Cross-Training: The Barefoot R-Evolution

We here at Cycle and Style are always interested in personal experiences and stories about different cross training methods. By now I’m sure you have heard a lot about the newest and oldest way of running: barefoot. So many people are talking about this subject including the pros and cons and it seems like anybody interested in running has read the book “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. I finished the book a couple months ago and was ready to throw away all my running shoes and take to the streets in my bare feet! I am fairly new to running and prefer cycling but try to get out a couple times a week just for cross training. Actually running in bare feet didn’t sound appealing at all but the minimalist shoes were intriguing.  I saw people wearing the funny 5 finger shoes and was really curious about how it all worked.

Cycle and Style had the opportunity to attend the Outdoor Retailers Exposition. There were so many companies that were starting to offer the minimalist running shoes. We came across a company called VivoBarefoot. They were having a demonstration by Lee Saxby. He is an expert in his field and has been called one of “The World’s Best Running Coaches” by Christopher McDougall. He thoroughly explained the benefits and the correct posture and techniques for running in a minimalist shoe. It forces you to land on the balls of your feet and not on your heels. VivoBarefoot sent me a pair of the Terra Plana shoes to try and although I still have miles to go to buildup the muscles in my feet and calves, the experience is definitely worth a try.

The first time I ran about a mile in the shoes as instructed and yes my calves were very sore but I really felt lighter and faster too. I was feeling pretty good so I went to the track and ran about 3 miles. This was probably too far too fast and my calves were really sore for a week. Back to one or two miles at a time. I am feeling stronger when I run in them and although I still go back to my running shoes for longer runs, I feel like I am more aware of my posture and try to land more on my toes. I recently ran into an old friend at the gym running in his 5 fingers on the treadmill so I asked him how he liked running “barefoot”.  His name is Peter Breinholt and he is a local musician and outdoor enthusiast. I asked him if he would write about his experience and he graciously accepted. Here is what he had to say:

During college I had to accept that I may never run more than 3.5 miles at a time again. I had been training for a marathon when my right knee started hurting. I saw doctors and tried stretches, but from then on my knee only let me go 3.5 miles at a time. I was forced to turn to mountain biking and only periodic short runs. That was 1992.
Just over two years ago, however, I stumbled across a radio interview with writer Christopher McDougall whose book “Born To Run” had just been released. The book hadn’t taken off yet and I didn’t know anything about barefoot running. (I had, however, been fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of a race in Utah during the 90′s in which a half a dozen Tarahumara Indians ran.) I bought the book and read it, and as I did I began to wonder if my knee pain of 17 years was actually due to my landing on my heels when I ran. So I decided to try an experiment. I went to a park in Salt Lake City and ran barefoot for a few days, then I did the same on a beach at Ventura the following week, then I bought a pair of Vibram Five-Fingers and started running up Emigration Canyon near my home in Salt Lake. The first thing I noticed was that people stare at people in Vibrams. But beyond that I noticed running barefoot (or in minimalist shoes) forced a change in my form almost immediately. The result was very sore calves in ways I hadn’t felt in a long time, but also no knee pain. I went from one mile to two to three, always conscious of that 3.5 mile threshold looming where my knee pain typically began. But it didn’t. I got up to 10 miles pretty quickly and it’s now been two years and the knee pain has not returned. That’s not to say I haven’t felt other kinds of pain running this way. I’ve bruised my toe on rocks trail running and torn off parts of my toe nail, I’ve gotten blisters and my feet get sore, but I don’t get knee pain.
At first I followed just one rule: No landing on my heels. Over time I started thinking more in terms of landing on my toes and, as I did, I began noticing how much cushion my legs have, put there by Mother Nature. I also noticed how much spring my legs have when I land on my toes. Some of the things other barefoot runners have said began to ring true – that you should think of running as kissing the ground with your feet, that the idea is to leave no trace that it’s like “falling forward”. But my favorite part about it is the intangible aspect of barefoot running. I remember Christopher McDougall saying in that first interview that the feet have more nerve endings than just about any other part of the body, and that there is something about feeling the earth beneath your feet that just makes a person feel connected. He mentioned how the Tarahumara smile as they run, and that if you watch a child run you’ll usually see good running. And joy. I know it’s just a shoe (or lack of one) but in these last two years I’ve not only re-found running, but I’ve found joy in it that wasn’t there before.

Peter’s experience is one of several that I have read about and listened to. It seems that the dedication to it pays off for so many people that put in the effort.
It is a work in progress for me but I would recommend anybody interested in running to read the book “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall and check out the website VivoBarefoot. It may just inspire you to get out and run!

Thank you to VivoBarefoot, Lee Saxby and Peter Breinholt!

Minimalist shoes may be preferable to actually running bare foot on asphalt which can be strewn with broken glass, sharp rock,etc. leading to cuts on the foot which can become infected.   Here’s a little more on the pors and cons of running barefoot, including this quote: “Most of my patients aren’t worldclass runners,” says foot doctor Stephen Pribut, DPM. “It wouldn’t make sense for them to risk getting twigs and glass in their feet. And I think some soft surfaces increase plantar fascia and Achilles problems. Of course, what doesn’t kill you might make you stronger.”

Untitled from Tara McKee on Vimeo.