Bare My Sole

On Tuesday I went to the track for the interval workout.  I don’t know if it was heat stroke or dehydration but I must have blacked-out and when I awoke I was … gasp! … WEARING SHOES!

I was joking about the blacking out, but I did put a pair of shoes on my feet.  They weren’t just any shoes I put on.  They were the new BIOM B 1.2 Male Mesh Natural Motion Shoes by ECCO.  They did feel lighter than most shoes I have worn.  After a few laps around the track, I could really notice what felt like a wedge of spongy material under my heels.  The effect seemed to cause my heels to strike the ground first instead of my usual mid-foot strike.  I tried to adjust my landing to move more forward and ended up getting sore shins.   The sole was still too rigid for me.  My feet weren’t able to flex and adjust to the ground as much as I am used to.  Also my feet got hot causing me to feel hotter than usual.  It amazes me how much heat my feet dissipate when I’m barefoot.  So you might have guessed, I will not be buying these shoes for myself.  This is not to say that I wouldn’t recommend them however.

The Bioms would make a good transition shoe from shod running to barefoot running.  A person who is already running with typical running shoes and wanting to become a barefoot runner, would be wise to accomplish the change-over in two phases.  The first would be to use the Biom shoes at ever increasing distances or time if they are running in circles (at the track).  When they are not running, they should try walking barefoot as much as possible.  The next phase would be once they are comfortable enough to use the Biom shoes for most of their running, to run barefoot at ever increasing distances and different surfaces (concrete, grass, packed soil, sand etc.).

The bottom line on the Biom shoes is these would make a good transition shoe, but for me, actually being barefoot is better than anything that tries to simulate it.  Don’t mess with perfection!

Biom Review from Barefootrunner.com

More about Chris McDougall

Even Popular Mechanics

On Monday May 11, the CBC radio show The Current did a show on barefoot running.  They had emailed me about being on the show, but by the time I got back to them, they had made other arrangements.  I though it was good that the show brought up the topic of barefoot running and had Chris McDougall on to talk about his book and experiences.  However, I didn’t see the point in having a normally shod runner giving a report on running barefoot.  He would have to build up gradually to any significant running distance barefoot.  If he gave a report after several months of going barefoot, then he might have something worth saying.  You can’t just start running barefoot after wearing shoes all your life and expect you will be like someone who has never worn shoes.  A lot of damage has been done and it will take time to correct.  The younger you are when you do this the better.  Best of all would be if we never put them on in the first place.  Our shoes have deformed our feet, numbed our senses, and weakened our joints and muscles in our feet, not to mention the damage done further up the body.

But I digress…

In the next part of the show they had an interview with John Stanton.  They introduced him with this.  “He is founder and CEO of The Running Room.  It has grown into a Canadian chain of nearly 100 retail stores that sell running shoes and gear.”  Unlike Chris McDougall who doesn’t make any money from people running barefoot, John makes his profits from people buying shoes!  People have bad running form, injuries and foot problems because they have been wearing shoes.  John is saying these are just natural differences in runners that require different shoes to overcome.  I feel this idea is like saying if we add some drugs to your cigarette, your emphysema will feel better.  (I use cigarettes as an analogy for shoes because they both are billion-dollar industries, have fashion to blame for their over use, bad for your health and the more you use them, the more you feel you need to use them.)

More from Chris McDougall:

Born To Run

What Ruins Running

The Barefoot Marathon Runner