I’m a type 2 diabetic and am not willing to risk damage to my feet. If I didn’t have that issue going on, I’d probably give it a whirl to see, but in my situation it’s just not worth it. Besides which, as I mentioned in one of the other recent threads touching on this topic, my running shoes work really well for me, and as far as I can tell, my joints are actually stronger and less achy than they were before I started running, so I have no real impetus to switch.
Edit: This was in response to the “shards of glass” topic. A few other posts snuck in there while I was composing this one.
No need to start off slow for me, I don’t toke tree like you do.
Hemp=cannibis=majijuana. Hippie lettuce. Weed. Pot. Let’s not confuse the issue. Hemp supporters secretly are potheads.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I will respectfully decline. See, I have something called a LIFE, and a JOB. So I will pass on your feeble offer to fall into your personal vortex of drug abuse, hippy.
Here’s a suggestion for you: get a haircut, get a shave, and take a shower, then file for a job. Then, if you can hold onto one for a year, and lay off the dope, get back online and tell us all about YOUR experience. I have a feeling you will tell us all a cheerful tale of self-respect and near financial independence.
A lot of hemp supporters smoke pot, and it’s hardly a secret. It’s all cannabis, but some of it has high THC and the kind that gets made into rope has hardly any, and what’s it got to do with running shoes, anyway?
I told you to smoke the hemp because it isn’t a drug. I’m not trying to drag you into my “personal vortex of drug abuse”. The only thing you will accomplish is probably a headache. Job; check. Life; check. You’re obviously ignorant. This is the problem with so many people when it comes to this topic. Just do a few minutes worth of research on hemp, and you’ll see.
Note: I’ve been working at the same job for almost eight months now (after just moving to a new town), and I’m very financially stable.
Here’s a website from some Harvard folks investigating “the biomechanics of endurance running, comparing habitually barefoot runners with runners who normally run in modern running shoes with built-up heels, stiff soles and arch support.” They summarize their findings thusly:
The site has videos showing the impacts generated from various running styles. In regards to midfoot landing:
Speaking for myself, the biggest problem I had with my Vibrams was slamming my feet down when I ran. Even landing midfoot it was causing pain in my feet and calves. Once I began running in a kinda dopey looking manner, with a shorter stride and my feet not coming off the ground as high and easing into my landings, I got better results (even on pavement).
ETA: Oh, and I’ve learned to avoid running in Vibrams anywhere there are roots or lots of sharp gravel-type stones. That hurts.
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So how do you train yourself to run like that, out of curiosity? How my foot hits the ground is so ingrained into me it never really struck me as possible to change it in a habitual way. Do you just start out doing it as a conscious effort for short bursts until you can keep it going without obsessing over your feet the whole time?
Your first time running in bare feet can kind of be a hilarious experience, if you have a sense of humor. You will heelstrike, and each impact feels like Sideshow Bob stepping on the rakes (starting at 3:35 of this clip). It really jars your entire body. About 5 strides in you’ll start to think ‘wtF is going on?’ and retrain yourself not to heel strike :).
Yeah, you find out where they really did a cheap, crappy job with the pavement! There’s one street in particular that I need to remember to not run on, because the road surface feels like running on gravel.
Hilarious and painful, huh? Okay, I know what I’m doing this afternoon. It’s a little chilly to do it outside without any of those special shoes, so I suppose I’ll be attempting it inside somewhere…
Heh. This time of year, I’ve no choice at all if I want to run outside. Barefoot (or Vibram’d, I’d wager) just isn’t an option when there’s 10" of new snow that just fell this weekend and it’s forecast to be 19F as a high. I’m intrigued and might try more minimalist shoes, but probably not until May.
I ran in VFF for a year and I think, in my case, it made a difference. I used to get shin splints all the time and my joints always ached. Then I tried vibrams and that cleared up.
That said, I do not think that vibrams were the difference. I think running so that I struck on my forefoot as opposed to my heel is what made the difference. It would be very difficult to run on the pavement in vibrams and to heel strike.
The fact is, it seemed that no matter how long I ran, after the 20 minute mark, the pavement made running on it in vibrams very uncomfortable. So I stopped. I now run in nike frees. They are light and since the vibrams got me into running on my forefoot, I still don’t have shin splints or joint pains.
I still use my Vibrams, but mainly for weight training. I get better balance when I squat in them. Plus they don’t take up a lot of room in my gym bag and they are easily washable.
Question for the minimalists. Do you think running shoes themselves are bad or is it more the changed footplant that makes the difference?
I ask as I ran with a midfoot plant for almost all my miles but very much needed the support and cushion as my small attempt at barefoot/minimalist was a disaster.
I’m always barefoot when I’m in my apartment and I’m pretty comfortable as such, so I skipped this stage.
Well, as I said, I’m comfortable barefoot so I decided to skip to running in place for three minutes. I cranked up Bob Marley’s Get Up, Stand Up (3m, 16s) and began. Automatically, I was hitting the ground first with my forefoot before easing down onto my heel. Since I was running in place, there’s no real “stride” to it so everything stays close and neat. It was very easy to maintain a comfortable form. When I stopped, I noticed a little bit of soreness on the top of my right foot.
So I sat down for a few minutes and relaxed and it quickly went away. So far so good. I decided to give it another go. This time I went with The Who’s My Generation (3m, 16s…yes, I use my playlist as a timepiece). Again, it was easy and while there was that faint soreness on the top of my foot afterward there was nothing I’d really call pain. So, skipping onward.
I live in a big old house that has been split into apartments for student housing. It’s cold outside, so running barefoot outdoors didn’t seem like a good idea. Instead, I went down into the basement. Nice, smooth cement, no debris. It was a somewhat tight track, but serviceable. My “track” ended up being around 62f for each circuit, so I figured I’d do it eleven times.
And here is where my disappointment kicked in. Why? Because there was no pain and no hilarity. I don’t know if I’m some kind of toe-walking beast man or what, but except for once when I came down on my heel I was coming down on my forefoot first. My forefoot would touch the ground, sort of roll down onto my heel and then come straight back up again. It was weird, and yet took no conscious effort from me whatsoever. I’d obviously grossly overestimated how ingrained my regular way of running is, because my body just took over and handled how my feet should land.
Afterward, I stopped to drink some water and assess the state of my body. The bottoms of my feet feel a little sensitive, but otherwise I’m not sore. Is barefoot/minimalist running for everyone? No idea, and I haven’t seen enough data on it yet to be convinced. But if you are capable of adapting to it, there doesn’t seem to be anything intrinsically bad about it. I don’t feel as though any joints in my body were stressed and the impact of each footfall was negligible.
And to my surprise, it’s fun as hell and makes you feel like a badass. “Bah! Who needs shoes?”
I’ll give it a day of rest to see if any twinges crop up and then try it again. For science!
In my personal experience, arch “support” is inherently bad. I have high, strong arches, and having a big lump under them is uncomfortable and throws my entire gait off in all sorts of nasty ways. I have a pair of Asics for casual wear that has arch support (the last shoes I’ll ever purchase with this calamitous “feature”) and I look like Forest Gump trying to walk in them. I would guess that this was my #1 problem with running shoes. Problem number 2 is the ridiculously built-up heel. My last pair of running shoes - the ones I was professional fitted for after having my gait analyzed by a running specialist at a running specialty store - is a pair of Brooks with a heel that is at least twice the width of my actual heel, and god only knows how thick. It completely immobilizes any natural subtleties in my stride and makes running an absolute nightmare. It’s pretty much impossible to do anything but heel strike in these things. Oh, and they were about 130 bucks IIRC.
So, do I think running shoes themselves are bad? No. Not necessarily. But I think those two features are bad, and they are almost universal in running shoes.
I’d really like to try out the Nike Frees, but I’ve never seen a pair in person.
I agree with PPs that proper running form is instinctual once you take away shoes. There is really only one way to run barefoot, and I think it’s the healthiest way for all humans to run long distances, shod or not.
It’s a combination of striking on the mid or forefoot, the force with which your feet hit the ground, and keeping the feet under the hips and the upper body tilted a bit forward rather than kicking out in front.
If I could run that way wearing real shoes, I don’t see why I wouldn’t. But I have tried many times, and I always get pain. For instance when I try my hardest to use proper form I’m certainly not heel-striking, but my feet slide forward in the shoes with a forefoot strike and my toes get jammed against the end and get quite sore. Since the heels of all running shoes are built-up, it’s hard to keep my feet from getting ahead of my body. And without the feedback from bare or nearly bare feet, I hit the ground with my feet too hard (I have a tendency to use way too much force for everything I do) and after a while I get that ‘jarred’ feeling, which gives me hip pain in short order.
Since developing the muscles of my feet from going barefoot, I find any sort of ‘support’ painful and intrusive. I have used to have average arches, now they are high, and my foot is about a half size smaller than it used to be.
It’s a little chilly to do it outside without any of those special shoes, so I suppose I’ll be attempting it inside somewhere…