Au Naturel

For all of you not in the running world, you may not know that barefoot running is all the rage right now. Well, not all the rage per say, but getting there. There's definitely a movement, and it's rapidly gaining popularity.

Why would someone do something as ludicrous as run barefoot? Because it's easier on your body and you sustain far fewer injuries over the long-term. You also develop stronger muscles and ligaments and better form. How? Because when you step barefoot, you learn to carry yourself lighter. You don't stomp your feet on the pavement because it hurts too damn much. You also develop a different (and better) way of placing your foot, for comfort, changing your stride and overall form.

Shoes provide a barrier (in the form of thick soles, cushioning, arch support, et cetera) between your feet and the ground. Often, you don't feel pain if you misstep. And since we've worn shoes -- and taken missteps -- our whole lives, that's what feels comfortable to us. As a result, our arches are beyond weak, the muscles and tendons in our feet are pitifully underdeveloped and underutilized, and our form is all sorts of out of whack.

Look at runners in tribal communities throughout the world. Barefoot or with minimal pieces of leather strapped to their soles, those dudes (and dudettes) are FAST. And injury free and able to sustain long distances, the works.

Christopher McDougall's Born to Run is the book that inspires most people to take up barefoot running. I have it, but haven't read it yet. I read an article or two and immediately had my interest piqued. Throw in real-life inspirations Brenna and Michael and I'm chomping at the bit.

I gave it a shot once last summer. It was after I read an article in The New York Times and was all "I have got to do this." There was no mention of easing into it, and although I knew enough to know that launching onto the street cold turkey was perhaps not the best idea, I figured a treadmill would be no sweat. Ha. Ha ha. Ha. Haaaaaaaaaaaa. Ow.

Turns out a treadmill has tread on it. What gives? The little bumps prickled my feet initially, but I pushed through. And then it started hurting. And then it REALLY started hurting. I finally called defeat at the two-mile mark.

The soles of my feet were screaming red and crazy sensitive to the touch. It was painful just shuffling across the carpet. My sister sat there laughing her ass off and telling me what a retard I was. I devised a funny walk on the very outer edges of my feet and figured it'd calm down and feel better by the time I cooled off. Wrong again.

I had multiple blisters on the soles of both feet for days. DAYS. Fat, massive blisters, big enough to dwarf a quarter. Two to three of those suckers on each foot. Do you know how inconvenient it is to have blisters on the soles of your feet? And ohmygod unbelievably painful. I learned that lesson well.

So all this to say I wasn't about to start putzing around with barefoot running in the mere two weeks I had to train for The Relay. And I haven't tried since because I've been waiting to get my hands on a pair of Vibram Five Fingers, or VFFs for short.

VFFs are shoes with minimal soles and zero cushioning meant to simulate the state of being barefoot, but with protection from potentially harmful debris. You can order them online, but review after review says to try them on in person and be properly fitted, as they are very precise in their measurements and don't follow standard shoe sizes. I plan to do so next weekend in Boston, and will report back with a full review in due course.

Anyway. (Almost there, promise.) I always thought VFFs were a way to transition to barefoot running. And then I read this. Looks like even the VFFs take away too much shock from the road, and can lead you to do too much too fast. The point to easing in with bare skin is that you stop when your skin says ouch, also preventing injury to your muscles and ligaments. And so you build your tolerance, both for your skin and your muscles and tendons, incrementally over time.

Which means: It's back to the treadmill. This time, I plan to take it a quarter-mile at a time.