Masters Running

1

Are you better off... (Read 271 times)

coastwalker


    with or without running shoes?

     

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/business/30shoe.html

     

    Jay

    Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.

      I just went and read the article.  Kudos to the reporter.  He asked the New Balance engineering manager for some independent evidence that his shoes might do any good and the response was pathetic!  A 2006 study by three doctoral students that did not even address injury rates.  Add to this I have no idea where in academic pecking order the journal Gait and Posture lies (pretty low I bet) and the conclusion is this basically proves there is no evidence. 

       

      Just to be clear, there does not appear to be any evidence against shoes helping either!  No evidence, is just that, no evidence.  Pretty sad.  All this could be fixed, to the benefit of millions of runners, with a relatively inexpensive study funded by the NSF.  Given the billions spent or things that benefit nearly nobody this seems like a good way to use some instead.

      Live like you are dying not like you are afraid to die.

      Drunken Irish Soda Bread and Irish Brown Bread this way -->  http://allrecipes.com/cook/4379041/


      MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803



        thanks jay and lynne for linking the Sunday NYT article on "Wiggling Their Toes at the Shoe Giants."

         

        Posters over at our runningbarefoot.org discussion group especially like the insinuation that barefoot runners must have some sort of "biomechanically perfect" feet so don't need the shoes.

        In 95 percent of the population or higher, running barefoot will land you in my office,” said Dr. Lewis G. Maharam, medical director for the New York Road Runners, the group that organizes the New York City Marathon. “A very small number of people are biomechanically perfect,” he said, so most need some sort of supportive or corrective footwear.

        However, a large number of the runningbarefooters have such imperfect feet, PF, etc. that, after thousands of dollars of orthotics, prognoses never to run again, etc.,  they'd given up on running gave up on running altogether (for up to five years in one case) and only found out they could run again when trying running barefoot as a last ditch test case.

         

         

        There's also a funny parody from Runner's World on the article

        Barefoot Running: An Opposing View

         

        Why do you suppose barefoot running has taken off like it has?
        I have no earthly idea. I just don't get it. I mean, the human foot is a wonderful thing, but it's fundamentally inferior to a quality running shoe. Does the human foot have PolyGraf UnderG.I.R.D.® support panels? Not last time I checked, it didn't.

         

        Are you saying that running shoe technologists are smarter than God?
        I'm saying that God may have created a lot of cool stuff, but He never came up with a Grip-Lok TETHER Clamp® system for a more stable ride. 

        http://dailyviews.runnersworld.com/2009/08/running-barefoot-an-opposing-viewpoint.html


        Runners World has not totally discounted running barefoot and has even recommended it for training for shod races.

         

         

         http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-319--6728-0,00.html (August 2004)

         

        in fact, our runningbarefoot.org guru barefoot kenbob was recently interviewed for another pending barefoot article too.

        Should You Be Running Barefoot?  <style> H1 { font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; color: #ff5114; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 10px;} </style>

        SHOULD YOU BE RUNNING BAREFOOT?

        Most of us consider running shoes essential. But what happens when you decide not to lace 'em up?

        By Amby Burfoot

        "Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)


        #artbydmcbride

          Are men's feet better suited to barefoot running?  I never see female runners going barefooted.

           

          Runners run


          MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803

            dear ilene,

            that's 'cause you're always lookin' at the men's feet or something.

            your friend,

            Zola.

            ps - someone who missed the planned RnR barefoot still wants to do it on the beach sometime.

            "Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)


            #artbydmcbride

              Hola Zola!  Smile

               

              Come down and run on the beach here!

               

              Runners run

                The few times I tried barefoot running I liked it.  My form was perfect (had to be or it would hurt) and I felt faster.  Only problem is my natural soles have not toughened up over 45 years in order to do it for very long.  And my feet are not biomechanically perfect, but that only made me run more correctly, instead of letting the shoe enable my pronation to continue.

                "During a marathon, I run about two-thirds of the time. That's plenty." - Margaret Davis, 85 Ed Whitlock regarding his 2:54:48 marathon at age 73, "That was a good day. It was never a struggle."

                wildchild


                Carolyn

                  I love running barefoot, but only do it on the indoor track, which has a cushy rubberized surface.  Outside, it would be too painful, as we live on a dirt road. Ouch!    I run faster barefoot on the track - not sure if it's due to less weight on my feet, or what.  I guess I could try barefoot running on the sidewalks by my office, or in the grass next to the sidewalks. But I much prefer trail running, and I don't think that lends itself to barefoot running unless I really worked on toughening up my feet.

                  I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.

                    I played indoor soccer barefoot once when I had forgotten my shoes.  I really liked it once I got over the fear of getting stepped on.  I did have an "equipment problem" though about 3/4 through the game.  I guess soccer is harder on your feet than running Tongue

                    Lou, (aka Mr. predawnrunner), MD, USA | Lou's Brews | lking@pobox.com