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.