I've started barefoot running and I have to agree that it really helps you focus on running with proper form.
People interested in running barefoot should definitely start out slow and run somewhere safe, like a soccer field or park. If you decide you like it, I also recommend checking out the Vibram Five Fingers. I only just got a pair a few weeks ago, but so far I'm having lots of fun running in them, and they give your feet a bit more protection against debris.
I've had Five Finger Sprints for about a year now, and have been heavily evangelising them to my friends. Running barefoot really does feel liberating, especially going off-road through parks, fields and trails. It's like being a kid again and definitely bought the fun back into running for me. I can really hammer out the miles with them now, zero sore legs or calves. :)
It took me about a month of a few runs per week (20-30 mins) to adjust -- so not long at all. One of the mistakes I made at the start was going too far, too fast: I tried to do my usual 1h+ runs straight away in the Vibrams and was pushing-off from the ground, concentrating on staying on the balls of my feet. Bad idea.
Anyway, here's some tips from someone who has been through it:
---------------------------------
- Relax, relax, relax.
- Don't push off from the ground, rather, concentrate on lifting your thighs.
- Don't aim to balance on the balls of your feet. You're not running on tip-toes, and that's going to put insane strain on your calves. Instead, get the general area of the top half of your foot to land first, almost flat-footed is fine.
- Aim to tap the ground with your feet about 2-3 times a second, as if your feet are going in a circular motion, and passing by the ground. It's like you're incidentally propelling yourself along with gentle touches to the ground.
- Keep hips relatively low, legs relaxed, leaning slightly forward. If your calves start to hurt, then relax more.
- You will get sore calves as your feet and leg muscles get used to the new style of running. Stick with it, and don't overdo it.
I run in Vibram Five Fingers. BHousel is right on when he says start out slow. The first day I got them, I excitedly ran my usual w/ shoes length of time. I spent the next two weeks with calve muscles and ligaments so sore that I had trouble walking down any lightly sloping hills or escalators. That was three months ago. I now run exclusively in these shoes. I used to have knee problems; Now, no part of my legs ever are in pain during or after running.
Funny, I did the same thing. I was so thrilled with all the hype surrounding barefoot running that I did 7 barefoot miles (on pavement) the very afternoon I purchased my FiveFingers.
Holy fuck that was a bad idea. Bear in mind I am a semi-serious runner who has no problem doing a long, slow 13-15 on any given day. I haven't had significant soreness from running since I started, back in high school.
Well. That was before I ran for an hour on my tippy toes. I was partially disabled for a week. Same thing--calves felt like they got hit with a hand grenade, ligaments FUBARed, also some gnarly blisters on the soles of my feet (turns out asphalt is hot in the summer).
In spite of this I definitely could see why it's better for you; heel striking is just not an option and you sort of prance instead of planting. OTOH I am among the lucky 20% who have never had a running injury because I tend to tread pretty lightly anyways. I think it's still possible to have a healthy stride in shoes, but going barefoot forces the issue: everything else hurts like a bitch.
I have yet to try the anti-shoes out again. The buzz continues to crescendo so I probably will, but let this serve as a warning if you're thinking about trying it out: start slow on these, now matter how much of a badass you think you are.
Haha, yeah I think that's normal. It's hard to set aside that "I'm a little kid again and having fun" feeling that you get from running around barefoot or near barefoot.
I paid more of a price for my first actual barefoot on a track a few months ago. One thing about that - your feet go a bit numb, so it's hard to tell if you're hurting yourself. I ran 2 miles easy and ended up with some blisters, but nothing too serious. (interesting note: Running with shoes, you tend to get blisters on the ends of your toes and can lose toenails. Running barefoot, you get them on the bottoms of your toes where callouses should be). Following that, I know to be much more careful, and have been slowly working barefoot runs into my weekly running.
My first run in the Five Fingers was just an easy 3mi loop around my neighborhood (my normal runs are 6-10). I still ended up running way faster than I intended to (they are light after all), but luckily no muscle soreness or other problems. Like anything else, I think the key is to make little changes - this week I may do 4, next week 5, and so on. I'm kind of eager to try to race a fall 5k in them.
Another datapoint on the Vibram Five Fingers; I got a pair of them about four months ago, initially for running only. I quickly realized they were great for anywhere. They have been my regular day to day shoes for most of the summer. Now that it's raining more often I'm back to more regular type shoes. I still use them now and then though, and look forward to next summer.
That settles it, I am going to have to try the barefoot run this week. I have yet to come across a bad overall experience by anyone who has run barefoot or used the Five Fingers or the Nike Free. I wonder if returning to lightweight running shoes after a period of barefoot running would help to improve form at all.
I've been using the Nike Free 3 Series sneakers for the past 2 months or so and have noticed greatly reduced lower back pain. My feet were sore for about 2 weeks while I adjusted to the shoes but after that, I feel that they were a great purchase.
They are much lighter than the average sneaker and every time I put on my dress shoes it feels like I have lead weights attached.
The Vibram "shoes" would get a lot more attention but the Nike will get the job done.
I should have bought more than 1 pair since they are incredibly hard to find now in certain sizes.
Could this be an example of media hype? What do you mean?
Well, as already mentioned this is not the first time an article has appeared on the HN. Not a bad thing. But lets look a little closer.
Like him or hate him Tim Farris has reviewed these. I used to like reading his blog until I couldn't help feel 90% of his stories were there to push you to buy something ( Lead Gen, no less from another article in the top 30 today ) or left you wondering if he was paid to write that story.
The New York times has ran at least two articles related to these shoes.
Wired has an article and a review.
There is a chance that they are being discovered on the merit for what they may or may not be. I don't live in an english speaking country. Equally I am a huge running fan. I am yet to see any here, not even in boutique shops. ( Oslo Norway ) So I wonder how these amazing shoes are only being discovered in mainstream tech ( type ) sites which are aimed at a particular market.
So I googled it a little.
"vibram site:news.bbc.co.uk" - 0
"vibram site:guardian.co.uk" - more than 1.
Interestingly they first hit the guardian end of 2006.
"vibram site:dagbladet.no" - 0 ( main norwegian site )
"vibram site:abc.net.au/news" - 0 ( australian site )
menshealth ( us site ) - 0
menshealth ( australian site ) - 0
Clearly my searches are small subset of places I like to read, yet for me it does hold some validity that this could be "new media marketing".
Would love to hear if any of you agree or disagree and why?
Equally would love to hear how as consumers we can read thru the lines of "hidden marketing" and "real" reviews.
I would normally be suspicious of something that keeps cropping up like this (ref. PG's "The Submarine"). However, sometimes something comes up because the truth will out.
I think the "discovery" of these shoes being American is not an accident. Other markets are too small, and the USA probably has the biggest contingent of foot-damaged runners in the world. Although I live in Italy, Vibram keeps its Five Fingers shoes out of the market (they are available in Germany, even though Vibram is an Italian company). Part of the reason is, people already prefer flat-soled shoes here. Nike style sneakers are almost non-existent.
Some alternatives to VFF: Closer to home for you, perhaps, is the Feelmax Planka, and the UK has Vivo Barefoots which may be a bit overpriced. I don't suppose thin soles will perform well in a cold environment though!
As for me, all through summer I wore what in a different age would be called "canvas plimsolls", and I am now dreading having to wear winter boots. If someone could make a waterproof canvas hi-top, I'd rest easy. So yes, I do think these articles are coming out because people experience the sheer joy of wearing minimalist shoes (perhaps explainable by the sensory organ density of the foot?).
I'm not a runner, but recommend "Born to Run" as a fun read (it's mentioned in the article and clearly inspired the article). I've always thought ultra endurance athletes were a little off - in a fun way - and the book tells some good stories on these folks, including the Tarahumara Indians, who run barefoot or with minimal gear for incredible distances as a social activity.
A friend of mine from our jogging group just finished "Born to Run". He now starts every sentence with, "You know the Tarahumara Indians..." :)
He's also showed up to run for the past few weeks in sandals!
I've never seriously run barefoot, but I can confirm that it improves your balance and form to walk barefoot as well.
When I had issues with my hiking boots on the Appalachian Trail, I took up barefoot hiking and noticed an immediate change in how I stepped: more on the balls of my feet and less on my heels. And you'd be amazed what your feet can get used to; the first two weeks were hell, but about a month later the rocky, sharp, debris-covered ground didn't bother me at all and in fact I had LESS foot fatigue than I experienced while wearing boots.
You do get some serious calluses though, which as a female I was less than happy about...
This is turning into a recurring topic on HN. Last time it appeared I commented that some traditional japanese split-toed shoes I have are super comfy to walk in, and someone responded that they might make really good running shoes. Well I haven't tried running in them, but I recently danced on a hard packed dirt field three days straight, 6 hours, then 8 hours, then 12 hours, in these shoes with a split toe and sole about 10mm thick if that. And aside from my calves aching for the next few days, my feet were very happy. In normal shoes my feet would have been in agony by the end of the second day.
While I've always run heel first when using shoes, when running barefoot perhaps unconciously I've always gone ball/toes first - I guess it really is what comes naturally.
There was also another article a while back that perked my interest with a bit about runners in South or Central America who would go ultra-long distance running with only a thin slice of rubber strapped to their feet.
your inclination might be to try this on trails. wrong. trails are full of rocks and tree roots. if you run barefoot or in vibram toes, you will have broken toes. any trail runner seriously bonks their toe box once per run. this is why trail shoes have toe boxes that are rock hard
i don't understand what the fascination is with barefoot running, and i say this as someone with 50+ marathons under my belt. its not something that elite runners do and novices aspire to...its more like the token town freak who shows up to the marathon in cutoff jeans. there is always one.
I tried Vibrams on a day hike up a small mountain with my brother. We walked quickly the whole way, breaking into a jog a few times. The mountain was rockier than I'd expected--about 80% of the trail was midsize to gigantic rocks. I didn't break any toes, but I did have very sore feet for about a week after that.
Sometimes those token "freaks" show up and kick the shit out of everybody.
That's what happened with the three Tarahumara went to Leadville, CO in 1993 and took first, second and third places in the premier 100 mile trail race. Seven came back the next year, wearing hats of their sponsor Rockport, but sandals made of tire-treads instead of Rockport shoes. The slowest of them finished 11th.
AFIK, they lost their sponsorship, and were unable to come back the next year.
People interested in running barefoot should definitely start out slow and run somewhere safe, like a soccer field or park. If you decide you like it, I also recommend checking out the Vibram Five Fingers. I only just got a pair a few weeks ago, but so far I'm having lots of fun running in them, and they give your feet a bit more protection against debris.