If you have any views on this subject we would love to hear from you.
Working in a running shop like Start Fitness is always interesting for a running geek like myself. We often get the running brand reps in the shop telling us about the latest developments in shoes and technology.
About eight years ago now a rep from Nike came into the store to tell us about the Nike Free.
He started by saying that the Nike Free was a training aid, not a running shoe, it was developed to strengthen the runners feet so that they would eventually be able to run with more power.
Over the years we have gone from barefoot hunters chasing down our pray, by running them to exhaustion over open plains, woodlands and meadows to a shoe shod civilization pounding concrete.
Walking and running barefoot allows greater movement in the foot and uses many more muscles and by wearing shoes all our lives these muscles have become underdeveloped. I liked the approach of Nike, they insisted that we running specialists were to be the only retailers to sell the Free because we were all trained staff and would only sell them after the customer had been told about the shoe first.
It’s taken a while, but barefoot running has really taken off, but to be honest I’m a bit worried about a lot of peoples “Holy Grail to injury free running” approach to barefoot running.
Over the last few years more and more Barefoot shoes have found their way into the shop, I’ve been swatting up and testing different shoes. I’ve always thought of them as Nike had said, a “training aid” great for the odd run to strengthen my feet, but not wholly as a running shoe.
While on Honeymoon I bought Born to run to see what all the fuss was about. I have to say, it’s a fantastic book and I recommend everyone to read it.
The book talks about the benefits of Barefoot running, it explains how we as humans have come from chasing our pray, to wearing over cushioned running shoes. The book is a journey, it follows the writer searching for a lost Mexican tribe of barefoot runners, hiding away from civilization in Copper canyon. He finds an illusive American runner by the name of Crazy horse, the one white man who runs with the Tarahumara. It just happens that when they meet, Crazy horse is looking to be found and he has a mission, he wants to bring the best Ultra distance runners in America to Copper canyon to race his friends to see who comes out on top.
The book is inspirational and makes a really good case for Barefoot running, but one thing that worries me most about this book is that the entire book talks about how great and easy barefoot running is, but there is only a very short few lines about how the author adapted his training and made the transition from shoes to Barefoot.
I’ve been to both Nike and Adidas headquarters over recent years and one thing that they both agree with is that after years of developing cushioned shoes, there are no fewer running injuries.
In the late 70’s Nike started putting cushioning in the heel of their shoes, thinking heel to forefoot would be a more economical way to run, running on your mid foot when you have a huge wedge of cushioning under your heel is very difficult.
When you heel strike your foot pronates to absorb shock, from this point most runners do one of three things, they either continue through the centre of the foot (neutral), roll to the outside ( supernate/under pronate) or continue with pronation and over pronate and push off on the big toe.
Until recently our job in Start Fitness (or any other running specialist) has been to look at runner’s feet and do Gait analysis to determine which shoe is best for the customer, neutral or support shoes. We now have another option, Barefoot.
So where does Barefoot fit in? Well if you Barefoot you will miss out the pronation phase you will not need the support of a medial post in your shoe, this sounds great. What worries me though is that it is usually the cronically injured runner grasping at straws that is looking at the barefoot shoes. They want a quick fix and buying a shoe that promises to revolutionize your running seems just the job.
Trying to explain to people that it is best to break yourself in gradual is the best approach isn’t what they want to hear. People want to pay their sixty pound and be fixed. I sometimes feel that I am talking people out of Barefoot sale, but
What I would like to say to people would be, try a barefoot shoe, there’s plenty on the market. Perhaps don’t go too extreme to start with. I like the grading system on the inov8 and Nike shoes, start with a more cushioned shoe first then as your feet become stronger try going more and more minimalist. But I still wouldn’t go 100 percent barefoot.
Once I get back to running again I plan to do my sessions in track spikes and racing flats, tempo runs in a racer trainer, my easy runs in a cushioned shoe and then on a Friday, the day I do my drills I intend to do core, drills and strides in my Barefoot shoes. I’ll also do a couple of miles warm up and warm down in my Barefoot shoes too. I’m hoping that adding another new element to my training will only benefit my running.
Anyone wanting to know any more about barefoot running I recommend calling into one of the Start Fitness shops and chatting to the staff about the options available.