I walk barefoot and I frequently get comments like 'Oh, that must be cold!' and 'Oh, that must hurt!'. No, if I were cold or if it hurt, I wouldn't do it, d'uh! Also, if you looked any further at all, you'd see that I am not tense and shivering, and that I step confidently instead of tenderly picking my way. On Twitter there are also often comments about how it must be cold when people see a person walking or running barefoot, or even, now it's winter, in sandals or slippers. Why? What's with people to make them assume that just because *they* are easily chilled everyone else must be too? Why think that if we were cold, we would not have worn warm, closed shoes? Why, even, call us crazy idiots?
If I see someone do something different, I start with the assumption that people are *NOT* crazy. If I see someone with stiletto heels or 3" platforms, my first thought is that they've learned to walk on those stilts, and I'll keep that thought unless and until I clearly see them stumbling and tripping. If I see someone wearing a mini-skirt or shorts in winter, I assume they've got high metabolism and are not cold, unless and until I see them shiver or hear them complain. I could list a dozen more examples, not limited to footwear or clothing either, but it all comes down to the same thing. Different doesn't have to be stupid or dumb or uncomfortable. Different strokes, different folks. I wish more people would give others the benefit of the doubt, just because it's your way and perhaps the way of the majority of the people, that doesn't mean it's the only way. Next time you see something different, don't be so self-centered and look further before you flap out your comment. Thank you :)
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Barefoot running & minimalist shoes.
I have recently read a few articles from concerned doctors about barefoot & minimalist running. They are seeing quite a few injuries in barefoot runners, which they didn't before the 'hype'. Well first of all barefoot & minimalist running is on the rise, and even those who believe it's healthy don't claim it's some magical way to run so you'll never be injured, ever. So naturally, more barefoot runners will mean more will get injured. But also, I think that they mistakenly lump barefoot & minimalist running together. Minimalist footwear is NOT a good thing when you're just starting out.
When you start to run barefoot, feedback from your soles is *extremely* important. Most obviously, during the transition period, your soles tell you when to stop before muscles and especially tendons and joints do. People are impatient, no matter how many articles caution to 'start slowly', many people start with 15, 20, 30 minutes. I guess that may sound like 'starting slowly' when you're a long-distance runner in shoes, but it's not. If you're not used to going barefoot at all, if you're one of those people who puts on shoes first thing in the morning and takes them off only sitting on your bed at night, maybe you have to start with one minute. Or even with walking barefoot more before running. Take your time, I mean *really* take your time.
But that's not all. More importantly, fully bare soles help you to get your running form right. I was a regular barefoot walker already, but even so I made the mistake thinking 'running = faster so I should push off and take long steps'. I got a blister right behind my first & second toe on one of my very first runs (when I was just running a few minutes). So, I looked up what I was doing wrong, found that in running barefoot you have to take shorter, quicker steps, and let yourself 'fall' forward (with the hips, not the upper body) rather than pushing off for those long, reaching strides. Problem solved and the next run was light and easy. Had I worn some minimalist shoe/footglove, I would not have noticed that I was pushing off too much and taking those long strides (also causing me to land with more impact), and either I'd still be doing it three months down the road, or quite likely by this time I, too, would've the kind of overuse injury that those doctors are treating.
I'm active in several barefoot mailing groups, forums, and search barefoot-related terms on Twitter, and I was not an exception. Many people who start running *really* barefoot ask advise early on based on very minor things like a blister or hot-spot, many who start in minimalist shoes are starting off too quickly and/or run into more serious problems later on & post about worse things.
For the same reason, especially when you're starting and still need to get your form right, make sure to run at least part of the time on pavement. It may seem counter-intuitive to run on these hard surfaces, especially when your feet are still tender, but even fully bare, if you run only on soft grass and sand, you won't notice form faults. When you're running correctly, you can run on pavement without jolts and shocks, and without abrading your skin. If you feel you're still jarring your body too much or getting sore soles very quickly, STOP running, go home, look up some good barefoot-running pages (I like http://therunningbarefoot.com ), find what you were doing wrong, and then go back to try again. If you find a softer surface (or never venture onto the pavement at all), again, you won't discover what you're doing wrong, won't be able to correct it, and in time even on the softer surface, the constant jarring may easily cause some overuse injury. I like the forest trail better than the pavement not for my feet but because I prefer nature and bird song sounds so much more than passing cars. But I do often include a stretch of pavement in my runs so I can feel if I'm still running lightly enough and no form faults have slipped in.
Now before I get all kinds of minimalist-shoe enthusiasts on my case (or the companies making them :)), these shoes can have their use. They can be useful in cold weather, if you live in some place with lots of broken glass and dirt, if you run after dark and you don't like running fully barefoot when you can't see hazards, to wear at places like work where shoes may be required, etc. But I firmly believe you should NOT START in them. If it's too cold find an indoor track, if your local roads are too littered then drive to some nicer area, and instead of running in the dark find time to run in daylight hours, at least for the transition period. Now as a long-time full barefooter I wouldn't be surprised if soon you'll find your feet have toughened enough that you won't need the minimalist footwear nearly as much as you thought you would, but hey, if you do still feel more secure in them *after* the transition period, then that's fine. Just don't start that way. Don't. Really.
When you start to run barefoot, feedback from your soles is *extremely* important. Most obviously, during the transition period, your soles tell you when to stop before muscles and especially tendons and joints do. People are impatient, no matter how many articles caution to 'start slowly', many people start with 15, 20, 30 minutes. I guess that may sound like 'starting slowly' when you're a long-distance runner in shoes, but it's not. If you're not used to going barefoot at all, if you're one of those people who puts on shoes first thing in the morning and takes them off only sitting on your bed at night, maybe you have to start with one minute. Or even with walking barefoot more before running. Take your time, I mean *really* take your time.
But that's not all. More importantly, fully bare soles help you to get your running form right. I was a regular barefoot walker already, but even so I made the mistake thinking 'running = faster so I should push off and take long steps'. I got a blister right behind my first & second toe on one of my very first runs (when I was just running a few minutes). So, I looked up what I was doing wrong, found that in running barefoot you have to take shorter, quicker steps, and let yourself 'fall' forward (with the hips, not the upper body) rather than pushing off for those long, reaching strides. Problem solved and the next run was light and easy. Had I worn some minimalist shoe/footglove, I would not have noticed that I was pushing off too much and taking those long strides (also causing me to land with more impact), and either I'd still be doing it three months down the road, or quite likely by this time I, too, would've the kind of overuse injury that those doctors are treating.
I'm active in several barefoot mailing groups, forums, and search barefoot-related terms on Twitter, and I was not an exception. Many people who start running *really* barefoot ask advise early on based on very minor things like a blister or hot-spot, many who start in minimalist shoes are starting off too quickly and/or run into more serious problems later on & post about worse things.
For the same reason, especially when you're starting and still need to get your form right, make sure to run at least part of the time on pavement. It may seem counter-intuitive to run on these hard surfaces, especially when your feet are still tender, but even fully bare, if you run only on soft grass and sand, you won't notice form faults. When you're running correctly, you can run on pavement without jolts and shocks, and without abrading your skin. If you feel you're still jarring your body too much or getting sore soles very quickly, STOP running, go home, look up some good barefoot-running pages (I like http://therunningbarefoot.com ), find what you were doing wrong, and then go back to try again. If you find a softer surface (or never venture onto the pavement at all), again, you won't discover what you're doing wrong, won't be able to correct it, and in time even on the softer surface, the constant jarring may easily cause some overuse injury. I like the forest trail better than the pavement not for my feet but because I prefer nature and bird song sounds so much more than passing cars. But I do often include a stretch of pavement in my runs so I can feel if I'm still running lightly enough and no form faults have slipped in.
Now before I get all kinds of minimalist-shoe enthusiasts on my case (or the companies making them :)), these shoes can have their use. They can be useful in cold weather, if you live in some place with lots of broken glass and dirt, if you run after dark and you don't like running fully barefoot when you can't see hazards, to wear at places like work where shoes may be required, etc. But I firmly believe you should NOT START in them. If it's too cold find an indoor track, if your local roads are too littered then drive to some nicer area, and instead of running in the dark find time to run in daylight hours, at least for the transition period. Now as a long-time full barefooter I wouldn't be surprised if soon you'll find your feet have toughened enough that you won't need the minimalist footwear nearly as much as you thought you would, but hey, if you do still feel more secure in them *after* the transition period, then that's fine. Just don't start that way. Don't. Really.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
One Day Without Shoes -a barefooter's opinion.
April 8, 2010, TOMS Shoes is holding its third annual 'One Day Without Shoes' campaign, to 'experience what millions of children endure every day'. They give a pair of shoes to a child in a third world country for every pair of shoes they sell.
Now I have gone barefoot by choice for fourteen years, and I am very happy with healthy, strong feet. I can tell you that going barefoot for a single day when you've spent a lifetime in shoes is NOT anywhere NEAR experiencing 'what children have to endure'. YOUR feet are going to be extremely tender and soft, you're going to wince at every pebble, shy away from every rose bush or thistle you spot, you'll probably get cold toes. You may even get sore calves because you walk differently from what you're used to. But THEIR feet are tough, calloused and leathery, they can handle much larger rocks without noticing them, they are only occasionally bothered by particularly nasty thorns. Many of them live in warmer climates, and they won't get sore calves because their calves are used to walking that way. I walk across broken glass, have cleared out thick bramble bushes wearing gloves but no shoes, have dug up parts of the garden using a regular shovel, been on hikes and recently taken up running, all without any trouble. In fourteen years, I have never yet had a cut, and even (glass)splinters and thorns happen only very rarely and leave no sores when they're picked out. When you're habitually barefoot, your feet get MUCH stronger than people who regularly wear shoes can even begin to imagine (it surprised me too, although I never thought that going barefoot was extremely painful or I wouldn't have started doing it).
Now don't get me wrong, in an ideal world going barefoot should be a choice, not necessity. I would like every child and adult to *own* shoes so they could wear them if and when they wanted. However, this isn't an ideal world and the children this 'shoe charity' is trying to reach lack MANY things that you and I consider 'necessities'. And in that case, I strongly believe footwear is not on top of the list of priorities to give to them. Apart from the fact that their feet are pretty tough, let's take a look at the list of facts from the charity's website.
Fact 1: In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to food, clean water and to seek medical help..'
And those shoes are going to last how long if they have to walk those many miles every day? Think of how long your kids' shoes last, and they don't walk a fraction of what these kids do. Wouldn't it make more sense to provide them with a well, starting equipment for farming, animals for raising, and more medicine? What's even better, the entire village benefits from that, not just the children.
Fact 2 is 'Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.'
Blisters from worn-out and out-grown shoes can also lead to serious infection. At least as bad or even worse, as blisters are known to be prone to infections, and the bacteria growing in old, smelly sneakers are of a particularly nasty kind too. Oh, about those nasty bacteria that live in closed shoes... do you think they'll wear these shoes with socks, and how often are they going to wash those? Old, sweaty shoes worn without socks (or with crusty, dirty ones) are worse than most of the things they step in barefoot!
And related to this, how much choice are these children going to have, are they going to be fitted correctly & how often are they going to get a new pair? Ill-fitting shoes are worse than no shoes, if they walk on shoes too small for them that's not going to do their feet any good! Apart from the obvious blisters (and possibly infections), here is an article showing that even in our Western world, many children walk on shoes a bit too small for them and it's causing foot damage like Hallux Valgus: http://newsblaze.com/story/2009031807190200001.tf/topstory.html So if that happens here, where we have shoe stores in every town, then what do you think is going to happen when you give a single pair of shoes to a third-world kid? Is anyone going to keep up with them, checking their shoes often enough and providing them with a new pair if they've outgrown them?
Fact 3 'Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.'
This may be the case in some places, but I know from various sources I trust that in many places in Africa and Asia kids are allowed to attend school barefoot. The teachers, when asked what was needed most, answered 'pencils, paper, books...' Sometimes more general things like food and safe water were named. Shoes were NOT mentioned to ANY ONE of the people who have visited third world schools & whom I know personally. I am sure some schools require footwear but I would replace the word 'often' with 'occasionally', and in general concentrate on school supplies when donating for the children's education.
Fact #4: 'In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.'
Fact #5: 'Podoconiosis is 100% preventable by wearing shoes.'
Okay, in some areas/circumstances shoes are higher on the list of priorities, if the donations are going there I support them. Same as to cold climates where children are kept from going to school in winter months without footwear and warm clothing! But send them there and concentrate on more important things elsewhere. If they concentrate on such areas, I also think it's more likely TOMS can keep the donations frequent and prevent the problems I named above, caused by outgrown and worn-out footwear.
I will go barefoot April 8 (as I do any other day) and ask people to donate to groups who help people in small villages with wells, farm equipment and animals, and medicine. Suggested charities:
Water/wells:
http://www.charitywater.org/
http://www.letsbuildwells.org/
Mosquito nets:
http://www.nothingbutnets.net
Livestock:
http://www.maasai-association.org/goat.html
http://www.sendacow.org.uk/
http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.204586/
Many, many items to chose from:
http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10389
(note how this last organization has a *huge* list of different things to give, including clothing... yet I don't see shoes mentioned specifically. Hm, wonder if this is an oversight or maybe a large charity organization might have more of an idea what is needed than TOMS? ;-))
Now I have gone barefoot by choice for fourteen years, and I am very happy with healthy, strong feet. I can tell you that going barefoot for a single day when you've spent a lifetime in shoes is NOT anywhere NEAR experiencing 'what children have to endure'. YOUR feet are going to be extremely tender and soft, you're going to wince at every pebble, shy away from every rose bush or thistle you spot, you'll probably get cold toes. You may even get sore calves because you walk differently from what you're used to. But THEIR feet are tough, calloused and leathery, they can handle much larger rocks without noticing them, they are only occasionally bothered by particularly nasty thorns. Many of them live in warmer climates, and they won't get sore calves because their calves are used to walking that way. I walk across broken glass, have cleared out thick bramble bushes wearing gloves but no shoes, have dug up parts of the garden using a regular shovel, been on hikes and recently taken up running, all without any trouble. In fourteen years, I have never yet had a cut, and even (glass)splinters and thorns happen only very rarely and leave no sores when they're picked out. When you're habitually barefoot, your feet get MUCH stronger than people who regularly wear shoes can even begin to imagine (it surprised me too, although I never thought that going barefoot was extremely painful or I wouldn't have started doing it).
Now don't get me wrong, in an ideal world going barefoot should be a choice, not necessity. I would like every child and adult to *own* shoes so they could wear them if and when they wanted. However, this isn't an ideal world and the children this 'shoe charity' is trying to reach lack MANY things that you and I consider 'necessities'. And in that case, I strongly believe footwear is not on top of the list of priorities to give to them. Apart from the fact that their feet are pretty tough, let's take a look at the list of facts from the charity's website.
Fact 1: In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to food, clean water and to seek medical help..'
And those shoes are going to last how long if they have to walk those many miles every day? Think of how long your kids' shoes last, and they don't walk a fraction of what these kids do. Wouldn't it make more sense to provide them with a well, starting equipment for farming, animals for raising, and more medicine? What's even better, the entire village benefits from that, not just the children.
Fact 2 is 'Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.'
Blisters from worn-out and out-grown shoes can also lead to serious infection. At least as bad or even worse, as blisters are known to be prone to infections, and the bacteria growing in old, smelly sneakers are of a particularly nasty kind too. Oh, about those nasty bacteria that live in closed shoes... do you think they'll wear these shoes with socks, and how often are they going to wash those? Old, sweaty shoes worn without socks (or with crusty, dirty ones) are worse than most of the things they step in barefoot!
And related to this, how much choice are these children going to have, are they going to be fitted correctly & how often are they going to get a new pair? Ill-fitting shoes are worse than no shoes, if they walk on shoes too small for them that's not going to do their feet any good! Apart from the obvious blisters (and possibly infections), here is an article showing that even in our Western world, many children walk on shoes a bit too small for them and it's causing foot damage like Hallux Valgus: http://newsblaze.com/story/2009031807190200001.tf/topstory.html So if that happens here, where we have shoe stores in every town, then what do you think is going to happen when you give a single pair of shoes to a third-world kid? Is anyone going to keep up with them, checking their shoes often enough and providing them with a new pair if they've outgrown them?
Fact 3 'Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.'
This may be the case in some places, but I know from various sources I trust that in many places in Africa and Asia kids are allowed to attend school barefoot. The teachers, when asked what was needed most, answered 'pencils, paper, books...' Sometimes more general things like food and safe water were named. Shoes were NOT mentioned to ANY ONE of the people who have visited third world schools & whom I know personally. I am sure some schools require footwear but I would replace the word 'often' with 'occasionally', and in general concentrate on school supplies when donating for the children's education.
Fact #4: 'In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.'
Fact #5: 'Podoconiosis is 100% preventable by wearing shoes.'
Okay, in some areas/circumstances shoes are higher on the list of priorities, if the donations are going there I support them. Same as to cold climates where children are kept from going to school in winter months without footwear and warm clothing! But send them there and concentrate on more important things elsewhere. If they concentrate on such areas, I also think it's more likely TOMS can keep the donations frequent and prevent the problems I named above, caused by outgrown and worn-out footwear.
I will go barefoot April 8 (as I do any other day) and ask people to donate to groups who help people in small villages with wells, farm equipment and animals, and medicine. Suggested charities:
Water/wells:
http://www.charitywater.org/
http://www.letsbuildwells.org/
Mosquito nets:
http://www.nothingbutnets.net
Livestock:
http://www.maasai-association.org/goat.html
http://www.sendacow.org.uk/
http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.204586/
Many, many items to chose from:
http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10389
(note how this last organization has a *huge* list of different things to give, including clothing... yet I don't see shoes mentioned specifically. Hm, wonder if this is an oversight or maybe a large charity organization might have more of an idea what is needed than TOMS? ;-))
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)