Barefoot Running -- Improve Mechanics For Good!

The picture above is of Barefoot Rick's feet after completing the Chicago Marathon is 2006. To many, the thought of running 26.2 miles on pavement without shoes conjures images of bloody stumps and permanent disability. But look, he's fine. How could this be?

Runners having experienced problems buy expensive running shoes are told the shoe selected will aid in correcting pronation or providing more cushioning.  In reality studies suggest they will experience a greater prevalence of running-related injuries than wearers of less expensive shoes (Robbins and Gouw, 1991).  Granted, it could be the runners in the less expensive flats are by nature more naturally inclined to run or younger (or both).  Regardless, a correlation has been established between expensive athletic shoes and injury.   In fact, runners will on average incur more than twice as many injuries from expensive shoes than those in cheaper shoes.  These tend to be the heavier highly corrective or supportive shoes with lots of technology.  Are shoe companies deceptivley advertising athletic footwear capabilities (e.g., "cushioning impact") that create more problems for runners than they had before?  Or, are they simply over enamored with thier engineering prowess and losing sight of the big picture.  Without a crytal ball its hard to say what exactly is going on.  

Ever worry about hanging all this bling on your hoof?

I wear shoes all the time.  I run for Team RC.  Mizuno sponsors the team and I am proud to be affiliated.  They make great gear and not just shoes.  Team RC represents the competitive arm for Running Central.  Adam White owns Running Central and helps feed my addiction to the sport of running.  His professional team are experts in footwear as well as all aspects of running and triathlons.  They understand everyone has unique running requirments and there's NO one solution.  But here is where they differ from the run of the mill athletic foot store.  When you come in with a mechanical problem be it over pronating or knee problems they try first to get athletes in a mindset to first fix the underlying condition before treating it.  Think of it this way.  If your tires on your car were out of alignment you could do a lot of damage just running mile after mile like this. You have two options, change the flatform or change your form.  The latter takes more time but will yeild the best long term results.  Running without shoes gives you the best feedback on what mechanically you are doing wrong.   Your feet hurt long before you do serious hip or knee damage.  Running shoes have a place (even in my life).  They protect my pigs from painful objects but they aren't corrective devices and the capacity for shock absorbtion and prevention of over pronation is limited.   But the running shoe is not all positive.  If you never get out of your shoes you will face a the downside to shoes, reduced sensory feedback.  This is especially dangerous when you understand the research points to less protection thereby increasing the injury-inducing impacts.   You may be having a false sense of security that may contribute to the risk of injury (Robbins and Gouw, 1991).  Here's the long term rub: once the natural foot structures are weakened by long-term footwear use, you will  have to rely on the external support of the footwear, but the support does not match that provided by a well functioning foot. When it comes to racing, team RC takes a less is best attitude.  If you are interested in knowing more.  Go see Adam at Running Central and talk with him about how best to proceed.

  

Read More on Shoes and Barefoot Running

This is the shoe I intended on running the 2009 Boston Marathon in. It is the Mizuno Wave Universe 2. I like the shoe for it's minimalistic characteristics. It's about as little a shoe as you can find. It's definitely not for everyone but if you're into the less is more philosophy of running, this is a not too distant step from barefoot running. I weigh about 165 lbs and am 5-9. As such, the soft rubber soles don't last very long. I only have about 100 miles on my shoes yet they are showing quite a bit of wear. A big problem with this shoe is it's scarcity. I am having a really hard time getting another pair. Adam at Running Central is my dealer. He's trying to find me a pair. When it comes to minimal flats they tend to be difficult to find. Overall I really like this shoe and recommend it to anyone who ocassionally runs barefoot but wants a shoe for long runs and marathons.

Are Your Shoes Causing Injuries?

Here is an excerp from one of my favorite sites, The Science of Sport on the benefits of barefoot running:

To date, we have not really tackled the running shoe subject directly here at The Science of Sport, but it has come up incidentally in previous posts.

For example, it came up in the first post on our series on the Pose Running technique, where it was pointed out that ever since the "boom" in the running shoe industry about 30 years ago, the percentage of runners who get injured each year has remained pretty much the same.

So despite technological advances and developments in the industry, injury incidences have remained largely unchanged. Shoe companies make many promises, such as:

"Anti-pronation devices limit movement of the foot, reducing the risk of injury in overpronators", or "Forefoot and rearfoot cushioning devices reduce impact and the risk of injury"

Yet there's little reason to believe that this is true. The latest studies suggest that anything between 40% and 70% of runners are injured every year. And fascinatingly, in 1989, a study found that runners who ran in shoes costing more than $95 actually were twice as likely to get injured than runners who ran in shoes costing only $40! That was even after correcting for training and racing mileage! Of course, it's impossible to conclude that "expensive shoes CAUSE injury", because there are other factors that can't be accounted for. And one might argue that the typical runner of 2008 is quite different from the runners of the 1970's, who tended to be lightweight, biomechanically very different athletes. So maybe the fact that the injury rates are the same is actually a positive for the shoe industry? But let's pursue it a little further...

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/03/running-shoes-solution-or-problem.html

Now you can have your shoe and eat it too!

Hitoshi Mimura, 59, is a former marathon runner who became a master craftsman for Asics, the Japanese sporting goods manufacturer.

Later this month, Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor of the United States plan to begin testing the latest design from the distance-running equivalent of Manolo Blahnik. Their shoemaker is a Japanese master craftsman whose soles are renowned not for space-age gels or air bladders but for the gripping properties of rice husks.
The husks, which are ground and imbedded in the rubber soles of racing flats, are designed to absorb water and to provide up to 10 percent better traction along the 26.2-mile marathon course at the Beijing Olympics in August. (Read the story in it's entirety in the NY Times by clicking on the headline).

My wife says I have more running shoes than I really need but hey what can I say? I am a sucker for a groovy shoe. Adam, can I get some soy sauce for these?

Even if the shoe fit's....at least occasionally, forget it.

Many runners focus primarily on the workouts and little on their form. You probably learned to run as a young kid right after you learned to walk. You could run and for the most part that was enough. Efficiency was not important. For the most part what ever you learned then is still a part of your running technique today. In addition, our body changes as we age. Flexibility and muscle tone, even your desk job can change what happens when you run. Do you bend at the waist when you get tired? Do you strike with your heal? To you over pronate? What do you do?

People spend enormous money and time finding shoes to correct discomfort caused by specific running deficiencies but believe there is nothing they can do to correct their form. Before jumping on a pair of extreme control trainers with inserts consider the root cause and forget about the symptoms. An extreme shoe platform can reinforce and amplify your bad habits.

A good place to start is by watching the best IVS runners as well as the elites on television. Forget about the blistering pace.....what is different about the way they run? What's different about the technique? Notice how effortless they make it look.

Have an objective third party like Adam, Greg or Blair watch you run. Have a friend video tape you running. Concentrate on making adjustments to make you run more like those who seem to run so gracefully. Time spent improving form can be very rewarding. Many form improving drills can be completed in a small amount of time and they are not especially taxing. The benefits can last a lifetime.

Strength training, flexibility, and techniques such as barefoot running are great ways to get your running form where you need it. Train your brain! Barefoot running gives you mucho feedback (at first a bit too much). It also strengthens the feet. This can improve efficiency and lessen the chance for injury.

Mark Sisson, who runs the blog Marks Daily Apple writes "When was the last time you left your house without shoes? Hard to say? When was the last time you ran without shoes? Summer, circa 12 years old? If you are to listen to the growing number of barefoot runners out there you are truly missing out.

It turns out we were all born barefoot. No, really. As hard as it is to believe, no one came strolling into this world pre-packaged with a pair of loafers or Nike’s latest cross-trainers. That alone is a good enough argument for not wearing shoes, right? Yeah, yeah, so goes the same argument for public nudity. But there really is something to the notion that going barefoot (not bare-naked) is good for you. "

You can check out the entire post in Mark's blog! It's a great read for anyone considering barefoot running:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/even-if-the-shoe-fits-forget-it/

Cheers!

Rob

Nike Free Ad

These shoes are great. I need a new pair of Free 3.0's but they seem to be no longer available. Bummer! I can still get 5.0's. I like em....sort of. But the Free 3's were the Bomb! I raced myself to a PR at Delavan in them. I also had a personal first by beating Chris Alexander. Granted he had the flu and was overdressed. But hey, the guy is Faster Than Schroff!