Going barefoot

What can be more childlike than going barefoot?

A lot has happened in the five months since my last post. I recovered from hernia surgery. I speed-walked ten miles in two hours. I speed-walked the ORRC Wildwood Trail Trial 10K in 01:15:04, which is faster than some of the runners. I got my weight down to 201, settled in for several weeks at 205-210, ballooned up to 217 during the holidays, and am back now to 213 which is about where I was nine months ago.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had a heart attack in 2001 (age 44), but I don't think I've talked about the stroke I had in 2008 (age 51). My most recent medical event, a few weeks ago, was one that is not uncommon for someone who has had a stroke in the past. Maybe someday I'll talk more about those things.

I have been trying for years to run like I did in high school. I ran cross-country and distance events then, and training often included running twenty miles in a day. But now I always have to stop running due to pain in some part of my body. I've got Saucony running shoes; not the most expensive you can buy but certainly not cheap. I've been reading the last couple of years about research that links injuries to running shoes. Interestingly, the more technology built into the shoe, the higher the injury rate. There has been a significant increase in interest and participation in "minimalist" running. I have a pair of Vibram Fivefingers that feel more like being barefoot than any shoes I've owned. But even with those I have experienced pain and injury.

I gave up on running, or at least that was my intention. But I didn't stop reading. And I would test myself once in a while, hoping maybe my body would let me enjoy running again. No such luck.

Then I began to hear and read about barefoot running. Not with "barefoot" shoes, but actually running barefoot. I had no idea people were really doing that. We've got more technology and research built into every imaginable shoe, so why would we want to run barefoot? Won't you injure yourself running barefoot, especially on streets? Turns out that more and more people are learning to run barefoot, and their foot injuries are insignificant in comparison to the debilitating injuries of their "shod" peers.

So, I'm taking this giant step back into childhood by joining the ranks of the barefoot runners. I'll try to update this blog as I venture through this latest experiment. For some background, check out Ken Bob Saxton (Barefoot Ken Bob)'s article, 'Just say, “No!” to Transition Footwear! (at least during the transition).' I was fascinated by the number of people that were experiencing the same kind of pain I was when running. If that interests you, follow up with his "How to Run" article. Ken Bob Saxton has also co-authored a new book which can be pre-ordered at "The Complete Book of Barefoot Running: Learn the Scientifically Proven Technique for Improving Your Stride and Reducing Injuries." I also highly recommend Christopher McDougall's book, "Born to Run." It's a fast-paced non-fiction story, sub-titled "A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen." I laughed and cried while reading this book. One of the characters in the book is known as "Barefoot Ted."

Right now I'm practicing standing and walking slowly on sharp gravel. The theory is that if I learn to run barefoot on gravel, then I will be able to run barefoot anywhere. Why run barefoot? Because I hope to experience for myself the joy of running without pain. My shoes have allowed or forced me to run incorrectly, leading to chronic injuries. Our feet were designed by God to let us run without the "help" of heel cushions, arch supports, air pockets, springs, etc. Our feet are literally atrophying in these ever-more-advanced, ever-more-expensive contraptions.

I've got at least three weeks to learn to stand and walk on gravel. It's going to take at least that long for my latest running injury, this time to my Achilles, to heal before I can try running again. In my fantasies I envision myself someday joining the barefooters that have already completed multiple marathons. Or running the first leg of the Hood To Coast relay, one of the longest, steepest descents in any organized running event, and the most difficult of the 36 legs of that relay. Maybe I'll never do either of those things barefoot, but I'll certainly never do them in shoes if I don't learn to run the way our bodies were designed to run. Running barefoot requires that you run properly, and letting your body relearn to run properly takes a long time. Once I have developed a proper running technique I might even be able to use that technique while wearing shoes, as long as the shoes don't have any "helpful" technology or padding built into them.

Feel free to follow along as I take this next step of my growing up into childhood.