P. Sheekanth narrates: I got inspired by Madhu’s writing on barefoot running and then i began reading (not yet completed ) the book on Born to Run and was entirely convinced…started about 5 weeks before the marathon day… (not a good idea and will mention some more in mistakes and lessons to learn.

Incidentally from the day i started running barefoot I just dont feel like running with shoes – i recently bought barefoot shoes which is reasonably good – but running on barefoot is great :)

benefits and negatives of running barefoot

positives
1. knee and shin pain substantially reduced
2. fast recovery from running full marathon
3. incidental benefit – not related to barefoot but due to slow running – did not feel breathless throughout my running
negatives
1. sole of the feet hurts :(
2. difficult to handle heat and cold – specially heat in our country…(did not bother me much during the mumbai marathon thanks to starting at 5.40)
3. difficult to run on rough parts of the road (did bother me – walked in those patches with difficulty)

what were my mistakes – to learn from – (V Imp)
1. Running too much too soon – since i had planned running for full marathon, i continued to run barefoot with the same plan – (i was lucky)
2. Got  hurt when i didnt pay attention to running – my toes were hurt and quite badly,
3. the upper portion of the feet were hurt and continued hurting throughout barefoot running and quite a few days after marathon

what are things one must do to run barefoot successfully
1. running with proper form – i was lucky that i ran with proper form which is probably why i recovered quite fast from marathon
2. reduce cadence as compared to running with shoes – one tends to increase cadence using shoes – it is essential in barefoot running to reduce cadence -this could reduce speed:(
3. follow the golden rule of running – a good runner leaves no trace – quite difficult to implement
4. trust your body and do not use traditional logic while running – learn from your running and the result that you get and not do what is suggested by running pundits – use others learning only to check with your body and then decide to adopt or adapt – constantly experiment and adopt ones that keeps you injury free
5. increase the length of barefoot running very slowly – not more than 5% increase in distance per week
6. keep reviewing how your body feels and change as needed
7. run with steps closer to the ground which sometimes could hurt if one is careless and does not pay attention
8. and be ready to shift to shoe running if barefoot does not suit you!

i am still learning…..and have continued with running barefoot – though occasionally i run with barefoot shoes

Shreekanth

Everything is possible; the Impossible takes a bit longer (Dan Brown)

Humans have engaged in endurance running for millions of years, but the modern runningshoe was not invented until the 1970s. For most of human evolutionary history, runners wereeither barefoot or wore minimal footwear such as sandals or moccasins with smaller heels andlittle cushioning relative to modern running shoes. This makes one wonder as to how runnerscoped with the impact caused by the foot colliding with the ground before the invention of themodern shoe. Prof. Daniel E. Lieberman and his team from the Harvard University have beeninvestigating the biomechanics of endurance running, comparing habitually barefoot runnerswith runners who normally run in modern running shoes with built-up heels, stiff soles and archsupport. Their research has shown that habitually barefoot endurance runners often land on thefore-foot (fore-foot strike) before bringing down the heel, but they sometimes land with a flatfoot (mid-foot strike) or, less often, on the heel (rear-foot strike). In contrast, habitually shodrunners mostly rear-foot strike, facilitated by the elevated and cushioned heel of the modernrunning shoe. Kinematic and kinetic analyses show that even on hard surfaces, barefoot runnerswho fore-foot strike generate smaller collision forces than shod rear-foot strikers. This differenceresults primarily from a more plantarflexed foot at landing and more ankle compliance duringimpact, decreasing the effective mass of the body that collides with the ground. Forefoot andsome mid-foot strikers hit the ground in a way that generates almost no collision forces even onhard surfaces like steel.
Evidence that barefoot and minimally shod runners avoid rear-foot strike with high-impactcollisions may have public health implications. The average runner strikes the ground 600 timesper kilometre, making runners prone to repetitive stress injuries. The incidence of such injurieshas remained considerable for 30 years despite technological advancements that provide morecushioning and motion control in shoes designed for heel–toe running. Although cushioned,high-heeled running shoes are comfortable, they limit proprioception and make it easier forrunners to land on their heels. Furthermore, many running shoes have arch supports and stiffenedsoles that may lead to weaker foot muscles, reducing arch strength. This weakness contributes toexcessive pronation and places greater demands on the plantar fascia, which may cause plantarfasciitis.
There have been other interesting findings about barefoot running reported in peer reviewedmedical journals.
A study by Hanson and colleagues (2011) investigated the oxygen cost of running barefoot vs.running shod on the treadmill as well as over ground. 10 healthy recreational runners, 5 male and5 female, whose mean age was 23.8±3.39 participated in the study. Subjects participated in 4experimental conditions: 1) barefoot on treadmill, 2) shod on treadmill, 3) barefoot over ground,and 4) shod over ground. For each condition, subjects ran for 6 min at 70% VO2 max pacewhile VO2, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion were assessed. An assessment of resultsrevealed that running with shoes showed significantly higher VO2 values on both the treadmilland the over ground track. Heart rate and rating of perceived exertion were significantly higherin the shod condition as well. For the over ground and treadmill conditions, recorded VO2 whilerunning shod was 5.7% and 2.0% higher than running barefoot. It was concluded that at 70% ofVO2 max pace, barefoot running is more economical than running shod, both over ground and on
a treadmill.
Dr Kerrigan and colleagues (2009) who compared the effects on hip, knee and ankle joints ofrunning barefoot versus running in modern running shoes, concluded that running in shoesexerted more stress on these joints compared to running barefoot or even walking in high-heeledshoes. They observed that, compared with barefoot running, running with running shoes resultedin:* Increased joint torques at the hip, knee and ankle.* Disproportionately large increases in the hip internal rotation torque and in the knee flexionand knee varus torques.* On average these torque increases were: 54% in hip internal rotational, 36% in knee flexion,and 38% in knee varus.The researchers concluded that while typical running shoes support and protect feet quite well,they increase stress on the hips, knees and ankles, and this is likely to be caused by an elevatedheel and extra material under the medial arch.
A 2009 study by Squadrone & Gallozzi in experienced barefoot runners found that comparedto the standard shod condition when running barefoot the athletes landed in more plantarflexionat the ankle. This caused reduced impact forces and changes in stride kinematics. In particular,significantly shorter stride length and contact times and higher stride frequency were observed.Compared to standard shod condition, VO2 and peak impact forces were significantly lower.This study also found that lower limb kinematics with Vibram Fivefingers was similar tobarefoot running with a foot position which was significantly more plantarflexed than in controlshoe
The mechanical modifications of running showed that the main role of the shoe was to attenuatethe foot-ground impact by adding damping material. However, according to Divert andcolleagues (2008), these changes may lead to a decrease of the storage and restitution of elasticenergy capacity which could explain the lower net efficiency reported in shod running.
The opponents of barefoot running, however, feel that the benefits of barefoot running are beingoversold. Running barefoot on extremely hot pavement or in extremely cold weather mightdamage the soles of the feet. Then there are nails and glass and pebbles and other objects thatcan puncture the soles of feet or lead to stubbed toes. And even if heel strikes are eliminated byrunning barefoot, shorter strides means the feet hit the ground more often, so what’s gained byreducing the force of impact might be offset by the increase in frequency of impact.
So is running barefoot a passing fad?. It does not appear so. With the ever increasing numbers ofrunners, barefoot running is here to stay.
Does barefoot running cause less injury? The jury is still out. Prof. Daniel E. Liebermansays “While there are anecdotal reports of barefoot runners being injured less, there is very littlescientific evidence to support this hypothesis at this time. Well-controlled studies are needed todetermine whether barefoot running results in fewer injuries.”
“The key thing is not being barefoot, but using a barefoot style, and not colliding into the ground
with your heels.” he adds
References
Divert C, Mornieux G et al. Barefoot-shod running differences: shoe or mass effect? Int J SportsMed. 2008 Jun;29(6):512-8Hanson NJ, Berg K et al. Oxygen cost of running barefoot vs. running Shod. Int J Sports Med.2011 Jun;32(6):401-6. Epub 2011 Apr 6.Kerrigan DC, Franz JR, Keenan GS et al. The effect of running shoes on lower extremity jointtorques. PM R. 2009 Dec;1(12):1058-63.Lieberman DE, Venkadesan M, Werbel WA etc. Foot strike patterns and collision forces inhabitually barefoot versus shod runners. Nature. 2010 Jan 28;463(7280):531-5.Squadrone R, Gallozzi C. Biomechanical and physiological comparison of barefoot and two shodconditions in experienced barefoot runners. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2009 Mar;49(1):6-13.

I started long distance running at the age of 58 and have completed 4 half marathons in the last 2 years. Though I have done my share of running and playing football barefoot in my school days, its about 50 years since I have attempted anything barefoot. When I read about the barefoot half marathon to be held in Navi Mumbai I was tempted to enter the race. At the same time I was also scared of getting injured running barefoot.  I did a bit of reading up and got fascinated about barefoot running.It was then that I came across Anand Anantharaman’s write up in “Barefoot Mannat Runs” where he had written about the myths associated with barefoot running. He had also stated that the Mumbai roads were safe for barefoot running.

So taking courage into my hands, I decided to run a short 3k in my neighbourhood. It turned out to be exactly what Anand Anantharaman had said, there were no glass, nails or other sharp objects on the road. Amazingly I was so observant during the run that I was able to navigate around small stones and loose gravel. I also felt fresh after the run. That was when I decided to do the barefoot mannat run from Siddhivinayak  to Babulnath on 2nd October.

The run started around 6.30 am after some warm up exercises. There were 5 of  us of which 2 were young barefoot runners with a half marathon timing of  about 1h 20 min.  They graciously agreed to run slow with us but were still running at a pace which was faster than what I would have attempted. Right from the start I felt that I was running better than I normally do. I was running on the ball of my feet and my heels were hardly hitting the ground.  There was a tingling sensation from the nerves in the feet, a feeling never experienced with shoes. This also helped to optimise the run. I found running on concrete roads very comfortable and there was very little pressure on the legs. I felt I was gliding rather than running.

We reached  Babulnath 55 minutes after the start, a time which is at least 5 minutes faster than what I usually take to cover a 10 K distance. I was also feeling very fresh after the run and my legs were still very strong. There was no pain or blisters in the feet. Surprise of surprises, I did not come across any sharp object, nails or glass pieces along the entire route. All in all it was an exhilarating experience.

PS. I have registered for Navi Mumbai Barefoot Half Marathon

When I started running, I landed several injuries. Then I ran in Vibram FiveFingers. Old injuries gave way to a single new one. I changed back to running shoes. All pains and injuries disappeared.

I started running from February, 2010 and managed to build a mileage of 42.2 km starting from 1 km in 1 year but at the cost of lots of injuries. I am an overweight (157 cm height, 76 kg weight) runner and also I have flat feet. Like most flat feet runners I have a tendency to overpronate. In my short amateur running career so far I have used two shoes which are Nike Air Span and Nike Structure Triax Zoom, out of these I felt the second one has a decent support for a flat feet runner like me and I am quite happy with that shoe. During my marathon preparation I have gone through a long list of injuries which are ITBS, runner’s knee, ankle sprain and also I have suffered from jumper’s knee from playing badminton on a cement court.

After my first Mumbai Marathon in January, 2011, a friend drew my attention to barefoot/minimal running. After spending some time on the web resources and the famous book by Chris Macdougall I was convinced that barefoot running might be a way for me towards injury free running. So I bought a VF (Bikila model). Initially I ran on a treadmill,then gradually  shifted to a poorly maintained dirt track of a stadium. However I never ran < 3 km or > 6 km on VF until last month. My experience with VF was great and I felt almost zero pain around my old injury spots. It also improved my speed (though it will be a mistake to give all credit to VF for speed improvement as one is supposed to improve in speed after 1 year of running).

However only recently after doing several 6k-8k runs on my VF, I started to feel a pain around my metatarsal region ( apologies in advance if I am not correct as I have close to zero knowledge in anatomy) or in other words the pain was on top of feet above the mid foot ball section. However I ignored that pain and carried on VF running as I was feeling really good in other parts of my body. Finally one day, in a fit of ambition, I ran 12.5 km in VF on road (mostly concrete). The pain increased during the run but since I was feeling great at my other old injury spots I ignored that. After the run the pain started to increase and became very sharp and became strong enough to disturb my normal walking pattern. As a treatment I applied the first three of the well known RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) method and the pain persisted for almost a week. After that I tried to run 3 km on VF again and felt the pain again.

That’s when I stopped VF running totally and switched back to my Nike Zoom Structure Triax running. The pain gradually faded and I managed to run up to 19 km on my Nike without any old or new pain. This proves clearly two facts:

1) The pain came entirely because of VF running (may be my feet are not yet strong enough to go through mid foot running for a long period also don’t forget my heavyweight and flat feet).

2) The VF experiment improved my gait which results in injury free long running even with a shoe ( I am not ready to say it is completely clear as in post VF period I went only once up to 19 km and also I am running for some time so my feet may have become stronger).

During my injury period, I Googled to find these:

1) In podiatrist lingua, TOFP (top of foot pain ) in metatarsal region is almost an epidemic in VF/minimal shoe runners. If you search net you will see a large number of complaints about this.

2) Most of the time the root cause of the injury is “too much too early”. As a runner feels good (a light feeling and speed improvement),  sometimes leading to over zeal. That was true in my case. Also a runner who ran his/her whole life on a heavy cushioned/stable etc shoe, his/her feet is not prepared for the mid foot ball running for an extended period of time.

3) The TOFP can be of two type. one is a stress fracture in the first metatarsal bone and another is a tendon pain ( I have attached a picture for clarity). In my feeling what I got was a tendon pain in Extensor Hallucis Longus Tendon. Those tendons are mostly responsible for the ability to stretch your feet inward and outward , so if you have difficulty in stretching your feet inward and outward most likely you have that tendon pain. If you get a stress fracture that is more serious and that will not go away in 1 week, but the symptoms of both the cases are almost same.

Let me conclude with the lessons I took from the above injury are the following

1) I should do minimal running only on soft surface.

2) For now I will do minimal running never > 5 km and use it only for gait improvement.

3) Occasionally as an experiment I will go to the hard surface and increase mileage of the order of 10% .

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi. Our Ganpati is for 12 days. So I decided to run a barefoot 12K everyday for all the 12 days. Thus by the time Ganesha enters the ocean, I would have done an archana of 144 barefoot kilometres to the Lord.

To run barefoot, I chose Kharghar Central Park, around which the Navi Mumbai Barefoot Half Marathon would take place on 6th November, 2011. I parked my car in front of the Gurdwara and thought of taking two full rounds around the Park, completing 12K  in the process.

While I was locking my car, my thoughts went to what Pooja had posted a couple of days ago. Pooja is a friend of my daughter and is one of the most vivacious girls I have met. Pooja had posted on her Wall that as she was getting dead bored, she was going to Mahalakshmi Temple, you know for what – hold your breath – to flick chappals. I had of course not left my shoes in the car, I had not worn anything while getting out of home. But it was the car – a four year old WagonR, which I was still loath to lose. I warliy looked around for any lurking Poojas, and finally ditched the idea of going full circle around he Park. WagonR will be out of sight for too long a period.

So I decided to run up and down the Central Park north side road. It will be 4K up and down, and I will have to take 3 laps to complete the 12K. Car will not be left out of sight for long. I went at the maximum speed I could muster. Thought of several running masters and the theories they have created for speed running. At the end of the third lap, 12k that is, my watch read 1:30 hours :((

The Tarahumara were made famous after Chrishtopher MacDaugall’s best seller ‘Born to Run.’  But for decades, several scientists and runners had studied and run with the Tarahumara. One of them is Bruce Tulloh, the runner-coach-scientist-author, who won the European 5,000m championship barefoot on cinders in 1962. Tulloh visited and studied the Tarahumara in 1971, and wrote fully about them in the magazine of Britain’s Observer Sunday newspaper.

“Those I saw all ran in their huaraches. Their stamina was impressive. I was still in 14:00 shape for 5,000m, and one of their stars, Ramon, in his mid-40s, ran with me for 90 minutes and never took his hat off. I also ran with a younger runner, Madril, whose pulse after a brisk 50 minutes was 10 beats lower than mine (but of course I was not altitude-adjusted),” Tulloh says.

Tulloh had been part of scientific research into barefoot running in 1961, conducted by Dr. Griffith Pugh, famous as the medical leader of the mountaineering team that conquered Everest in 1953. Later Pugh did seminal research into altitude training.

“Dr. Pugh had me run repetition miles, to compare the effect of bare feet, shoes, and shoes with added weight. He collected breath samples. It showed a straight-line relationship between weight of shoes and oxygen cost. At sub-5:00 mile pace, the gain in efficiency with bare feet is 1 percent, which means a 100m advantage in a 10,000m. In actual racing, I found another advantage is that you can accelerate more quickly,” Tulloh says.

Anand Anantharaman had the chance to run with Tulloh in the Athens Classic Marathon on 31 October, 2010. When first informed of the Navi Mumbai Barefoot Half Marathon, he was very appreciative of the idea. After the event, Bruce sent back a congratulatory message:

“Anand, thank you for sending me the report and the video of your event. It looks as though it was a great success – well done!”

Bruce Tulloh has also written several books on training, which could be bought from his website  www.TullohBooks.com

A sign of things to come. Barefoot is getting more acceptability. Barefoot TJ, president and co-founder of Barefoot Running Society,  points out that it is the Omaha Marathon that’s been the first marathon, offering  a Barefoot Runners Division from 2007 on.  Waco being the second city to offer a Barefoot Runners Division, beginning in 2010.

Quite interesting info, TJ. And you would like to know that the Navi Mumbai Barefoot Half Marathon held near Bombay in western India on the 12^th December, 2010 was the first ever totally barefoot half marathon.  Not even minimalist shoes were allowed, and 306 barefoot runners participated,  finally making  it to the Guinness World Records.  This year, the record is proposed to be broken again, when more than 1000 will run barefoot in the Navi Mumbai half marathon on 6^th November, 2011 (www.barefootrunnersindia.org).

Hey! Our new logo. Howwzzitt?

“Wow! Great looks. Pleasing colours.”

Thanks. We hear that often. There’s  more to it.

Red signifies the vigour and vitality of a marathon run. Green reflects environmental concern.

The red figure is an inspiration from the statue of the ancient warrior messenger Pheidippedes, the original marathon runner.  2500 years later, you can still witness this rock carving of Pheidippedes, en-route the modern Athens Classic Marathon.

Take a closer look. Pheidippedes had run barefoot!  A marathon can be a full, half or ultra. But barefoot it needs to be, if its Pheidippedes you want to imitate .

Descend to the green bare foot. Its left, the side the heart lies. Run with a heart throbbing for the  environment.  Every time you change shoes, you dump a non-biodegradable pair in the courtyard.  That should be once every 6 months, as per advice of Nike et al. If even a hundredth of the world runs , Mother  Earth will hold 35 million pairs of discarded shoes. It will double in 180 days; triple in 360 days….

Barefoot is clean. Barefoot is green. Barefoot is healthy.

Theresa Withee, possibly becomes the first woman to run Boston barefoot. In an interview to Barefoot Runners Society, she would rather have two water stations- one only with water, other only with Gatorade. For a Gatorade station makes barefeet so mushy, you waste time cleaning them with water! Maybe, more organisers will take notice, with the growing number of barefoot marathoners. Read on at:

http://barefootrunners.org/story/theresa-withee-possibly-first-woman-run-boston-barefoot-interview