Barefoot Running, Barefoot Running, Barefoot Running

What the fuck?

Just read yet another article about the boogie-man dangers of barefoot/minimalist running.  It was a link from the website of one of the sponsors of my favorite race series on Earth -- the EX2 Adventures Back Yard Burn.

I feel the need to speak because I am sick of the piles of idiocy building up around me regarding this subject. For the record, I run barefoot occasionally and only for short distances.  Everything else, I use Vibram FF.

Here's the deal: Don't run this way if your goal is to exclude injury from your life. Don't run this way if you expect to simply trade equipment, and continue training at the same frequency and pace.  Don't run this way if you are near-sighted and can't see rocks.  Don't run this way if you think it will solve all your problems. Don't run this way because you are some type of luddite who hates modernity and seeks to get closer to the Creator by eschewing technology.

I know that the people adhering to the last category will run barefoot anyway, but I wanted to give them a shout-out because I think they are crazy zealots who miss the point entirely.

This is the point: DO run this way because it is joyful.  Your feet are weightless. The ground feels awesome. Even rocks have their place. It is like getting a foot massage every time you go out.  Nothing feels better than the transition from a hard or rocky surface to the soft bed of pine needles in the fall.  Your toes dig into mud.  Water does not weigh down your feet.  You are silent.  It is sensual.  It is virtually impossible to twist an ankle because there is no leverage for the torque, and you react so quickly on a misstep.

And here is the bitter truth that is behind virtually all injuries attributed to this "fad.":  DON'T train too hard.  If you want to pick up right where you are today, then just stop. You are a fool.  People whom I have encouraged to pick up this hobby have complained about being so sore and limping for up to two weeks when they start.  They might start by doing a mile. That's it. And it hurts. Your feet and legs and everything are NOT CONDITIONED.  Forget distance. Focus on time. When I started I ran for a total of 5 minutes, ONCE A WEEK.  Why? It fucking hurt if I tried more.  That lasted about 6 weeks. Then I went to twice a week.  Then, 10 minutes and 15 and so on. It took a full year and a half to get to the point I could go running whenever I want.  The best conditioning I ever did, and need to continue doing is jumping rope barefoot.

There is literally nothing better on Earth to condition your feet and calves for barefoot running that jumping rope sans shoes.

It bears repeating:   There is literally nothing better on Earth to condition your feet and calves for barefoot running that jumping rope sans shoes.

So for all you shoe-guys out there -- Shut the fuck up.  You don't know what you are talking about.  You can't until you've tried it.  And you can't say you've tried it unless you did it right, and that means taking it slow, absolutely.  The dude who wrote this article in the Boston Globe complained of metatarsal stress fracture when he was already running up to twelve miles after only two months.  He is an idiot, no equivocation there.  Plain, unvarnished dummy.

And for all the luddites: You can shut up too.  Because the whole argument that "if the caveman did it, then it must be right" is totally fucking stupid.  Should we all give up clothes because cavemen were naked?  Should I abandon my dentist?  Try this on for size -- Vibram FF are totally fucking high-tech shoes!  Get back to nature my ass. The whole "but we were born that way" argument is specious. Anatomically and genetically I have the same potential physicality as a Cirque de Soleil contortionist.  But that doesn't mean I can do it. It just means we are both human.

Bottom line: If you are afraid to run without shoes, then don't take them off.  I don't look down on you. But don't look down on me either. We'll both end up in the injury ward at some point, but I am betting that I will have had more fun and sensuous runs that you did.  And you are betting that you could zone out and not pay attention to your footfalls.  You believe shoes care for your feet with avuncular generosity.  I happen to disagree, but whatever -- it's a matter of personal taste, not of right or wrongness.