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Hey there. Well a lot’s happened in the last few months. I left my old job and now I’m self-employed. I moved and I ran the Virgin London Marathon.

Well, I ran 23.2 miles and was forced to walk the last three after a hip flexor became too painful to run with. But I sort of ran most of it…in Nike Free v3.0s.

Those of you who read my early preparations for the race will know that I intended to run barefoot or in minimalist footwear if possible, but I suffered from heel pain when wearing my Vivobarefoot Evos. My feet plainly weren’t ready for the distances I was running, and I couldn’t risk injury.

So I ran the VLM in my Nikes. I’d trained in them for the two months prior, but I’m not sure even that was enough. In the last three miles of the race, when I began walking, my right foot ached and throbbed incredibly. It was only afterwards that members of my Running Crew expressed their surprise I ran the Marathon in my Frees. Apparently most had opted for Lunars, or other makes’ more supportive shoes.

Now it’s nearly a month gone, and I haven’t returned to running. My right heel is sore and aches, and a recent stag do involving paintballing made it very uncomfortable. So yesterday I saw my doctor and he had this to say.

“I think you have plantar fasciitis. Rest and take anti-inflammatories. Do not run until the pain goes, and if it does not go we will give you a steroid injection.”

My immediate thought was “no you won’t”. I’m in my late 20s, I’ve run one marathon. I’ve got two halves booked in for later in the year, and I’m not starting my relatively short adult running career with a marathon followed by a steroid injection.

I headed to Twitter.

One member of my Running Crew runs in Vibram Five Fingers. He tells me he’s also suffered PF. He tells me barefoot helped him, and it can help me.

Yeah, you can see where this thought is going.

I’m back, I’m injured, and I’m intrigued. I can’t run just yet, but I can talk and research and prepare to tackle barefoot again. So…let’s see what happens.

Continue reading »]]> So yesterday I posted about how I had to ease back into my padded Nike Free Runs to prevent further heel pain. I think that was sensible. Going for a three mile run last night, I had the extra-assurance that the thick but flexible soles provided. And yet, almost as a counterbalance, because I could feel myself falling back into the old running pattern of mid-foot flopping, I lifted my head, straightened my posture, shortened my strides and lifted my heels.

It helped that near the start of my run is a slow incline leading up to Blackheath village, which itself has an incline onto the heath proper. It allowed me to almost stalk up the hills on the front foot, while trying to consciously keep my posture correct, and my strides short and quick.

And it both sounded and felt different. Again, I know I was wearing more padded runners, but the crunches I heard form my footfall shifting icy grass, and the light beats of my feet on the tarmac were more concise and purposeful than the usual slap of slabs striking the ground. In terms of feel, I was getting more propulsion. Consciously trying to do this is one thing, but for brief periods I settled into a somewhat unfamiliar, and yet comfortable, running style.

It felt positive, it felt easier, and – dare I say it – it felt lighter. Now I guess getting the right running gait in thick-soled shoes isn’t exactly where I want to be. But it’s a step further along than where I don’t. Naturally, I’ll keep you updated on my progress, but I’m stoked to actually have an idea of what a positive forefoot running gait feels like. And hopefully I’ll be back in the Evos pretty soon – hopefully without the heel issues!

Continue reading »]]> I’m a little bit headstrong sometimes. I started this blog with the idea that I could perhaps run a marathon barefoot. Then I thought I could probably run a marathon in minimalist running shoes. I still do, but it’s obvious that I’m doing too much too soon. It’s not that I’m in tonnes of pain, but I have to say that I’ve been a tad foolish in pushing on with things when my heels have been sore, and my calves tense. The problem started a couple of weeks ago:

At this time I was wearing my Vivobarefoot Ra’s a lot, and I started running purely in my Evos. Fine, and for a little bit my legs and feet were okay with it. But pretty soon, I leanred two things:

1. don’t wear minimalist footwear too tight, and…
2. Easing into new footwear is best

I started noticing that my heels were aching. When I walked in my Ra’s, and when I ran in my Evos. to be clear, I had no pain form my left or right forefoot, but about halfway through three mile runs my heels would start to get sore. My first thought was Plantar Fasciitis, and when I started waking in the morning with a tender left heel, I was a little bit worried.

Last Friday I decided that I should seek some help. With just over 11 weeks until the London Marathon, I need to keep running and not to render myself incapable of training for fear of pain. I didn’t go to my doctor, but instead went to Runners Need in Holborn, London. My father (a keen runner in the 80s and 90s) suggested that I might need insoles just to take the edge off the pounding. But here’s the thing; I just as I was looking at the sorts of insoles you can buy, a store assistant came up:

Looking at insoles, or some support?

I confirmed that I was, and told him that I was running the marathon, and the problems I was facing. He nodded, but told me:

If you’ve a neutral gait insoles won’t help. Have you heard of Lee Saxby? I’ve got a pair of Vivobarefoot Neos, and if you’re having trouble while leaving the removable insole in, you want to check out his video on learning barefoot skills. Ease off, and [he pointed at the Free Runs I was wearing] interchange with those for your runs. Don’t overdo anything too soon, and make sure you’r posture is right.

So that’s the advice I took. I’m going back to my Free Runs to take some of the edge out of my training, and I’m studying the video he rceommended [below] to educate myself in the correct way to ease back into minimalist running.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Well, it’s been an interesting start to the year. I gave myself the Christmas period off running, knowing full well  that my marathon training started in earnest the first week of January. But once it did start, I decided to go slowly slowly, specifically because I would be wearing my Vivobarefoot Evo Hydrophobics for the first time. Being zero-drop, and a whole lot thinner than any running shoes I’d ever tried before, I knew my feet would take a bit of time to get used to the change of impact, particularly after the barefoot on tarmac experience last year.

To help with the transition, most of my first runs were on and around Blackheath’s actual heath, the grassy area between the town and the railings behind which Greenwich Park sits. I came back from those runs with feet that wondered what the hell I was up to, and calves not completely happy with my stride. Unfortunately I’ve recently broken my Kindle, so my reading of Barefoot Ken Bob’s book has halted, but what I did read before it broke is what I’m remembering: Listening to my feet and legs.

There are but 13 weeks to go in marathon training, and as much as I am trying to build up distance, I’m more worried about keeping the running up. My feet and stride seem to be adjusting to the wearing of my Evos, and a good dose of stretching beforehand is certainly helping me out. That’s the most important thing. I don’t want to go too far too soon and pull something…or worse! Progress isn’t as fast as I’d like, but it’s steady and I’m even running on concrete and roads now – pretty handy, considering the London Marathon doesn’t exactly take place upon rolling grasslands and fields!

The problem is, the other non zero-drop shoes I own are getting less and less comfortable, and feeling more and more bouncy and insecure; including the Nike Free Runs I bought not that long ago. Every pair I own are making me well aware how far my feet are away from feeling the ground. Well, apart from the Ra’s I own. But more on those soon.

Continue reading »]]> From Wikipedia:

Proprioception (pronounced /ˌproʊpri.ɵˈsɛpʃən/pro-pree-o-sep-shən), from Latinproprius, meaning “one’s own” and perception, is the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement.

From me:

Runners talk a lot about proprioception. Barefoot and minimalist runners, embroiled in the ongoing debates of whether their chosen paths are beneficial or not, talk about it a whole lot more than others. And it’s an undoubtedly important aspect of running.

However, quite how the feedback the body receives from proprioception should be judged, and how it should be incorporated into knowledge about minimalist and barefoot running is a hot point of debate. Indeed, we might argue that it’s a key point of the debate, as ultimately we can only respond to what our bodies are telling us if we know what it’s saying. So, in my last post when my feet started hurting were they saying:

“This is not good – stop!”  OR

“This is unuusual, we’re not ready for this”

?

I don’t know, and that’s part of the challenge we all face if we’re interested in taking up eventual BF running. However, as I’ve mentioned before,  there is a very real possibility/threat that BF runners claim that all of this painful feedback is purely the fact that we’re not used to the style. And they can claim that without really knowing what they’re talking about.

This morning on Facebook, Ross Tucker of The Science Of Sport held a chat on The Sports Science Institute’s facebook page in which he answered some readers’ questions and concerns about the change to barefoot. Training modality, the ‘cash cow’ of barefoot running (did you know that apparently there’s going to be a Born to Run movie)? and some other highly interesting bits and piece that provide threads for further research.

Now my thoughts on the ‘barefoot industry’ and its potential for some to make huge amounts of money can wait for another day, but for now you may be interested to look at the Sports Science Institute’s page and look back over some of the posts and their highly detailed answers. Tucker makes a very good impression, and urges all to keep and open mind and not to listen too much to those barefoot evangelists. And my favourite of his answers is below. It’s a response to the question: “Should I start in a Minimalist shoes rather than a Vibram type shoe?” by a chap called Bakimono Hendrix. Tucker says:

 I think that some pure barefoot running is good, because it “forces” you to learn the proper landing and timing sequence. But it’s also riskier, and so my advice is in the first 2 weeks, try pure barefoot, but only because you must run so little. In those first 2 weeks, we’re looking at 3 to 10 minutes of running per session, that’s all. And you can do this in a parking lot, up and down a quiet street with a nice smooth tar surface. Perfect for barefoot running.

By the 3rd or 4th week, you’re probably going to be able to graduate to running further and that’s where you use shoes, more for practical reasons than anything else. I’d say then a pair of Vibrams or minimal shoes is much of a muchness. Preference.

The danger is that in shoes, there is a temptation to ramp up the distance too fast – it’s easy to go from 5 minutes to 30 minutes when you have shoes. When you’re BF (or even in Vibrams), it’s much harder, because your feet hurt! They’re like a handbrake that prevents too much too soon. So you have to be mindful of this, and manage the training increase. But if you’re sensible about it, then you can get away with either.

Obviously, if you go for shoes, then at some stage in future, you’ll have to make another step down (if you want to, of course).

A sensible and intelligent answer that is indicative of the sort of insight and balance Tucker holds. And that’s a credit to him. It’s also the approach I think we should be taking.

Making sensible choices and considered – not overly drastic – changes to running styles our bodies are used to be they ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ just makes sense. While we try to figure out what exactly it is that proprioception and our bodies are telling us, we can at least err on the side of caution and make sure that those messages being sent from our feet at least aren’t of deafening importance, and go untranslated before it’s too late.

—

Another thing that I wanted to mention today was that if you are in the market for a new pair of running shoes, Sports Shoes has some fine discounts at the moment. I’ve ordered myself a pair of minmalist size 13s (all in the name of research), and so I’d recommend having a browse for some healthy savings. I’ve been told price drops will last until stock is gone, so take that as you will!

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Give a little bit...please

Well, it’s 10:40am here in the UK and I’m just back from a run. Just a small one to keep the body ticking over. But this one was slightly different in one way, because before I went out I told myself that I’d go barefoot for the last two minutes.

Unfortunately, although much of where I’m running is on well trodden dirt paths and heath land, the last two minutes of my normal routes always lead back to my place. That means bumpy tarmac and what I previously considered relatively smooth surfaces.

So as I exited the heath, and turned the second to last corner I slowed down, slipped off my runners and my socks, and started (tentatively) padding along the last bit of road before having to throw a left to turn and drop down a hill.

I figured barefoot downhill would allow me to try out the bended-kneee, impact-reducing technique Ken Bob Saxton prefers but…well, I didn’t quite get that far. After about 12 steps my feet started sending signals to my brain of the “ouch!” and “err…what are you doing?” variety, and I realised that my feet are nowhere near ready for such a change just yet.

Yet that change won’t magically occur, and so I decided to stay barefoot and, with my runners in my hands, just walk down the hill quite slowly. At this point inquiring looks met me. Just a few: one from a couple with a pushchair, and another from a girl out cycling with her her family. Then when I got close to my place – a few drivers looked over as they waited for the lights to change. It’s an odd sight in a November SE London for sure, but I’m more interested in how it felt.

At the time the discomfort bordering on pain from running barefoot was obvious. Just a short while later now, my feet are sort of bristling a little, like a chick’s wings might long before flight is perfected. No doubt there are sensors way down there on my souls that have just been rudely woken from over two decades of slumber and aren’t sure what exactly’s going on. And yet it’s not exactly a bad feeling right now.

I’m not heading out again today, so I’ll be treating my feet to my usual barefoot on carpet antics in a warm house, but it’ll be interesting to see how my feet feel tomorrow. What’s encouraging though is that I didn’t feel as though my running style was that bad during the 12 steps I took; more that my feet just weren’t ready to be unshod.

Perhaps this is where minimalist runners come in – the training wheels of true barefooting. Hmm, you know I’ll think on that while I have a shower. And promise my feet that’s all the pounding they’ll get today.

Have a good one.

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Ross Tucker Phd

Yesterday on Twitter I re-tweeted a link to a very interesting article syndicated on the Guardian and written by Ross Tucker of The Science of Sport. The Science of Sport is an interesting website in itself (I’ve added it to the links on the right), but the article rightly highlights the current lack of:

“…conclusive evidence that either proves or disproves the benefits of shoes or barefoot running”.

That’s interesting in itself because I assumed (always a dangerous thing) it had been proved otherwise, but it seems the mass of ‘evidence’ currently available relates to either the knowledge that barefoot running (or running properly in minimalist shoes) reduces the load and impact on landing and foot-strikes…and that all other proof is at best anecdotal.

Yes we can say that less load equals less landing impact and – therefore – less damage results, but until scientific study confirms it, logic can not fill the void and just saying something doesn’t make it true.

Personally, the amount of anecdotal evidence I’ve seen and read suggests to me that there is something to it. Indeed, I wouldn’t have started TBB if I didn’t have a long and hard, rational, think about this evidence beforehand! But it does serve to remember that the race isn’t run between barefoot and running shoes, even if the barefoot movement’s momentum is now unstoppable.

But a mind is best kept open, and I hope to provide that in my view as much as anyone else. Also, crucially, when we’re dealing with people’s health, evangelising isn’t exactly desirable. Reasoned optimism and enthusiasm can be shared while newcomers can feel their own way if inclined.

So, if you have five minutes, read the original post by Tucker here. If you have five minutes more, be sure to check out (and go fullscreen) on his presentation at the end of it. There’s no audio, but it makes for very interesting viewing.

Continue reading »]]> Everything that I come across on the barefoot or minimalist path I take as information and an education. So, when I came across – and I can’t remember how - A Novice’s Account of Barefoot Running. I read it with the eagerness that I did on first picking up Born To Run. Mary LS has dived straight in, and seems to have suffered some pain early on, but finished a 10K in some newly acquired Vibram Five Fingers. That’s impressive.

Perhaps she has an  excellent natural gait, or perhaps she just adapted quickly to her new minimalist footwear. But while I was doing a little bit more digging into running technique and training, I came across a story on the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Guess who it features…yep, the “Barefoot Guru” Chris McDougall.

(He runs so well now he gets everywhere!) But the idea is fascinating. The technique is called the 100 Up, and was originally devised by a chap called Walter S George back in 1874. McDougall came across the exercise devised to improve running technique, and it seems to have something to it.

I’ll be adding this to my training for the London Marathon, and it’s certainly something you should can try at home. The video is below, and the article is here.

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Barefoot Ken Bob (knows barefoot like he does beards)

I won’t bore you with the details of my lack of activity so soon after starting this site, but it’s nice to be back and in the mind of writing again. The marathon specific training hasn’t started in earnest yet (I’ll be following a 16 week plan), but the running has been carrying on, and I’m running 3-4K when I go out now.

Not barefoot; not yet. But having hit the ticker tape at the end of Chris McDougall’s well known Born to Run, I’ve taken up reading The Complete Book of Barefoot Running by (Barefoot) Ken Bob Saxton, and Roy Wallack.

I’m a fifth of the way through, and think I’ll finish the book before I consider trading my – relatively new – Nike Free Runs in for a Minimalist or truly barefoot approach. Mind you the Winter may preclude the latter.

In any case, based upon what I’ve read so far I’d certainly recommend reading it if you want to research before jumping straight into barefoot running. I’m the sort of guy who values the words of seasoned vets in any field, and Barefoot Ken Bob is certainly that.

If you want to find out a bit more about him, head over to his site. Sure it’s not the slickest site on the web (neither is this), but it’s chock full of information and all beginners will benefit from. I’ve added it to my links on the right as well.

As for me, I’m back to researching the barefoot world, developing this site and hoping to keep you up to date on all the tastiest morsels.

Continue reading »]]> As much as this is a site I’ve created, essentially I’ve created it for its audience. There’s no need for me to have fully fledged site if I just want to do a bit of blogging, but there’s every reason if I want to provide a service. And that’s exactly what I want to do.

Hopefully you’re here because you’re interested in beginning barefoot running, or are at least curious about it. With that in mind, while posting the best content I can is always my goal, so is making sure every aspect of this site is as you-friendly as possible.

That’s why I’m glad for your feedback. I was told that the Twitter Lightbox pop-up on the homepage was annoying; it’s gone – replaced with a far more passive follow button at top of page content. I’ve been asked if intend to do a couple of things with the site going forward, and my thoughts are “yes” and “absolutely”. I’ve created a contact page not in the hope of getting people contact me, but with the pure desire that you have a direct line to providing me with feedback. Please continue to. I want this site to be of use to those entering the barefoot community, and perhaps even those currently in that community; and that’s why it’s important you let me know what you think.

I have my own ideas of course. The amount of flexibility this site allows me means I can change things pretty quickly. So if you see some tweaks and modifications going forward, it’s because I think they’ll benefit the site and your experience of it. But my decisions are based heftily on your opinions.

So please let me hear them!