Anyone tried "barefoot" running?

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  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    The Vibrams gave me bad rub spots in many places doing 5 or more mile runs.

    Prefer the Merrill Body Glove series as basically the same thing minus the toes but wide toe box, and a 1-2 mm rubber pad. Same Vibram sole though.

    Sadly I have unequal leg length issue, so have to use full length shoe insert for runs over 3 miles or frequent runs, and that only works with a removable insole, so now doing 0-drop minimalist totally flexible Sketcher's GoBionics.

    I had plantar injury for the longest, and it took orthotics in all shoes to finally recovery from it.

    Then went barefoot as curious test. Felt great.
    Started alternating with shoes running in same mid-foot strike and barefoot, and then switching to Vibram's.
    Got up to 2 x weekly 6 miles in hr.
    Used treadmill in winter and found one with minimal shock absorption (accidental, not purposeful) and pace increased at good HR.
    Overdid it and sprained plantar, couldn't walk for 6 weeks. Took almost 1 year to come back.

    Back to it, strong as ever, but more realistic. The minimalist shoes help, and have a 4mm drop Saucony Kirvana with much better padding for really long runs. Sketchers for up to half-marathon.
  • ROBJ3411
    ROBJ3411 Posts: 72 Member
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    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/are-barefoot-shoes-really-better/

    The study switched the group directly to Vibram's without any transition. This should never be attempted. You go from regular running shoes to typical minimalist shoes first to promote a forefoot strike. After an adjustment period you can then slowly transition to Vibrams.

    Great point I think most of the studies into this kind of running is flawed. If you check most of the unbiased stuff on this then you will see that most of the injuries occur with people transitioning too quickly and NOT because there are adverse effects from the running itself....

    "Everyone I know who went out and just tried it got plantar fasciitis and couldn't run at all for a while. Be careful and read up on some notes for beginner's."

    This is the case because I'm sure "everyone" just switched shoes and continued with their training.

    Look at it this way, If you broke your arm and had it in a cast for 6 months, would you resume your normal workouts the day you got your cast off? Of course not.

    So why would you think you could do your normal work when your feet have been in a cast for a decade, because in many cases that is exactly what has happened, there are several muscles in your feet that are underutilized/unused when you wear conventional shoes. When you switch to "natural/Minimalist" shoes you have to rehab and reteach these muscles.

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