This morning (at least that’s when it is broadcast here) there was an excellent report on McDougall’s Born to Run
One of the interesting observations is that, while lots of people in Boston seemed taken by the message that barefoot running can be better for you and help you avoid injury, everyone running the Boston Marathon wore shoes. Thankfully, they then noted that it takes time – often a lifetime – to get used to running the way were were engineered.
Really the key to BR is that you need to go very very slow, edging into it. And maybe you need to keep using shoes for anything longer than a mile for awhile, because that is what your feet are used to…
Meanwhile, there was a nice feature about the BR revolution in Charlotte, NC. After some glowing and funny quotes like “it’s a playground for your feet,” it ends on the right note:
“The biggest problem we’re seeing is runners transitioning too quickly from traditional running to barefoot running,” Jones said. “The injuries we are seeing are runners that are doing it too quickly.”
Now, I don’t want to come across like an apologist for BR, that it is the Next Big Thing. I try to steer clear of bandwagons and take things in moderation.
But here is what I believe:
(1) Running should be fun. (Running is Flying, remember?) Difficult at times, strenuous, sure. But still exhilarating and uplifting. (And even a great way to hang out with friends.) And if it was fun and liberating as kids to run around barefooted (or in arch-less shoes – I played four years of basketball in HS in Converse High Tops which have no arch support and never had any foot or leg problems), the same should be true now.
(2) Running should not injure you. It should make you healthier. If you are injured, you should go back to the drawing board and look at what you are doing, when and how, and assess every part of the equation. Just because it is hard, does not need it has to be hard on your body. (One interesting thing about BR is that it does seem to lessen impact on your bones and joints, go figure.)
In the end, I come at this from much the same perspective as Chris McDougall did with his book. I have a similar large frame not normally considered suitable for running (I believe the classification is known as Clydesdale). But I still believe I should be able to run injury free and have fun doing it. And I am going to keep messing around with barefoot (or barefoot plus Vibrams) to see if that is the answer.
Or one of them at least.
All this talk about running makes me want to get out there on the road. But it’s 45 degrees with a heavy rain in Central Vermont right now. Then again, remember how much fun it was to run in the rain when you were a kid…?
