http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...s-1881341.html
> "People who don't wear shoes when they run have an astonishingly different strike."
I wonder if it is as painless as stated. How about running barefoot on a woodland trail with sharp stones and twigs - anyone have experience? Also are there issues with getting infections?
I don't think wearing Vibrams is the same as going fully barefoot; wearing it reduces the sensuous massaging feeling when you run barefoot on grass. However going barefoot means dirty feet, and possible scrathes, so lightweight, simple shoes or vibrams are a decent compromise. IMO
It also provides many arguments why the best trainers out there can also be causing the most damage to your body.
Has anyone tried Nike Free for running on asphalt ?
I got a bad infection from a very small cut on one of my feet from running bare foot in mud when I was younger. My whole leg was affected but antibiotics cleared it up.
As for Nike Free, I think it is the biggest irony in running industry in this milenium: that a company that made billions of dollars out of a dodgy technology is now out to make another billion from a solution that mocks at all its previous products.
The victim in all this drama is the consumer and the honest shoes makers who don't add fancy labels/ads to their products
Not surprising. In fact, in my schooldays we were taught about the risks of walking barefoot, and promoting the use of footwear was expressly a part of public health policy. The soil contains many parasites, and running/walking is an easy way of infection even if you don't find visible cuts/bleeding.
That said, if one can find soft grassy routes, or modern carpeted running tracks, I find it worth running barefoot at least some days of the week, but I guess that is down to personal preference and philosophy.
Enter "47.381783, 8.470832" into google maps. You can see some parts of the yellowinsh track, the rest is under the trees.
There are shoes which can provide different levels of protection, depending on whether you are running on streets (where you can have very lightweight minimalist shoes) or rough trails, where the shoes can have more rubber around the ends of the toes to protect them. I started with Merrels, and now use ZEMgear, which are more a kind of bootie than a shoe.
http://www.zemgearswitzerland.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ZEMgearSwitzerland
Whatever the case, shoes or no, with a forefoot strike, the muscles and tendons in the feet and calves are used as a damper to absorb the impact so that the heel plant becomes much softer, transmitting less shock up through the ankle and leg to the joints and back. I've been running with minimalist shoes for two years now, and had to build up over about 6 months to allow the feet and calves to strengthen - I went from 40 minutes in standard shoes to 5 minutes barefoot before my calves locked up. Now I regularly run for more than an hour and love it. Running on sand is actually very good, as the sand also absorbs impact - however, your feet and calves have to work even harder than normal because the sand gives under your feet.
Check these out for background:
http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher...rn_to_run.html
You sound like a girl I once knew.
My favorites are the Luna sandals, but not always practical in winter or for steep descents as you slide forwards.
You'll notice that after a few months your toes spread out wider and you'll have difficulty fitting in narrow toe boxed shoes or boots.
As a transition running shoe for road/light trail I have found this one easy to move to from structured shoes:
http://www.inov-8.com/New/Global/Pro...hite.html?L=26
This shoe I have found the best trail shoe I have ever used, although it is not so minimalist, but I have to do long training runs (up to 60km at the moment) but I look forwards to trying the Trailroc 245 once my event is done:
Seeing the shoes it just makes me wonder what my colleagues would say if I wore them into the office :P