from slipping on a sharp rock in a stream crossing during my first barefoot marathon. This was a mountainous trail marathon. I finished right about in the middle, of an exceptional group of only 35 total finishers. Most shod runners won’t attempt such a marathon.
- I’ve also picked up a few tiny glass splinters, one during a 10K road race. I stopped, pulled it out, and caught up with everyone who passed me during the 2-seconds it took me to pull it out.
- a hand(foot)ful of stubbed toes (mostly while walking, or running very slowly and not paying attention to picking my feet up)
That’s pretty much it, except for countless forgetable events, that caused no damage. And I have run literally tens of thousands of miles barefoot.
On the other hand, my feet were nearly constantly uncomfortable, and often blisterd when wearing shoes, and running much shorter runs, and less total mileage, than I run barefoot.
The human foot, with regular use (use it or lose it), is tough enough to run over a wide variety of terrains with minimal damage, most of which is non-threatening, and heals quickly.
On the other hand, our feet are not designed to be isolated from the ground at all, nor enclosed inside a foot tomb. True, the five-fingers are a vast improvement over what’s been available for the past couple decades.
Even McDonald’s has improved it’s meals recently (then again, most anything would have been an improvement). Perhaps, the realization that there is a vast difference between being suitable for consumption, and suitable for nutrition, has affected my judgement. Still, there is so much food availble which is much closer to being suitable for human nutrition, that I can see no good reason to eat at McDonald’s, or to wear minimal shoes, when my bare feet serve just fine.
Even minimal shoes will lesson the wonderful (and enjoyable) sensation of our bare soles touching the ground, even more than the natural toughening of our bare soles that occurs with regular use reduces sensitivity, because the nerve endings remain close enough to the ground, and sensitive enough to teach us to run more gently, each and every day.
Our feet want to touch the ground, that’s why we land harder when we block the feeling of impact with artificial soles. The difference between minimal shoes and other running shoes, is mostly a matter of the degree we block this ability to feel the ground.
May 13, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Ken, I appreciate the input from a barefoot running veteran. Very insightful, and I agree with just about all of it.
I was curious about how often you get cut barefoot or how you deal with it, and it’s good to know that after the initial adjustment period that it does get to be a minimal problem.
I have had problems in the past overcoming that initial adjustment period, cutting myself on the foot on a sharp object. This affected my running for that season, so, while I know that I could potentially develop my skin on my foot to be strong enough to resist puncturing easily, for right now it’s too risky for me. I’m dedicating this year to qualifying for Boston. I may experiment with barefoot running at a later time.
I had a couple of additional concerns/questions about long-distance barefoot running, and you seem qualified to answer:
Do you run on ball of your foot the whole time? Or do you start landing on your heel when you start to get tired?
Do you have any Achilles tendon or calf problems ?
I noticed that barefoot (or close to barefoot) running tends to force you to land on the ball of your foot more, which places less stress on the knees, but more on the Achilles’, and that my calf is pretty sore afterwards. I’m sure that this is a short-term thing, as I get more adjusted to it, but I was curious how it plays out with long-distance runs.
May 20, 2008 at 1:58 am
All of my running injuries went away when I re-learned to run correctly and started going without shoes. It’s worth the effort.
Operativefitness.com
June 19, 2008 at 1:52 am
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Hokey.
July 11, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I’ve got some Five Fingers and I LOVE them. It wasn’t something I would have considered until I stumbled upon the shoe (I think as a best invention of 2007) but the more I read, the more it made sense. They’re HUGELY helpful in building overall foot strength and I can say that I’ve never had a calf workout to compare.