When I started running (1976,high school), I couldn’t afford anything more than the tennis shoes at the local supermarket, pretty minimalist.
I was only able to run 3-4 miles a day as my legs were beaten to a pulp.
When I was finally able to buy real running shoes, I more than doubled my mileage in a matter of weeks and never looked back from there.
So for every runner like you who can run minimalist, there’s someone like me who gets wrecked by it.
From the Runners World Forums, here’s a thread from someone who sees minimalist running as a step toward full barefoot.
I don’t see where he says “everyone should run barefoot” (though it’s a long post and I could’ve missed it). And “some guy on a forum” is a pretty low standard for a claim to argue against. Is there a book or popular article somewhere that says everyone should run barefoot? I’m just not buying that this notion is popular enough to include in an argument against minimalist running.
Minimalist running and barefoot running are actually two different things, so you’re wrong. They are believed by some to have a similar effect on the body, but barefoot running is exactly what it says it is. I’ve seen people referring to minimalist running as “barefoot running”, but barefoot running does exist as a separate, literal description.
Sorry Failenstein, read the first paragraph at the first link you provided before telling me I’m wrong:
Yes, some people sometimes run completely unshod (including me). The vast majority of these people also sometimes wear something minimal to protect the foot, such as when it is very cold out, or in environments where they might encounter glass, spit, or dog poop. This is all collectively referred to as “barefooting” in casual speech.
I’m friends with these people on Facebook, and they are constantly recommending minimalist shoes.
Read the damn title of the book you linked to: The Barefoot Running Book: A Practical Guide to the Art and Science of Barefoot and Minimalist Shoe Running
From the back cover of this book: “He describes the best shoes to wear (if we must)”.
You obviously know nothing about this topic and just thought you’d try to look cool by plugging some terms into google and trying to prove someone wrong with the results. Try harder next time. Or better yet, try having other motivations for entering a discussion.
There’s very little research/data either way, and there’s no evidence padded shoes decrease injuries any more than there is that minimalist shoes or barefoot running are safer.
I tried minimalist running because I kept hearing about it and it made intuitive sense to me in large part because I spent much of my childhood and early adolescence running around barefoot (I was hyperactive and hated shoes) and didn’t remember ever being in pain from running. Later in my life, my sister and I had both taken up running, and both of us had plenty of joint pain and (thankfully, small) injuries. She eventually stopped running altogether due to fear that she was going to get a more severe injury (terrible knees run in our family).
I tried it out, and it felt like coming home. Barefoot or in minimalist shoes I run very lightly, there is none of the jarring I get in padded shoes no matter how hard I try to use the same foot strike as I do barefoot. I can run much longer (after the slow break-in period for my soles and lower leg muscles). Most importantly, I no longer have any joint pain at all, and haven’t gotten injured since I gave up shoes.
Since I’m not a competitive runner or obsessed with my times, I don’t care if I’m faster in shoes. I care about not being in pain or getting hurt. Modern padded shoes might very well enable people to run much faster. Some people might prefer running in padded shoes, or find that running in minimalist shoes hurts (well, it definately will, unless you change your form dramatically to avoid slamming your bony heels on the ground and beating your feet to a pulp). It’s their choice; I just know that running in padded shoes was hurting me, and like to let people know there are other options that might even be beneficial to them.
I’ve also give up padded shoes in all other areas of my life. I’ve worked on my feet for years, used to wearpadded shoes specially designed for that purpose (nurses shoes usually), and always had foot, leg and back pain after long shifts. I’ve changed the way I’ve walked as well as the way I’ve run, and now I essentially wear slippers with paper-thin soles to work in - I have zero pain now from long hours on my feet.
Based on all this I think it makes sense that I evangelize about minimalist footwear and how bad heel-striking can be for your body, even though there’s no scientific data to back it up.
That’s a good point. I race, but have no delusions of ever even coming close to winning; I’m thrilled at finishing in the top half. (Even after discovering barefooting, I’m a better swimmer and biker than a runner-- I have [proportionally] short legs, a looooong torso, and [proportionally] small feet.) Padded shoes mostly likely do make most people faster, judging by what race winners usually wear. Again, my pet hypothesis in that department is that whatever you wore while your body was growing is probably going to suit you best as an adult. Some shoe companies have tried to sponsor the Tarahumara and make them wear their shoes during races, and they get injured in them. These cases are probably the slow times and DNFs that Runner Pat referenced upthread.
I was given to understand that it’s not the shoes’ padding per se but the fact that the heels are usually built up to the point where you have no choice but to strike heel first when running. I was told that this is the root of all evil and why barefoot shoes are better.
I have VIVO barefoot running shoes and my trainer says even they are too padded. I find because I pronate when I walk and run, that they make me feel unstable. I resolved the whole debate by breaking my foot and haven’t run, not even for the bus, since.
Why does barefoot running not get bolded? Why do you have to pretend it isn’t there?
Oh yes, the best shoes to wear if we must. That certainly sounds like someone who has never advocated not wearing shoes.
Look, I’m not trying to claim that minimalist running doesn’t exist. Clearly it does. So does barefoot running. It is clearly and obviously discussed in a lot of places in addition to minimalist running. I don’t see why you’re trying to pretend it flat out doesn’t exist at all, because that’s a very bizarre stance to take.
On what planet would I paste something for the whole world to see and simultaneously pretend it isn’t there? My point, in what I bolded, is that if minimalist running is something totally different, why is it in the title of The Barefoot Running Book?
Makes absolutely no sense. Someone is recommending shoes, so he must . . . be a guy who . . . never . . . advocated . . . not . . . wearing . . . shoes . . .
In fact, on repeated readings, I’m not even sure what you’re trying to say .
You’re either extraordinarily bad at getting your point across, or you just like to argue for the sake of arguing, because you aren’t making any sense. I never said barefoot running doesn’t exist. In fact, I’ve talked about many people, including myself, doing it-- right here in this very thread. What I’ve said is that it has proven to be a problematic label to slap on minimalist running, because it distracts from the fundamental reasons for doing each, and invites spurious glass, spit, and dog poop dismissals.
(And just for the record, I don’t know where the holy hell some of you people are running that is so littered with spit, glass, and dog poop that you literally can not dodge it. My guess is that the people who make those arguments don’t run at all, shod or otherwise, because no matter what you’re wearing, you tend to know where you’re stepping. I’ve ran god knows how many miles truly barefoot across grass, sand, asphalt, concrete, and desert, and never had a problem with any of these. Concrete and asphalt are actually some of the most pleasant surfaces to run barefoot on, due to their smoothness, with desert being the worst in my experience-- because of all the irritating rocks.)
This is my experience. I need to run without hitting my heels on the ground to prevent pain, and I can’t do that in padded shoes no matter how hard I try.
Shards of glass can be almost impossible to see on certain surfaces, including concrete. I say this as someone who has stepped barefoot onto a section of concrete porch that I would swear did not have a shard of broken glass on it, only to shred the sole of my foot on the shard of glass that was hiding there in plain sight. Glass is transparent, you see.
My standard running locale is my neighborhood, in an urban city. People walk their dogs around here, they throw beer bottles out of cars, they drop stuff, etc. It is not a safe environment in which to run (or walk, for that matter) barefoot.
You said “few if any” advocated actually running in bare feet, which I took to mean you were implying it was possible no one in the world had ever supported running without any shoes at all. If that’s not what you were actually saying, then the “if any” qualifier on there was poorly placed. So if what you literally said was not what you literally meant, I have no further argument with you.
Seriously, you guys are having a dumb fight and you should stop it.
I’ve recently started trying the Vibram FiveFingers thing - I’m back to square one with running and I’m going out three times a week, one of them in the weird shoes. I’m aware that I’m built all wrong from my hips on down, although I’ve been trying to keep up with the exercises my physical therapist recommended after my stress fracture. It makes sense to me that it would be better to force my body to correct its own issues rather than pander to them with padded shoes, and I definitely find myself running much “lighter” (albeit slower) in the minimal shoes. The next day soreness tells me there are definitely muscles I’m using with them that I wasn’t using before. I haven’t been doing it long enough to make any sort of statement as to whether it’s the right thing for me or not, but I think there’s a possibility that it is.
I wonder to what extent you have tried running barefoot. Because I live in an urban environment too, and while I’ve stepped in broken glass and cut my foot in my own kitchen (where everybody goes barefoot), I have never had any issue out on the road, sidewalk, multi-use path, canal path, golf cart path, desert, or any of the other places I’ve ever ran outdoors (where most people are afraid to go barefoot.) Running is probably safer in this respect than walking, because when you’re walking you’re usually also doing something else, but when you’re running, you’re devoting all of your attention to what you’re doing, which includes where you’re stepping. I’m not really saying you should run barefoot, because I don’t, most of the time, but fears of cuts and stepping in the ickies are greatly exaggerated. I grew up going barefoot any time the weather was nice enough; I walked through the woods and down gravel roads, and waded into muddy lakes and ponds without anything covering my feet, and the worst that ever happened was I got bit by a fire ant once. Hell, that could’ve just as easily happened while sitting in a lawn chair with shoes on.
I can see how that was poorly stated. I guess what I meant was “few if any actually advocate running in bare foot to the exclusion of huaraches, Vibram Fivefingers, etc.” Research into “barefoot” running is often done on groups of indigenous people who actually DO wear things on their feet; this is where books like Born to Run (and the article that got its author a book deal) got their genesis. The philosophy isn’t to not have anything on your feet, it’s to not have anything cushioning your feet (especially your heels) or “supporting” your arches. The biggest popularizers of the “barefoot” movement, that I know of, all tend to actually wear stuff on their feet, even if not at all times.
Fair enough. You’re right that I don’t know much about the topic and my own ignorance probably led to me taking a more literal reading of that than you’d intended. I probably should have tried clarifying that better instead of just trying to dive in.
As far as Vibram FiveFingers go, how flexible are the toes? It looks like at least some of the varieties they have are a flexible fabric over the top. I’m wondering how well they do on oddly shaped feet.
If you can find a local shop that carries them, try them on. Sizing was a nightmare for me. I had to return 3 pairs before eventually settling on a pair that was too big in the heel but fit in the toes. My foot is pretty standard-shaped, apart from a very slight (I’m talking 2mm) case of morton’s toe.
What is hemp? Let’s turn to Wikipedia which states this: Hemp is the name of the soft, durable fibre that is cultivated from plants of the Cannabis genus, cultivated for commercial use. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food, fuel, and medical purposes with modest commercial success.
What is marijuana? (For those of you who don’t know, or just need more specifics, it’s also called: weed, pot, ganja, and numerous other things.) Again, we turn to Wikipedia: Cannabis, also known as marijuana (sometimes spelled “marihuana”) among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug. The word marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish marihuana. According to the United Nations, cannabis “is the most widely used illicit substance in the world.”
My suggestion to you? Go get some Zig Zags, find the nearest hemp field, pick some, roll you one, try to smoke it, then get back online and tell us all about your experience.
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