barefoot

Long Overdue Report on Barefoot Running

Last fall, I tried barefoot running.  I was optimistic that it would reduce hip and knee pain and perhaps help me to increase my pace a little bit.  I’ve often thought of myself as one of the least competitive people I know, but I have learned that I hate to run slower and like to run faster.

In January I got lucky and found a pair of Vibram 5 Fingers here in Guangzhou, China.  Actually, I’m sure they are knock offs so I should withhold judgment on the real deal.  One cold, rainy day I decided to give them a try.  I immediately fell in love.  I could run so much faster in them because I experienced less pain in my feet.

As time wore on, however, I found that my times have slowed again to my barefoot pace.  I still experience uncomfortable pain in my feet, heels, calves and ankles (my plan worked–no more knee and hip pain!).

For the last three weeks, I’ve been running in the craziest shoes I’ve ever used for running:  $15 Payless Shoes Slip On Tennis shoes that I bought for the sake of having a pair of crappy shoes to wear when I did things where I didn’t want to worry about my shoes.  They’re great because they can be washed, so a pair lasts for years–though I’d never thought of running in them.

The Payless shoes have almost no padding in them so I was thinking–and now believe–that they make a bonafide minimalist shoe for a lot less dough than a new pair of Vibrams.  But, the truth is I’m looking for a shoe that may be a bit less minimalist to see if I can find a bit of relief from the foot/ankle/heel/calf pains without getting my knee and hip pain back.  Wouldn’t it be dreamy to run without pain!!!

So, that’s where I am and I’m eager to get your feedback if you have any for me!

Barefoot update

For the past several weeks now, I have been running barefoot. To be exactly clear, I have not worn shoes of any sort to run for the last two weeks. (I also had several barefoot runs in the two weeks before that.)

This is my report:

Given the pain in my feet (not so much the soles of my feet but in my feet) I am running less than 1/3 of the miles I was running in shoes. I had hoped to be able to build up the miles more quickly, but my old feet seem to need more time to adapt to the new approach.

In fairness to my old feet, I had been running in the softest running shoes on the market, Hoka Bondi Bs. I have just loved those shoes. I’ve been through two pair and bought a pair for my son’s girlfriend, too (long story).

All that said, I’ve had some classic runner’s injuries that have prevented me from running a few times. My knees have ached since I started running (they didn’t ache before I started). Within the next three years my goal is to complete a full Iron Man, but I fear the training miles required would put me out of business altogether. All in all, I’ve been intrigued by the idea that running barefoot would allow me to run farther and longer with less injury.

So, I won’t lie. I’m disappointed that I’ve experienced so much pain in my feet. Right now, I feel like I’m trading foot pain for knee pain. I really have not had any knee pain when running barefoot.

When I run, I follow Barefoot Ken Bob’s advice, to let the soles of my feet decide how long to run. That seems to make sense. During a run, my feet don’t ache in the same way that they do for days after a run. They only ache when I walk. (So the pain does not interfere with my sleep or my enjoyment of reading or watching television or blogging.)

At present, on the route I currently run, I can only do about 2 miles before the soles of my feet really start to scream at me to stop. I want to get back to my six mile runs as soon as possible–I’m gaining weight.

Still, all these issues taken into consideration leave me planning my next run barefoot. I like where this is headed even though I don’t like where I am.

The Once and Future Way to Run – NYTimes.com

The Once and Future Way to Run – NYTimes.com.  At my son’s suggestion, I read this article this morning.  It is very interesting.  I am almost ready to give this barefoot thing a try.  What do you think, is barefoot running the way to go?

Wow. Someone cares.

I have been derelict in my duty to blog since I arrived in China about 10 weeks ago. The range of new experiences, from food and smells to a new job, transportation experiences and above all the language–Chinese is, like, really hard to learn when you are as old as I am.

Today, one of my twitter followers, Keith Bridgeforth (@newnation) asked when I would blog again. I’m quite confident that no one else even noticed that I wasn’t blogging. Like removing your hand from a pond, my failure to blog left no hole. Keith’s query, was, however, enough to prompt me to sit down and write a new post.

Since arriving in China, I have actually been pretty good about running. I have run 15 miles every week without fail. My times have been slower than they were in Utah, despite running at a lower elevation–which usually helps after training at Utah’s near-mile-high altitude. The factors that contribute to slower times are heat, heat, heat and humidity. The weather is starting to cool, now, so I am starting to see my times improve.

My son, Dayton, who is also a runner (unlike his father, he really seems to have the build for it), sent me an interesting article from the New York Times today about running barefoot. I’ve been skeptically giggling at the crazy people who run with no shoes, but as that movement grows, so does the data suggesting that they are running faster with fewer injuries.

What do you all think? Is barefoot the way to go?