Scoop: Cover of Nature on barefoot running! (Read 1678 times)

You probably can't tell, but my eyes are rolling.

 There's a smilie for that!  

I thought people like Ed or Jason would be interested to hear this--didn't know which thread is the most appropriate one but I've posted here a couple of times this weekend so here I go...

 

Now, I confess; I don't run barefoot.  I run in minimalist shoes more or less.  I think there's a huge benefit to running in more natural condition; meaning, no high heel, high cushion, motion controlled situation.  Barefoot would be great but I guess I'm practical enough to feel that won't quite cut it for what I'm trying to achieve.

 

At any rate, like I said, there will be a very interesting article written by Lorraine Moller in the next issue (I think) of "Marathon & Beyond".  She doesn't necessarily "barefoot" run but, like myself, she runs/ran in minimalist shoes.  One of the things she mentioned in her article is that, when she travelled overseas and, upon arriving, she might feel a bit jaded or jet-lagged, she would go to the near-by park or grassy field to just easily jog barefoot.  She said she felt she's all recharged and felt good again.  This weekend, I was at her place with Dr. Richard (Dick) Brown who coached Mary Decker to her double gold medals at 1983 Helsinki World Championships (we watched those races, 1500m and 3000m, of hers against Russions on YouTube the night before and it was pretty cool listening to him explain their tactics and how the race actually went...).  He has Ph D in exercise physiology and had developed couple of really cool programs which I mentioned elsewhere on this forum--one is what we call "Interactive Training Program" based on Lydiard program.  With this 24-week training program, we attached his Recovery Indicator and, if it shows that you are not fully recovered from the previous workout, it'll tell you to either take it easy or just go for a jog or skip the workout.  He also has this fitness program where you answer some 70+ question, most of which you wouldn't feel anything to do with running, and it'll calculate your VO2Max.  He said that NASA had developed very similar program and both of them were very close and accurate for VO2Max of anywhere between, if I remember the numbers correctly, 18~55.  But beyond 55, his was more accurate (which is not surprising with the fact he delt with top athletes in the country at Athletics West in the 1970s and 80s).

 

Anyways, enough of our promotion (;o))...  While we were talking last night (Lorraine and Dick and myself), the topic of barefoot running came up.  And Dick said something about "grounding".  Basically, there are lots of free irons on earth (=ground) and be in touch with the actual ground, not asphalt or concrete, is one of the easiest ways to get rid of free-radical in our body.  That's when Lorraine brought back up about her barefoot running experience.  Dick totally agreed and said it makes perfect sense.  In fact, there's this professor at, I think he said, Montana University and he developed this sheet with electric charge hooked with some kind of, well, "ground" wire and you either stand on it or lie down on it with this wire sticking in the ground to get rid of body's free-radical irons.  Once again, it would have to be barefoot running ON EARTH, not on asphalt or concrete sidewalk or treadmill.  He said very few people had talked about this and had studied but there are some who had.  If you're interested, I can get this professor's name. 

 

One funny story; he had this great booklet from olden-days and I wanted to make a copy of it.  We went to this copy place in Boulder called "Eight Days A Week".  And, because it was Saturday, it was closed!!!  What's up with that!?

 

OK now, this is an interesting story but I don't think it is a great benefit to barefoot runners anymore than barefoot gardeners or barefoot beachwalking.  What about swimming in any ocean, lake, river or puddle?  Wouldn't the free radicals go streaming off of them, too?  What do you think?  I am more interested in who you were hanging out with.  What is Mary Decker up to nowadays?  

PS: It would be more interesting to find out what was going on with MD WHILE she was competing than now! ;o)  Seriously, though, Dick said she was a charm to work with.  You didn't know she followed the Lydiard program for a while, did you?  Did you know she worked at Frank Shorter Running Gear store in Boulder for a while (I actually knew that way before)???

I'm not sure but he looks a little "shorter" than you.  Hmmm....

Wow!  You run with quite a crowd don't you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot

Risks

Consistent practice, caution, and instinctive awareness are essential to safely going barefoot. Foot problems that can result from walking barefoot include cuts, abrasions, bruises, puncture wounds from foreign objects. They can also make you more vulnerable to skin issues or nail injuries.^[11] Poisonous plants, animals, or parasites can enter the body through the cuts on an injured bare foot – footwear can be valuable in protecting them.^[12] Hookworm larve, for instance, can easily burrow through a bare human foot^[13] (but in temperate regions the chance of encountering hookworm is extremely low)^[14]. In addition, individuals with diabetes or other conditions which affect sensation within the feet are at greater risk of injury while barefoot, so they must compensate safety with greater awareness of the ground's environment.^[11]

Benefits

A 2006 study found that shoes may increase stresses on the knee and ankle, and suggested that adults with osteoarthritis may benefit from walking barefoot,^[15] though more study is required to elucidate the factors that distribute loads in shod and barefoot walking. A 1992 correlational study also found that children who wore shoes were three times more likely to have flat feet than those who did not, and suggested that wearing shoes in early childhood can be detrimental to the longitudinal arch of the foot.^[16] A 1991 review article found that barefoot walking supported optimum foot development, and the best use of shoes are to protect the foot from injury rather than for correction of problems.^[12] Other doctors believe shoes are damaging to children's feet.^[17]

[Alternatives

An alternative to going barefoot is to wear thin shoes with minimal padding such as moccasins or thin sandals, which result in similar gait to going barefoot, but protect the skin and keep dirt and water off. This was practiced for most of human evolutionary history, particularly for running.^[18]

Awesome!!!!  Hefty and Rich in the same day!!!

 

+1.  I think I should go buy a lottery ticket...this is my lucky day!

Although I do have to say that the youtube he linked is pretty good. 

 

I'll have to sit and watch that later.  Wow, I didn't even know that there were full-length things on YouTube like that.