Barefoot Running

I found this pair on sale for half off, plus an extra 10% because they were the last pair.
And they fit perfectly. It must be a sign!

Barefoot running, also known as natural running, is based on the theory that humans were designed to run barefoot. Think about how you run while wearing running shoes. It's a heel-strike-to-toe motion, right? Well the downside of this is that by landing on your heel, there's no way to absorb the shock of impact so that you don't injure your joints from the repetitive stress of pounding the pavement. Barefoot running on the other hand consists of running on the balls of your feet, which removes the pounding force impact on your joints. See the photo and graphs below for a comparison of shod and barefoot running.

Impact on Foot: Shod Running vs. Barefoot Running

Also, the muscles of the longitudinal arch may allow the foot to dampen impact and may remove stress from the plantar fascia, which could help people with plantar fasciitis. FYI, plantar fasciitis is the inflammation of the thick tissue on the bottom of the foot and can be very painful.

The practice of running barefoot is still followed by the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico. The people of this tribe have been known to run up to 200 miles (320 km) at one time. This 200-mile run can take place over two days through their homeland of rough canyon country. Three of the five canyons are deeper than the Grand Canyon(1). The Tarahumara can travel between 50-80 miles everyday at a "race" pace. Because of the terrain, travel using domesticated animals (i.e. horse and wagon) isn't possible and running is needed for inter-village communication and transportation, as well as to hunt. The Tarahumara use a persistence hunting technique, which basically means that they chase down an animal until it slows from exhaustion. Because humans sweat, our bodies have a mechanism to cool down while continuing to run, and although many mammals sweat, few can effectively thermoregulate via sweating, thus often relying on panting to cool the body. Unfortunately for these four-legged animals being hunted, they aren't blessed with the ability to pant while galloping (such as while being chased), so they have to slow down to pant.

The barefoot running movement got some of the spotlight after Christopher McDougall's book, Born to Run, was published in May 2009. After dealing with running injuries himself, the author traveled down to the Mexican Copper Canyons to learn more about how the Tarahumara tribe can run with  minimal foot support (homemade sandals) and without significant injuries. 

Watch the video below for the perspective of Daniel Lieberman, PhD, Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.

Because so many of us live in cities and run on roads and sidewalks, running barefoot might not be the best idea because of the potential to injure the bottom of our feet due to puncture wounds, bruising, or thermal reasons such as running on ice or very hot surfaces like pavement in Texas. Therefore, options such as Vibrams FiveFingers or moccasins are available for barefoot/minimalist running. As a side note, the modern-day running shoe was developed in the mid-1970s.

If you plan to switch from running with shoes to running barefoot, you should do it gradually. It significantly changes HOW you run. It works different muscles that may be unaccustomed to being used so much. My Vibrams came with a nice little tag that recommended that I wear the shoes 1-2 hours per day for a week or so in order to get used to them. Transitioning too fast could result in pulled calf muscles, Achilles tendinitis, and metatarsal stress fractures.

Interesting fact: Abebe Bikila was an Olympic marathoner who ran a marathon barefoot at the 1960 Olympics and won. Yes, you read that right, he WON an Olympic marathon while barefoot!

My reactions to Vibrams: 

I've found my new personal trainer for my calves. Now, every time I walk down stairs I have to give myself an internal motivational pep-talk to convince myself to take that step and to convince my calves not to cramp up or collapse on me. If I even kind of point my toe I feel like my calves are going to cramp into a charley horse at any moment. (Side note, Charley Horses can result from high or low blood pH, hormonal imbalances, low levels of potassium or calcium, or as side effects of medication.)

Anyways, this past Tuesday evening I ran one mile without stopping, then walked a half-mile, before running another half-mile. Because of the lack of heel support like I'm used to with running shoes, my first few steps were rough on my heel. However, I immediately changed my stride without much thought. It was a very natural transition to running on the balls of my feet... as in, "no thinking required" transition. My calves were aching by the time I got home, but I didn't have any ankle pain, which I was getting every time I had gone running since I injured my ankle last fall. On Wednesday I ran on the treadmill using my regular running shoes and was rewarded with pain in my left ankle. For now, I'm still on the fence as to whether this way of running is better, but I'm going to give it a try. And maybe it'll end up being like my switch to Paleo: a great decision for my health. Check back for more updates!

(1) http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/art.html

(2) Daoud, Adam. "Foot Strike and Injury Rates in Endurance Runners: A Retrospective Study." American College of Sports Medicine. http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~skeleton/pdfs/2012b.pdf

(3) "Barefoot Running: How Humans Ran Comfortably and Safely Before the Invention of Shoes." ScienceDaily. Feb. 1, 2010.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100127134241.htm

(4) "Long-Awaited Barefoot Running Study Finds Sneakers Are Harmful"

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-01/barefoot-running-study-finds-your-sneakers-are-unnatural