Have you heard the old proverb, "The more things change, the more they stay the same?" Well, the words couldn't be truer if you consider the uproar in the world of running lately. Recently, there's been much debate via online forums and through social media circles about several new theories that -- to be truthful -- fly in the face of reason. Whether the issue is about running intervals exclusively versus running long, slow distances or the barefoot running debate that has created a firestorm of emotions and has shaken the running community's long held beliefs to the core, there's no shortage of opinions.
There's so much discussion, video to watch, articles to read and comparative research to look into that it can be a little overwhelming trying to make sense of it all. I'll try and boil it down and give you my two cents worth of advice, particularly as it relates to barefoot running.
Barefoot running hit a tipping point, a point at which ideas and behavior spread "virally" much like infectious disease, about the time Christopher McDougall's book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen became a best seller. The premise of the book started with his personal injury from running, his pursuit of healing and his trials with barefoot running and minimalist sandals, made and worn by the Tarahumara Indians, an indigenous people of northern Mexico. The indians were known for running long distances with a minimal amount of support or tread under their feet. Add to that the fact that few of them sustained injuries typical for most runner and how could one argue that perhaps they were on to something? In fact, it's estimated that somewhere between 40 and 80% of all runners are injured at any given time. Granted, a variance of 40% is quite large but nobody really knows for sure. If it's closer to the latter amount it's no wonder the book became a best-seller in a short time. Take a little mysticism and impart an ancient secret held by a lost tribe of long distance Indian runners to injured runners who want to run injury-free and you can turn running on it's head.
There's no denying that barefoot running can be good for you. In fact, many of the running shoe manufacturers are now producing minimalist footwear similar to the Nike Free series that was ahead of the barefoot running curve many years ago. However, and this is a BIG however, if your body, meaning your calves and feet and the multitude of ligaments, muscles and tendons haven't gone barefoot since childhood and are all of a sudden expected to recreate childhood romps through the grass for an entire afternoon, you will be disappointed. Not only will you be disappointed, but you'll also most likely be sore and even worse, possibly nursing an injury or two the next day. There is no substitute for long, slow conditioning of the body and that can't be done in one week.
As children, we ran much more than we do today. Remember the beginning of summer as a child? As soon as school would let out you would discard your shoes and your feet would feel tender for a week or so but by the end of the summer, you had toughened them up and there was not a sidewalk too hot nor a field too rough that couldn't be run barefoot. I think this plays into why people are interested in the barefoot movement. Running free and fast as a kid creates an indelible memory that many people would love to recreate. The only problem with the memory is we forgot to not land on our heels. It's not the shoes that are the problem creating our injuries, it's all about the amount of weight we've gained as adults, not to mention our running form.
During each foot strike, the body is exposed to repeated impact forces estimated to be two to three times the body weight of the runner. If your heel strikes first, you will be sending the impact forces up the leg to the knee, which can eventually cause problems. A high percentage of joggers land on their heel. This is allowed to happen as the running shoe has just enough padding to cushion much of the blow. If the same jogger were asked to remove their shoes and jog, their form would change without prompting from anyone to one of a mid-foot strike or more likely one of landing on the front pad of the foot. For this reason every jogger and runner should try barefoot running for a few strides each week on grass just to feel what it's like to not land on their heels. Barefoot running can be really great for correcting bad running form.
So, bottom line: Running injury free for the first time since childhood can be quite an enlightening moment, with shoes or without. Same as it ever was.