Today's running was not in my hometown, but over at my girlfriend's, a suburban town in the centre of the island. I ended up running around the university track, and then walking a fair amount of the way home barefooted.
WOW did my lower calves ache. I see what people mean about not used muscles becoming used again. As for the bottom of my feet, I couldn't hack going round the track for more than one lap with just my bare feet - it's rough, pitted, and full of loose gravel, stones, and there's the occasional area of lumpy concrete. However, just inside the large 0-shaped track is a grassy area with a convenient path through, which was ideal for running the rest, spending my breaks walking slowly along the thin, little wall separating the grass from the track (about half the width of my foot) practising my balance.
- 7 laps (about 3.08km) with 2 short breaks - I estimate it took me a little over 15 minutes to complete this!
So from my last post I thought I'd do some more homework so I can perhaps try to rationalise why barefoot running is enjoyable and seems to provide better performance. As we can see in the below videos, the way most people in trainers run involves taking a long stride with a straight back perpendicular to the ground, landing heel first and then continuing. If we observe barefoot running however, people take shorter strides, landing on the balls of their feet and curving down.
Try pausing throughout this video and you'll see my description is not far off.
Here we can REALLY see the differences put into action with the running styles. Look at just how differently the two move, build aside:
As is explained in this video, we can see a demonstration of how exactly the way you move affects your body. Heel striking is a direct vertical force to your leg, whilst when touching down ball-first the force is diverted. Also, as I mentioned in my first blog post, you feel more tactile response from your feet actually touching the ground as opposed to touching a cushion touching the ground. This allows you to adapt your movement to balance and flow more easily.
A personal benefit I found was a good kind of soreness, 'a pleasant burn' in the lower back of my calves. This I suspect is because they tend to be so little used!
I advise doing your own research and trying it out for yourself. If you aren't at all used to travelling barefoot I then I would advise erring on the side of caution! It's difficult to just make the change like it's nothing. Your movement style needs to shift, and the soles of your feet need to toughen and get used to different terrains. In later posts I will talk about how what I believe good preparation is, but in the mean time I would like to accrue some experience so I can obtain empirical knowledge as well as theoretical.
Concluding thoughts:
I think overall this seems to be doing me good. My form is much better, I am running more distance in less time, and am able to run for a greater amount of time. I don't quite have the iron soles I need to tackle the track yet, but the grass is brilliant. Having said all this, I am dreading waking up tomorrow to sore, aching calf muscles... it's for a good cause, right? :(
Here is the book that has really catapulted barefoot running to the forefront of discussion - Born To Run
I may purchase a thin pair of Roman sandals (possibly furthering the Jesus Christ look) for rougher terrain, but for now me + nothing seem to be working out pretty well.
If you want to know more here's a debate on the subject
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