Barefootin'

Yours truly at the end of a trail run in my Five Fingers shoes.

The Real Running closet is littered with running shoes. I have stability shoes for long runs, trail shoes for off-road shenanigans, racing flats for 10Ks, and my “regular” shoes for everyday training runs. Ok, ok, I have three pairs of those. They come in different colors, what was I supposed to do?

Given my love for buying shoes and other gadgets, it was only a matter of time before I got sucked into the “barefoot shoe” world anyway, but after reading a few articles on the benefits of barefoot running, and once Cap'n Ron started running around in his minimalist shoes, I knew I had to give it a try. So I broke out the Real Running credit card and ordered up some of those popular minimalist shoes where each of your five toes gets its own little place to live.

(Dear company, send me some shoes and I’ll mention them by name).

Why would I want to run barefoot? Good question. Feel free to ask questions.

1. Going barefoot is a big leap of faith when you have been raised in soft, supportive, cool looking shoes. Those shoes, though, have taught us to run incorrectly, or so the argument goes. Modern running shoes encourage heel-striking and are engineered to allow this. When you strike heel first, you are impacting your skeleton with 2 to 3 times your body weight (you are also slowing yourself down and wasting energy, but that’s an issue for another time). This is why running shoes have so much cushion and padding in the heels. Running on the balls of your feet, which you have to do when running barefoot, reduces the impact considerably because the joints and structures of your feet and ankles can flex to absorb the blow.

2. Running barefoot gives you immediate feedback and forces you to stay within your body’s limits. When you start heel-striking while running barefoot, you notice. Supportive shoes may actually let us run faster and farther than we should, and the rest of the body takes a beating.

3. Your skeleton was designed to walk and run barefoot. Granted, it was also meant to walk and run on soft ground and live near the equator, but we can adapt.

4. Most importantly, it’s cool. And let’s face it, that’s what this is all about.

The day my barefoot shoes arrived it was (of course) 33 degrees and snowing in Seattle. I tore open the box, snugged each toe into its little pocket, wiggled them around a bit, and took off out the door.

The best thing about running in minimalist shoes is that you really do feel everything, and you have to pay attention to where your feet are hitting the ground. This is also the worst thing about them. I never knew how much broken glass was on the shoulder of my street before. How does that get there? I also found 15 cents on my first barefoot run. Free money! This barefoot thing is going to pay for itself.

Those little pebbles that get stuck in the treads of your other shoes? They like to poke you right in the middle of your foot. Avoid those. Giant beds of nails? Avoid those. Half frozen slushy puddles? Your call, but I’d avoid them.

Steep downhills? Avoid those too, for a while. It’s almost impossible not to pound your heels on those. For your first couple of runs, find a nice flat or slightly uphill route.

And please, trust me on this one, too: take it easy your first few times out. If you aren’t already running off the balls of your feet, your calves are going to take a beating at first. All of the shock that your shins, knees, and hips have been absorbing over the years is transferring right to your calves. In the long run, this is better for you since the muscle can take it. But the days after your first few barefoot runs, your calves are going to be a little angry with you. Stretch them out, give them some love, and you’ll be fine.

Of course, given the ebb and flow of medical research and educated opinions, we’re probably going to learn that running barefoot causes cancer. But for now, it all seems pretty good.

Check out some of the variants of "barefoot" shoes out there:

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/index.htm 
http://www.merrell.com/US/en/Barefoot 
http://www.terraplana.com/mens.html/

Hitting the Trail

On the Trails Above Missoula, Montana

For the past several years I have been lacing up the shoes and plodding my way across thousands of miles of pavement, building up a training base and getting into shape for a few marathons here and there. At best those runs went fine and I felt strong and fast. I occasionally got into a nice zone where the miles clicked by effortlessly. Often, the only joy I got from those miles was getting home and seeing the pace, the splits, and the mileage totals as my running improved.

But I wasn’t having much fun. I enjoyed running, but when asked how a run went, I had a pretty small range of responses that went from “Fine” to “Good.” Rarely, if ever, did I come home and report that I had a great time.

And the few times I did? I had been running trails. On a trip to visit family in Montana, I stumbled upon miles and miles of single-track trails winding through the mountains around Missoula. My planned four mile run turned into fifteen and I was several hours late for lunch. I had a blast and it made the discomfort of missing family lunch worth it (I also fell asleep at the dinner table later, but that’s another story).

The Last Time Those Shoes were White. Malibu, California

Recently in Southern California, I asked a friend for a running route for a quick afternoon run. He pointed my up into the mountains in Topanga Canyon. I managed  to get lost several times, trip and fall, and run out of water, all the while worried about the mountain cats I know live in those canyons. But I was rewarded with a view of Los Angeles that I definitely will never forget. Barely a half-marathon away from one of the most congested cities on the continent, and I was alone and running like a wild man.

Lately, I’ve been logging most of my miles on dirt trails, and the joy of running is back. I still do a fair bit of pavement pounding, but running through the woods is quickly becoming the running I look forward to most.

Why hadn’t I been running trails here at home? The I-5 corridor between Bellingham and Portland is packed with mountain trails, old rail beds, logging roads, and parks. A quick drive east and the Cascade Mountains await, with an endless network of trails that can be explored.

Even near the city there are trail running options. If you can drive to meet your friends at the mermaid-logo coffee store and head off to run the sidewalks of your neighborhood, you can drive to a park that has miles of trails to be explored.

Splashing through mud puddles and crashing through underbrush doesn’t sound appealing to you? Ok, I can see that. But trail running has a lot more to recommend it than that. Namely, trail running is better for you than running on pavement.

The surfaces are softer, so the impact on joints and bones is reduced. The running motion is more varied and dynamic, so you are using more of your muscle groups as you run. And usually the terrain is steeper and more technical, so you are climbing and descending a lot more than on the streets, building up those muscles and stamina as well. After a few weeks on the trails, your street running will seem positively easy in comparison.

But making the move from asphalt, concrete, stoplights, and car horns to dirt, mud, tree branches, and solitude isn’t easy. As always, I’m here to help. Here is the barest of bare-bones guides to getting started off road.

Trail shoes will become important. But you don’t need to drop $150 bucks on a new pair just yet. Dig out some shoes with some tread left on them and that you don’t mind getting dirty. They’ll do for now. Eventually you will want to upgrade to something designed for the dirt.

There aren’t a lot of drinking fountains in the woods. And you don’t want to drink from that stream. Handheld bottles are the way to go. Hydration packs work, too, but save them for really long runs when you need the extra fluids. Avoid water belts as they tend to get snagged on vines and branches.

Leave the music at home. You want to hear the mountain bikers bearing down on you.

Running alone in the woods? Maybe consider a map? Maybe you want to carry your cell phone? Better yet, run with friends. It’s always better with friends, and you don’t have to carry them in your pocket.

This column appears in the March 2011 edition of Northwest Runner Magazine