Barefoot Running is Good for the Soul

My Vibram Debut.

It's like eating with your fingers or sleeping under the stars, there is a primal resonance that just feels right about barefoot running. After reading “Born to Run” I had a good think if barefoot running was literally a path I wanted to run down and thoroughly did my research wanting to avoid being swept away by any gimmicks or fads. If anyone is contemplating barefoot running I really recommend seeing a professional, whether it is a podiatrist or a really knowledgeable shoe specialist, to determine your personal pronation. I visited one in Australia a couple of months ago which I wrote about in my post Advice worth running for Part II.  I had the good fortune of purchasing a pair for half price in LA and put it down to fate.

If you have ever tried to get a toddlers fingers into a pair of gloves than you will know the level of skill and frustration required to put on a pair of Vibram's. Toes are less dexterous than fingers. The Vibram's emphasis my size ten flipper feet. My first impression is that my feet felt extremely supported. I hadn't expected that. What I had anticipated was my Dad saying, “You're going running – wearing those?” Yes, I nod. To the man wearing a woman's headscarf. It's in the genes.

At the beginning of the run I felt like I was slapping the earth in her face with every step. There is a lot of advice out there saying to change your running technique but this I feel is instinctual wearing Vibrams. Let's face it I already look like a dork so naturally I minimise anything that will draw further attention to me (except the hot pink, which hopefully stops me becoming road kill). Naturally, I could run barefoot without the Vibrams but at this point in my life that would be rather irresponsible. More people than me need my feet, and if I step on glass, get frost bite or bitten than it is my family that suffers.

The next day my muscles, particularly my gluteus maximus, are very sore. I experience first hand why it is extremely important to ease the body into barefoot runs. I have been running consistently for over ten months now, the same route I first trialled the Vibrams on. The only thing that had changed was running barefoot. This time I ran using the muscles, ligaments and tendons I should have been utilising all along. This time I ran properly, the way I nature intended me too.

Advice Part II: Advice worth running for.

All this Olympic paraphernalia I am looking at is confirming that I have absolutely no right to be sitting here in this running room shrine. Upon further reflection on my last post it occurred to me that the best advice is from someone unbiased, with no agenda and expertise. And unless you are extremely fortunate, it is usually the sort you have to pay for. In a very convoluted way my severe case of sinusitis back in November led me to secure an appointment with the Australian Running Olympic Team podiatrist.

We started off by talking about why I was there. I explained when I started “running” back in August I noticed a pins and needles sensation in the middle of the ball of my right foot. I thought since I was running in a pair of shoes that were more than ten years old, that maybe it was easy fixed. Luckily I had a very knowledgeable shoes salesman that pointed out what I was describing sounded like Morton's Neuroma and that I should defiantly get it checked out. I tell him all this but do not reveal my ulterior motive is to find out how a podiatrist becomes an advocate for barefoot running and to ask his opinion of whether this is a route I should start running.

He did some basic tests. Placed my foot as far back from the wall with my knee bent still able to touch the wall and measured the distance. Checked my balance by getting me to stand on one foot, eyes open and shut. I laid down and he tried to find the location of the problem. He drew a line in the middle of the back of my heel then he put me on the treadmill first walking and then running. We studied the video. I think the results surprised us both. I have about as close to perfect natural form as you can get which puts me in good position to start barefoot running twice a week.

The official diagnosis is a bursitis which has the potential to develop into a neuroma. The podiatrist said that a good runner comes down to three things: strength, speed and experience. Of which I have none. My treatment involves working on my balance. This helps strengthen the hundreds of small muscles in the foot. Using ice on the foot. Massaging the ball of the foot. Doing three sets of ten reps of calf raises. Re-lacing my shoes so that the first two holes are empty. Which sounds like a fairly simple solution that I should be suspicious. But my only other brief encounter with a podiatrist was after I had my third baby and was diagnosed with crippling plantar fascitis. Which was simply solved by pointing and flexing my feet before I getting out of bed.

As he was strapping my foot I spied, his 2007 New York Marathon Shirt framed on his wall and shared my hope of one day running a marathon. “You will.” He said this matter of factly. I felt absolved of any feelings of self doubt and reborn as a runner. Pretty good value for AUD $100.

Air Feet: Run as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.

Every family has it. Quirkiness we endure and overlook until it is entrenched in our lives as normal behaviour. My one and only running partner, my sister “The Gazelle,” despite being half my size can be heard stomping from the other end of the house. The first time I heard her come down the stairs I assumed the kids were sledding down the staircase. The second time I sincerely thought an earthquake had hit the Canadian Maritimes. The third time I just shook my head in a scientific manner at how someone so tiny can make such a racket. I, in comparison, have the footsteps of an anorexic ballerina. Stealth moves practised after years of tiptoeing (and at times rambo rolling) away from sleeping babies. I would like to think that it is all this mindfulness training coming into being but chances are it is more the former.

“When we walk like (we are running), we print anxiety and sorrow on the earth. We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the earth... Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.” Thich Nhat Hahn

I do not believe that Thich has anything against running. I interpret his quote as meaning, when we manifest our thoughts into the physical world we should do so with with good intent and mindfulness. Love with every step. I cannot find the direct quote but I remember reading one of Thich books and he suggested to imagine a lotus blooming from every footprint you leave behind.

Lately I have been doing a lot of investigating into this “barefoot running” and I cannot help but see connections between this line of thinking and mindfulness. I have deduced that it does not matter if you run with fancy shoes, crap shoes or no shoes, it is how you run that is important. It just so happens to be easier (not to mention cheaper and more enjoyable) in your barefoot because you are more connected to the earth in terms of balance and grip. My Mum recently reminded me that I never wanted to wear shoes as a child, I said I only wanted my “air feet”, my version of bare feet. All three of my children were walking by 10 months old. I just could not bring myself to put them in stiff, heavy board like overpriced shoes that are “recommended” for babies.

It is with this in mind I take my first barefoot running endeavour to the beach. Originally my plan was, in Canada, to start running once a week uphill on the treadmill (it is impossible to run uphill incorrectly) until my muscles and ligaments could make the transition away from shoes injury free. Now, in Australia, running barefoot is easier but I still want to take it slowly. My feet have been propped up for over thirty years, I do not want them to go in shock. The truth is, since I have started running, I have encountered some problems which, it has been suggested, only surgery can fix. I refuse to believe this having taken many alternative routes in other situations and avoided surgery successfully.

It's a bit like running into a fork in the road and having to choose what direction. You can run with your shock absorbing, ventilated, self-breathing, lite, orthopaedic trainers with expensive insoles. And then replace them every year. Or with a bit of effort, mindfulness and training run barefoot. My first experimental run on the beach is at first liberating. The run is more “springy” and focusing on technique is distracting. My endurance is better. I imagine am running in the manner of an Ethiopian Marathon Sand Goddess. I am inspired. And the next morning in absolute excruciating agony.

It took two solid days for me to walk without it feeling like I was stepping on a taser. Once upon a time I could run in my air feet but since then I have underestimated the damage I have created by stuffing my feet into shoes and now my body is making me pay. But I am determined to get my air feet back, one run a week. One day I will be kissing the earth with my feet.