born to run Archives | with a Side of Sneakers

To Shoe or Not to Shoe?

After I got injured running last June, I found myself with some free time on my hands. I couldn’t run, so I started reading about running instead. {Self-torture much?} I picked up the infamous “Born to Run” book, and was immediately enraptured with all things barefoot running, pinole and chia seeds.

In fact, if you’ve read Born to Run and didn’t walk away completely enthralled by these things, I’m guessing you didn’t really read the book. Winking smile

You can read more about the barefoot running book here, but one of the main takeaways is that this group of ultrarunners run 100s of miles in tiny thin sandals that might as well make them running barefoot, and they never get injured. Perhaps this stuck out to me more as I was sitting on the couch with a bum knee, but I think the idea would have appealed to me regardless.

runners knee

At the time I was in physical therapy for my knee. Since I had a professional at my disposable, I chewed his ear off with questions. It wasn’t hard to tell he was pretty much over the whole barefoot running and Vibrams thing; the number of injuries he’d seen had gone up drastically due to the popularity of Vibrams.

So I pushed the idea out of my head thinking it was just another passing fad and didn’t have much merit. Then one day early last spring, the husband and I were outside doing yard work. I, of course, was barefoot, as I almost always am.

I wasn’t paying much attention when suddenly I heard the husband yell out. I looked up with just enough time to see him running towards me… with a dead rat. Yes, a rat. I didn’t think two seconds before I took off sprinting towards the front yard.

It was only later when the horrible, disgusting creature was far, far out of sight that I realized what had just happened. I ran. And it didn’t hurt.

Up until then, every time I tried a short run, it would end in knee pain. I was just about giving up. But then I ran across the yard without a thought. The only difference? I was barefoot.

I took the precautions of my physical therapist, but decided they only way I’d know for sure about the whole barefoot running thing was if I gave it a try myself. I got a pair of Vibrams, and set off on a walk around the neighborhood the next day.

It couldn’t have felt better. To me it felt completely natural- I spend so much time barefoot that these shoes just felt right. Slowly, I started to jog in them. They felt great. No knee pain. I was already a mid to forefoot runner, so running without the support of sneakers wasn’t a big deal to me.

As I worked my way up in mileage, however, the knee pain would return. The difference with the Vibrams and my regular running shoes was that the knee pain would stop as soon as I stopped running- it didn’t stick around for the next few days.

So I trained for a 5k mud run in my Vibrams. {The mud run was the perfect first race back from injury since it was on a soft surface.}

mud run 5k rugged maniac

If you were reading back then, you might remember my knee didn’t fair well after that race.

So did I blame the Vibrams?

Find out tomorrow. Winking smile

Pssst. We finished painting the nursery! Go check it out and tell me what you think. Winking smile

A Conversation About Barefoot Running

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Since barefoot running is such a hot topic and since I had an expert at my disposal, of course I took the opportunity for some good brain-picking.

While the physical therapist was measuring my feet for orthotics, I just had to ask what he thought of barefoot running. He laughed a bit and said he just knew that question was coming.

After reading Born to Run, I was really interested in the mechanics of running barefoot vs. the technology of shoes. Even though everything the author said in Born to Run made sense, I just had to ask a “real life” person about it.

The physical therapist didn’t really give me the answer I was looking for (“It’s awesome!”), but he did bring up some very valid points that I appreciated hearing. Especially since he was in the midst of measuring my feet for clunky orthotics that have to be worn in shoes…

He made two good points to consider about barefoot running:

– It’s not really a trend. Well it is. But not a new one- a push for barefoot running comes up every 10 years or so. It alternates popularity, much like everything else in our lives.

– Running barefoot is great- if you’re built for it. Ultramarathoners are ultramarathoners for many reasons, but one of them is quite essential: their bodies are built for it. The same goes for running barefoot- it’s great, if your feet are built for it. The structure of some people’s feet just isn’t going to hold up to scooting around barefoot- that could lead to injury.

There’s one part of Born to Run that talks about how the muscles and structure of your feet change & your arch can become higher. I still question this point- can feet really adapt, or does it depend on your foot structure to start with?

I literally walk around barefoot 98% of the time. I haven’t worn in heels in 19 months. Yet I still need orthotics?

Obviously there are different sides to the concept, like any good story, and I still have questions. But this part made me happy and content for the time being:

The PT pointed out that barefoot running is great for training. He brought attention to the idea that that’s why minimalist shoes like Nike Frees were developed- for training. Whether you run barefoot or in stability shoes, running barefoot occasionally (such as strides in the grass) can be a good training exercise.

So until I get my hands (feet?) on my orthotics and get to give them an honest try, I’ll sit content with the idea of “barefoot training”. You know, once I’m training…. 😉

What are your thoughts on barefoot running vs shoes, etc?

Born to {Read About} Running

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When you can’t run, what’s the next best thing to do?

Read about running!!

I have this funny quirk that makes me think if I read about something, I’ll automatically be good at it. (Remember “homework osmosis” by sleeping with a textbook under your pillow?)

Using that theory, when I hit the pavement again, I’m going to be a lightening fast ultrarunner!! (Right?!) If only that actually worked!

born to run

I’ve finally read what’s been called the greatest running book of all time. They weren’t lying.

I don’t even know where to start- it was inspiring, educational, and thought-provoking.

In case you aren’t familiar with it, Born to Run takes a look at a people called the Tarahumara– a tribe of Mexican ultrarunners. By observing this fascinating group of super athletes that eat 100 mile runs for breakfast, our technology-driven society can learn a lot.

The Tarahumara run in leather sandals that can hardly be called “shoes”, eat ground corn flour & ch-ch-ch- chia seeds….and don’t get tired or hurt.

What, no Nike? No Gu?

After reading this book, I’m ready to toss my Nikes and Gu too. Ok, my Mizunos and Clif shots.

Barefoot running is everywhere these days. I used to think it was just weird. Why would companies spend millions of dollars designing the ultimate runner shoes, when the the best choice is to ditch them all together?

Well, yet again, nature wins. The same way we were built to eat natural, not-overly-processed foods, we were built to run the way nature intended.

Did you know 8 of 10 runners are injured every year? I’m obviously one of them. Running shoes, apparently, don’t ‘defeat ailments’, as quoted from Born to Run. Shoes block pain, not impact. Interesting.

Research on running shoes has turned up zilch: even the best, most expensive shoe does not correlate to fewer injuries. In fact, the more cushioned a shoe is, the less protection it provides. I guess I’m a sucker for advertising, since I’ve been programmed to think the opposite. 😉

I’ve only just scratched the surface of this book. You’ll probably be hearing more about it in the near future as I go back through my dog-eared pages. 🙂

Have you read Born to Run? What did you think? What’s your favorite running book?