Tag Archives: Born to Run

Barefoot Running – My Experiments

It is ten years since I first wore a minimalist footwear for running. My decision to try one was largely due to frustrations with three pairs of shoes that I used until then. This was in 2011 and there were not any running-focused footwear shops in India; and the regular stores rarely stocked shoes for variations in width or contours of the foot. It was around the same time that the barefoot running was a hot topic in many running forums and was gaining the status of a cult movement. I rarely got affected by those discussions and was not even tempted to read ‘Born to Run’. It was only in 2019 when I finally read the book and realised that it was more than about running barefoot. Going back to shoes was, and still is, an option that I retain with me. After running Comrades in 2012 in the minimalist shoes, I was rarely tempted to go back.

Over the last decade, they have become an integral part in my running and I would like to reflect on the role played by them. Two caveats here – 1. What is applicable for barefoot running can be applied for running in general; and 2. I am still a ‘learner’ as I continue to learn the art of running. I am ever willing to correct if new evidences appear or I discover something new about myself.

Why Barefoot Running?

It is easier to run barefoot than to find out why to run barefoot. There is no conclusive evidence that it helps in running any faster or any longer. It can also be dangerous due to presence of sharp objects on the roads and trails. In terms of experience, it can be exhilaration at its best and excruciating at its worst; and one may experience anywhere in this wide spectrum.

Unlearn and Re-learn

The simplest approach to barefoot running is to start all over from the basics. The beginner mindset certainly helps in unlearning some of mistakes that we commonly do. Think you are running for the first time and do what you did when you started (without the mistakes of the past).

Aligning Body and Mind

A statement like, ‘you don’t run with legs alone’, makes running sound meta-physical and takes arguments into the realms of philosophy. Ignoring the factual accuracy, barefoot running is certainly more than removing the protection from the foot. While running by itself is about sacrificing some comforts of life, barefoot running forces the runner to take up additional challenges. The main challenge in barefoot running giving up the comfort from cushioning in shoes, which requires changes at multiple levels. 

The shock-absorption provided by shoes has to be transferred to ankles, knees, and hips. It requires extra care while landing and being conscious of the impact on different parts of the body. Landing entirely on the heel would have worse impact than running on shoes. It also requires to be more mindful while running to avoid sharp objects as well as stumbling over uneven surfaces. 

Over the years, I have learned to focus on my running posture, especially the upper body – reducing the slouch, opening up shoulders, and swinging arms better. A good running form should result in understanding the role of thighs, hips, core muscles, shoulders, arms, and sometimes, even the neck during your runs. It is a slow ongoing process and the only way to learn is by trying again and again.

One exercise that I found beneficial to help me focus and improve my running form was 100-Up. Chris made a reference to it in his article in New York Times.

Breathing

While aligning the body and mind, it is important to focus on breathing. Just like running, breathing is another area where we can constantly keep improving and it gets better with each effort. My first education in breathing was from Venu ‘Sir’. He advised me to focus on exhaling well rather than inhaling; as the lungs shrink more, they automatically expand to inhale more air. Attending Yoga sessions also helped me to learn deep breathing and use them during long runs.

Stretch and Strengthen

Regular stretching has certainly helped in a long way. Also, stretching need not be limited to pre and post runs. It can be done all through the day with adequate caution. There are no specific stretches that I would recommend but would suggest to keep stretches gentle. Core strengthening is an area that I am yet to explore in depth. Overall, a better understanding of the musculoskeletal system is of great benefit.

Impact of Body Weight

While I detest discussions on body weight and the obsession of ‘reducing’ body weight, it is important to understand the role of body weight on running. There are many reasons other than running or lack of it that affect one’s body weight. I have preferred to adjust my tempo and distance according to the changes in body weight.

Cross Training

Regular cycling has certainly helped me to recover well from my long runs. Cycling is certainly a great way to relax more than just training. Long walks is yet another way to recover from long runs.

Setting Modest Targets

I have not pursued any aggressive targets or challenge myself to do something simply because of external pressure. While this is also due to natural ageing process of my body, barefoot running helped me to be extra-cautious on this front. It is more about running naturally, understanding limitations, and never to push too hard. While running has helped me to go beyond my limits, it happened naturally with time than in a forced manner.

Changes Outside Running

The major change, outside my running, is overhauling my entire range of footwear – from casual slippers to formal shoes. I moved out of heavily cushioned footwear or even heavier footwear. I prefer flatter shoes with minimum cushioning for my regular use.

An Education

Barefoot running is an education in itself and each will have their own phases of learning. Progression in running is not about running fast or longer; it is about pursuing it with joy everyday. Unless some one runs to earn their livelihood, I do not see the need to get stressed on time or distance.

Think of barefoot running as an art rather than a ‘rocket science’ with all complexities. Run as you would like and use it as an opportunity to express yourself. It should not be seen as an end by itself – but a means to an end, which is to enjoy running and stay injury free. Should barefoot running interfere with either of the two objectives, it is best to choose the shoes that fits the best.

Born to Run – Counterview and Middle Ground

“There are very few things that are known with absolute certainty, and when you’re dealing with incredibly complex human physiology, the individual differences that make us who we are, what we’re good at, how we run and what we eat, for example, are so vast and complex that nothing can be polarized without being wrong!”

– Prof. Ross Tucker

The arrival of ‘Born to Run’ was a seminal moment – back then, if not later – simply because it questioned the status quo. For any runner, shoes (and socks) form the major part of their expenditure, or investment, in their pursuit of running. Here was Chris suggesting that we are better off in not making that expenditure. With the footwear companies already engaging in a ‘war’ with each other on different fronts through their marketing departments, ‘barefoot running’ looked like a refreshing new entrant in the war. It was a classic underdog against the top dogs, rather ‘Shoe Dogs’. To extrapolate, a public voluntary movement against corporate behemoths – Who doesn’t like such a story!

In the course of time, the barefoot running movement became a kind of religious movement and it wasn’t surprising when some of my friends added the prefix ‘Barefoot’ to their names. Such passionate debates inevitably invokes strong opinions filled with emotions, leading to polarisation of thought process. The shoe industry was accused of being unethical in their research and insincere in their marketing efforts. While Chris presented substantiative research to support his case, nothing can be ever definitive when it comes to human physiology. .

The Vibram case

A major jolt to the barefoot movement happened in 2012, when a runner filed a class action suit against Vibram USA, maker of the famous FiveFingers running shoes. The runner claimed that Vibram USA,

“deceived consumers by advertising that the footwear could reduce foot injuries and strengthen foot muscles, without basing those assertions on any scientific merit.”

It was reported that Vibram USA had agreed to settle her claims, following which over 150,000 claims were filed till November 2014. The case was pending final court approval back then and nothing has been heard since. In the process, Vibram also took back their claim that Five Fingers shoe “is effective in strengthening muscles or reducing injury in its marketing and advertising campaigns” till they discover any scientific evidence for the same. The heated debates across various running forums and magazines took a breather and the arguments ended inconclusive.

While it didn’t disprove Chris’ hypothesis that shoes cause injuries, it was now agreed that barefoot running can also cause injuries.

The Need to Learn

Following the case and complaints, the two of the major manufacturers of ‘barefoot footwear’ – Vibrams and Vivo Barefoot – started ‘educating’ customers on how to transition to barefoot running.

Although, we are naturally born to run, we don’t run all our lives. Most recreational runners start running much later in their life or after a long hiatus, during which their body would have undergone significant changes. Such changes cannot be undone overnight. Hence, barefoot running can no longer be considered as a natural way of running for most adults.

New World Records

The third hypothesis of Chris that runners can run longer or faster without shoes could never be proved. What happened over the past decade were actually contrary to his claims. World’s best timings in marathon and half-marathon have been repeatedly broken by runners wearing shoes. More recently, Nike’s introduction of Vaporfly shoes was used by Eluid Kipchoge to break the 2-hour mark in the marathon; and subsequently set best timings in marathon and half-marathon. The soles of these shoes thickness measured a whooping 4 cm! In Ultra marathons, Hoka Shoes, also with thicker soles, became popular. 

Balanced Views

Around this time, Prof. Ross Tucker, a renowned sports scientist, published series of articles on barefoot running. He approached the subject in a more objective manner without being dragged into either of the camps. In summary,

1. Barefoot running is a skill by itself and like any other skill, the adaptation to the skill differs from person to person. 

2. Barefoot running can help all runners, if undertaken separately as a fitness routine, for it activates muscles and tendons that doesn’t function when we run in shoes. 

3. There is no conclusive evidence to either prove or disprove the benefits of running barefoot, including injury free running. If runners continue running with their heel striking first, the damage caused by barefoot running is more than the damage caused by running in shoes. 

4. It may not help high performance runners – runners with targets to clock high mileage or faster times. Such runners, when they attempt to do something beyond their physical abilities, need assistance from shoes.

The Middle Ground

The setbacks certainly halted the ‘barefoot movement’ but did didn’t end it entirely. In 2013, Scott Douglas, who wrote the ‘Runner’s World Complete Guide to Minimalism and Barefoot Running’ credited the movement for driving the message of ‘shoes serving the runner, rather than the other way around.’ In the article, ‘Minimalism in The Long Run’, he explains on how the barefoot movement paved way for a middle ground in minimalistic footwear. Every shoe manufacturer started introducing minimalist version of running shoes, incorporating features like reduced thickness in soles, and a more ‘flatter shoes’ with lower heel-to-toe drop. The desirable features of ‘barefoot running’ like zero heel-to-toe drop, lighter shoes, avoiding motion control in soles were incorporated in the newer versions of the shoes. To position themselves better, they also added the thin layer of cushion that runners desired and was missing in the barefoot shoes. 

Chris also seems to have settled down on the debate. He now focuses on ‘running gently’ rather than barefoot running as his website currently states,

“the debate isn’t about Bare Soles vs. Shoes. It’s about learning to run gently. Master that, and you can wear — or not wear — anything you please”

Part 6 – The Barefoot Experiment

I surely know the hundred petals of a lotus will not remain closed for ever and the secret recess of its honey will be bared.

Running is a simple sport; But the choice of a good running shoe isn’t. The choice of appropriate running shoes is a hot topic of discussion, both on the run as well as off the run in various Internet discussion forums, blog posts, articles from running magazines, and others. There are plenty of published peer- reviewed research work too. The conclusion, in most instances, have been not to conclude the discussion, and let each runner to find a solution for themselves. To add to the complexity, discussions on ‘to bare or not to bare your feet’ brought in some old perspectives in modern style. I would call it the arrival of ‘new caste’ in the religion of running’ – they are the “Barefoot Runners” – those who shun their shoes entirely or opt for one of those minimalist shoes. A famous Indian model who once controversially posed only with shoes started running barefoot (thankfully with other parts of the body covered though) and soon, many onlookers got attracted. Barefoot running sounded a bit exciting, and I too got curious to experiment with the minimalist shoes. In June 2011, my sister brought me one of those minimalist shoes (she has subsequently gifted me three more pairs of the same!). My initial attempts in running in those shoes were exciting as well as painful. While the short runs gave excitement, the longer ones were painful. I continued with my old shoes for the Hyderabad Marathon in August 2011 and Colombo marathon in October 2011. In November 2011, Christopher McDougall, author of the book ‘Born to Run,’ wrote an excellent piece for The New York Times entitled ‘The Once and Future Way to Run.’ I strongly recommend his TEDx talk.

The article narrated the experiences of people running in the minimalist shoes. He also explains through wonderful illustrations on how to run barefeet and the importance of front-foot landing. It increased my confidence in taking up ‘barefoot running’ to longer distances. I ran with the minimalist shoes for a distance of half-marathon and couple of 30K runs during my preparation for the 2nd edition of Shahid Ultra, held in December 2011. I could find some encouraging benefits – it weighed lighter, the recovery was better, and I could maintain a steady rhythm. However, the pain in the calf-muscle was still unbearable. Also, I wasn’t sure if I can hold the pain for distances upto 50K.

The 2nd edition of Shahid Ultra was held on 11th December 2011 and this time around, Shahid ensured that the distance was definitely a 50K. The weather was bad and the humidity levels sapped out the energy. A horrific accident on the ECR involving motor-bikers with scenes of blood and flesh on the road added to the nausea. At the 5-hour mark, I wanted to quit my run. Shahid encouraged and pushed me to finish the 42.195K, which we completed in 5 hours 30 minutes. We then decided that we will hold on for another 30 minutes, and with further encouragement from Shankar Lal (it was actually a misguidance), I managed to finish the run in 6 hours 40 minutes.

With minimalist shoes, the pain in the calf-muscles sets in early. It normally sustains over the distance and is usually bearable till a certain distance (which varies from runners). In case of conventional shoes, one always has an option to start landing on their heels. Minimalist shoes makes that difficult and the walk breaks are equally painful. Running beyond that threshold limit becomes challenging. On that day, 35K was the limit and every Kilometer beyond that was a huge challenge. In addition, poor sizing issues turned my toe nail black. At the end of the event, I had a chat with Ram, who also used the minimalist shoes for running the 50K. He agreed with me that it wasn’t comfortable beyond a certain distance. He kept his options open for the Comrades, even as late as ten days before the event. He finally ran in the minimalist shoes and resolved not to run with them again.

I went back to my shoes to run the Mumbai Marathon in January 2012. The marathon was not run in my usual pace as I chose to accompany my friend Janardhanan is his attempt to complete the marathon. The Shahid Ultra experience was soon banished and returned back to the minimalist shoes to run the Cool Runners Half-marathon on January 26, 2012. A nice weather and a great company for running, I managed to finish the half-marathon for an impressive timing of about 1:53:00 (purist GPS-enabled runners still dispute the distance though).

In February 2012, Ted McDonald or ‘Barefoot Ted’ as he calls himself visited India and participated in the Auroville Marathon 2012. He was one of the runners featured by Christopher McDougall in his book ‘Born to Run.’ Barefoot Ted also promotes his line of minimalist footwear which are extremely popular. His talk on the eve of the marathon on barefoot running was very impressive. Speaking to him gave me some assurance that I am not likely to be doing anything significantly wrong by running in these minimalist shoes.

Photo by Ted
With Barefoot Ted, Ashwin Bala, Gauthama, KP, Junior KP, Shahid and Sharda Ugra

It was February already, and changing back to shoes looked like yet another challenge. I ended up running my Comrades in the minimalist shoes and found some people giving strange looks at the start point. I found that only I and Ram were running the Comrades in minimalist shoes. In hindsight, it did prove to be a bad idea. While the uphill runs were enjoyable, It did not support us on the down-hill runs, where cushioned shoes would have provided the much wanted comfort. Nevertheless, I find running with minimalist shoes more enjoyable and continue to run with the same.

The debate is still on with some recent research showing that it causes damage to the bones. A recent article in NY Times focuses on the injuries caused by Barefoot running and Chris McDougall has devoted a separate section in his website for debate. The conclusion is rather obvious – each runner knows what is best for them!