Barefoot Running

[TsPoet]

Have to add my .02. Have been run/walking in VFF KSOs for about 6 weeks now. I'm up to 3 miles, slow. No knee, shin, ankle, or joint pain of any kind. The only problem I had was hot spots on the balls of my feet and on my big toe. This past weekend, I bought Bikilas and Injinji socks. Problem solved. I never ever thought I would be able to run. Now, it's just a matter of bringing my cardio up. I love love love my fivefingers.

Wow, this post looks like I created a new user name and posted my experience.
+1 on everything you said! That includes the experiences and the distance and speed.
(BTW - I also found that aloe gel right after a run on the balls of the feet and big toes did the trick and hot spots eventually went away).

[GLC1968]

4.5 miles tonight in my huaraches from invisibleshoes.com. It was so much fun! I even had a quick stop to pick blackberries by the side of the road (I was starving and thirsty and mother earth provided!).

[Blueberry]

GLC - Those look really cool (I'm guessing it's invisibleshoe.com - without the S)! Do you really not feel the part between the toes? I'm looking at some Soft Sole shoes for winter - just to kick around in. Still not running, but my feet are happier for being less confined.

[GLC1968]

Yes, sorry...invisibleshoe.com! I can't wear sandals with the thing between the toes. It always hurts like a mofo. In fact, I have one pair of flip flops that reside in my pool bag, and I can *barely* stand wearing those for the quick walk to the poolside and for my shower.

I was super skeptical that these things would work because of that, but I was willing to give it a shot. I'm still constantly amazed that they don't hurt...at all. Not even on day one! Last night I periodically stopped to check for blisters between the toes because I was sure I'd get them there (not that I felt any rubbing...I didn't). No blisters. Not even a tiny bit red.

I have no idea why these are so 100% different from regular flip flop type shoes, but they are. They protect me from hot sidewalks and sticky stuff...but that's about it. I still feel acorns and cracks and rocks and just about any other imperfection. It's *almost* the same sensation as being totally barefoot but they are 'legal' in restaurants and stuff.

Oh, and I'm MUCH better at running in these than I am at walking in them. My running technique is correct for barefoot, but I don't think my walking form is there yet. I kind of trip on them sometimes when walking (never an issue when running - even when tired). I'm getting better though!

I opted to buy the kit and make my own and they worked out really well. The pair I wear for running are the neon green but I'm noticing that they are picking up enough dust (it hasn't rained here in months) that they aren't as bright as they used to be. I also bought a black kit that I haven't yet assembled. I plan to wear those as more 'everyday' shoes (and I need to make them soon or it'll get too cold for sandals before I get a chance to wear them!!).

[carinapir]

I have a novice question. I'm starting to run with a group training for a 5k and I've haven't run in years. I really need to get shoes of some kind and I was thinking of going right to VFFs or something similar. My question is if I pretty much go barefoot all the time around the house and only put on shoes to go outside or to work and the always come off promptly upon coming in the house, will I have an easier transition than someone who wears shoes all the time?

I ask because from reading this thread it seemed as if some people wore shoes even in the house and that being barefoot at all was foreign to them. I'm kind of hoping that it won't be so weird for me.

Thanks!

[tulip]

This just in

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/healt...trend-2337336/

[colby]

I have a novice question. I'm starting to run with a group training for a 5k and I've haven't run in years. I really need to get shoes of some kind and I was thinking of going right to VFFs or something similar. My question is if I pretty much go barefoot all the time around the house and only put on shoes to go outside or to work and the always come off promptly upon coming in the house, will I have an easier transition than someone who wears shoes all the time?

I ask because from reading this thread it seemed as if some people wore shoes even in the house and that being barefoot at all was foreign to them. I'm kind of hoping that it won't be so weird for me.

Thanks!

Yes, I think you will have it easier than someone who wears shoes all the time - at least for walking in VFFs (or other minimal shoe) and some of your running. For running, it will still be a big adjustment. However, if you're just starting a running program and considering VFFs/minimal shoes, I would start them together, so you can build your running muscles and your ankle/calf muscles at the same time. The plan for both is about the same and you might be frustrated to backtrack your running if you go from shoes to minimal shoes much later.

I'm one of those barefoot at every opportunity kind of people, so I wear my VFFs to work and whatnot and feel like I am cheating.

[OakLeaf]

Well, it's not running, and it's not barefoot, but it's progress.

I spent all weekend on my feet in my flat Crocs Cleo sandals. A year ago my feet and my back would have been killing me after three hours. Now, I'm just tired. Woot!

[KnottedYet]

Just found this article on the epidemic of foot injuries from barefoot running.
http://running.competitor.com/2010/0...epidemic_10118

Both Daniel Lieberman and Christopher McDougall (the dude who wrote "Born to Run") recently developed metatarsal stress fractures from running barefoot (McDougall) and in VFF (Lieberman). Rather difficult to say those two didn't ease into barefoot running properly...

(a piece of irony the author of this article missed)

[colby]

Just found this article on the epidemic of foot injuries from barefoot running.
http://running.competitor.com/2010/0...epidemic_10118

Both Daniel Lieberman and Christopher McDougall (the dude who wrote "Born to Run") recently developed metatarsal stress fractures from running barefoot (McDougall) and in VFF (Lieberman). Rather difficult to say those two didn't ease into barefoot running properly...

(a piece of irony the author of this article missed)

Very interesting. My husband had a problem with his metatarsal on one foot about a month ago after almost exclusively wearing FiveFingers Treks (his issue was corrected by chiro and stretching) and now he splits his time between those and a pair of Keen sandals to give his feet a break. He doesn't really run in his, just walk. He did a few bike rides in them and decided they weren't the right feel for that either (so now he rides in the Keens :P).

Reminds me of the Atkins guy having a heart attack

[Susan]

I get the point that it is wrong to believe that barefoot running will magically prevent injuries and that some problems will be more common in barefoot runners (PF) than in shod ones.

I don't however get why anyone, especially a scientist, would come to the believe that most humans where not made to walk or run without shoes. The author of the article compares shoes with wearing glasses. He would have a point here, but would anyone believe, that because there are humans that need glasses, human eyes generally were not made to be used without them?
Also, how can we know if the problems caused by barefoot running in new barefoot runners aren't caused by the fact that most of us are used to wearing shoes all our life, from early childhood on?

A really neutral scientific discussion about barefoot running seems to be difficult because a lot of "believe" seems to come into play when ever it is discussed.

[KnottedYet]

"I don't however get why anyone, especially a scientist, would come to the believe that most humans where not made to walk or run without shoes."

Nobody believes that.

However, everyone recognizes that humans were never meant to be sitting on their butts all day long in front of a computer and then rip off their shoes after wearing them for 40 years and start running barefoot on asphalt.

And everyone recognizes that some folks are better runners than others. Hot and sexy runners will be hot and sexy regardless of shoes or bare feet. Crappy runners can be better runners with shoes that help them. Some feet (especially "Irish" or "Greek" or long-second-ray-long-toes feet) do better without the highly engineered shoes on the market these days, because they were made for the other foot structure ("Egyptian" or short-second-ray-short-toes feet).

I have to roll my eyes at most of the barefoot hoorah from both sides in the media. Folks who grew up in the country (where we spent the summer barefoot outgrowing our shoes) spent a lot of time barefoot as kids. I've been running barefoot my whole life and still do. But I fall out laughing when some soft city-slicker goes out running on asphalt and concrete barefoot and goes rhapsodic over how "natural" it is. Nope, dirt and rocks and cow pies are "natural." Asphalt is a repetitive stress injury just waiting to happen, and it does regardless of the fitness of the runner: metatarsal stress fractures and plantar fasciitis are a'comin' down the pike.

Look at your foot. It is an amazingly beautiful thing. Flexible and irregular to interact elegantly with irregular surfaces. In one split second it is soft and molds itself around the surface it lands on, in the next split second it is a rigid lever and pushes off that same surface. All those little muscles let the foot change its shape so one step it is domed up over a sharp rock and the next step it is sagged down into a hole in the path, constantly interacting and adapting to the changing world so your legs can do their work. Asphalt is just slamming this beautiful foot onto the same flat hard boring surface over and over again. Slam-slam-slam. No variety. Muscles fatigue and fail, while others don't get the chance to do their job. Some bones crack under the constant unremitting unvarying pressure.

I don't blame shoes for modern man's foot woes. I blame asphalt.

[Jolt]

Nobody believes that.

However, everyone recognizes that humans were never meant to be sitting on their butts all day long in front of a computer and then rip off their shoes after wearing them for 40 years and start running barefoot on asphalt.

I have to roll my eyes at most of the barefoot hoorah from both sides in the media. Folks who grew up in the country (where we spent the summer barefoot outgrowing our shoes) spent a lot of time barefoot as kids. I've been running barefoot my whole life and still do. But I fall out laughing when some soft city-slicker goes out running on asphalt and concrete barefoot and goes rhapsodic over how "natural" it is. Nope, dirt and rocks and cow pies are "natural." Asphalt is a repetitive stress injury just waiting to happen, and it does regardless of the fitness of the runner: metatarsal stress fractures and plantar fasciitis are a'comin' down the pike.

Look at your foot. It is an amazingly beautiful thing. Flexible and irregular to interact elegantly with irregular surfaces. In one split second it is soft and molds itself around the surface it lands on, in the next split second it is a rigid lever and pushes off that same surface. All those little muscles let the foot change its shape so one step it is domed up over a sharp rock and the next step it is sagged down into a hole in the path, constantly interacting and adapting to the changing world so your legs can do their work. Asphalt is just slamming this beautiful foot onto the same flat hard boring surface over and over again. Slam-slam-slam. No variety. Muscles fatigue and fail, while others don't get the chance to do their job. Some bones crack under the constant unremitting unvarying pressure.

I don't blame shoes for modern man's foot woes. I blame asphalt.

I agree. I'll bet these guys were running primarily on hard, flat surfaces as you are describing, and that's how they got into trouble. If they had been running trails at least part of the time, they likely wouldn't have gotten the overuse injuries that they did. Asphalt is kind of a crappy surface to do a lot of running on whether barefoot or in shoes, and you're right, it's NOT natural. Better to mix things up so you're not overloading the same structures all the time. As for me, I'll continue running barefoot or in VFFs because it's been working well for me and I know not to overdo the hard flat surfaces (they're horribly boring anyway!).

And another thing: I wonder how many of these "PF" cases from barefoot running are really referred pain from trigger points in foot and calf muscles that are being used in unaccustomed ways and knotting up. Could be that for some of these patients all they need is to work those out and their problem will go away.

[colby]

I don't blame shoes for modern man's foot woes. I blame asphalt.

And concrete. EVIL

[OakLeaf]

Unpaved roads are actually worse. I run on a lot of them. They're noticeably harder than asphalt (on a par with concrete), AND they're covered with 1-2" diameter crushed stone with sharp edges that I wouldn't dare ANYONE to run barefoot on.

I blame roads. Which were originally created for wheeled vehicles. It's the wheel's fault.