Video presentation about barefoot running....

Daniel E. Lieberman is a Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and is a leading advocate of barefoot running. In this video presentation (Mar 2012) lasting about one hour, he outlines his thoughts on modern shoes and comparing it to running barefoot.

Anyone wearing orthotics may find some of the points made of interest.

Review of the Vibram Seeya running shoe...

Several months ago, I was asked by Owen Loughrey of Barefoot.ie if I would be interested in reviewing a pair of  minimalist running shoes like the Vibram Five Fingers. After giving it some thought, I decided that there was probably not much point in me personally doing the review. As someone who has always run in the usual type of running shoe, I felt that the review would be more about the merits or otherwise of minimalist or barefoot running than about the actual shoe itself.

With this in mind, I asked a fellow club mate Grellan McGrath to test and review them instead. Grellan has been using Vibrams since late 2007 and would certainly have a lot more experience about running in them than anyone else I know. This is Grellan's review......

Review of the Vibram Seeya running shoe....by Grellan McGrath
To qualify this review I have to add that I am generally in favour of minimalist/barefoot running and have run in a pair of Vibrams Sprints on and off since December 2007. So this is not a debate about the pros and cons of minimalist running shoes but a review of the Vibram Seeya against my experience of running in minimalist shoes, limited though it is to the Sprints.

The Vibram Seeya is billed as the minimalist’s minimalist shoe “designed to bring you even closer to the barefoot sensation” by radically reducing the overall weight. To be quite honest when I took delivery of a pair from Eoin Loughrey of barefoot.ie to trial back at the start of June I did not think them any lighter than the pair of sprints. In fact the mesh upper enclosed my feet more that sprints ever did and the sole looked bulkier than the neoprene sole of the sprints.



The short video above compares putting on the Seeya compared to the Sprint, which does require a bit more manipulation to get a proper fit as the upper is less flexible than that of the Seeya (The black toenails are a relic from my ultra days!).

Fit...
Initially I found the Seeyas more difficult to put on that the Sprints as I was used to being able to  manoeuvre each toe into position using my hand if I had to, which was made much more difficult by the mesh upper of the Seeyas. However after a while I discovered that all I had to do was to place my feet half way into the shoes and wriggle my toes into position to get a snug fit, such was the flexibility of the upper which is like a stretchy sock. The presence of a Velcro fastening strap over the top of the foot seems like an unnecessary afterthought as the mesh upper should be sufficient to hold the foot in place. My feet certainly felt secure without fastening the strap. Perhaps it offers extra insurance to those who like a bit of security or maybe it’s there in case the fit is not as snug for everyone (e.g. narrow foot width). Either way it did not bother me and the strap never caused me any problems. Although if it is billed as the lightest of the Vibrams it could be made that bit lighter by removing the strap.


I did notice that once or twice during my first few runs that the light heel structure gave the impression that the shoes were going to slip off but this feeling did not last and after a week or two I did not even notice it.

Perhaps because the shoes enclosed my feet more I felt much more comfortable wearing them around the house and on occasion out and about, despite the luminous green colour, which was a source of embarrassment to my impressionable 13 year old Daughter. In fact I sometimes forgot I was wearing them and wore them doing the gardening once or twice, but they are not very good for footing a shovel as I was painfully reminded when I tried – not much cushion between my sole and the top blade of the shovel.

Function...

The Seeya is billed as a road running “shoe” only, perhaps because of the limited grip available for off road running. This suited me fine as most of my experience in running in vibrams was on the road.

Initially it was difficult to compare my experience of running in the Sprints with that of running in the Seeyas as both gave a pretty similar feel. As with the Sprints the Seeyas felt great to run in, the same feeling of lightness and freedom around my feet, fully in touch with the surface underneath, feeling every indentation. I did not feel that the Seeyas were any more minimalist that the sprints although they were billed as suitable only for experienced minimalist runners, whatever than meant. While I had run on and off in the sprints over the last 5 years I could not be considered a serious proponent of the minimalist running culture as I have run 90% of my miles in more conventional running shoes and up until this year never raced in the vibrams.

Running in minimalist shoes does change the way my feet and legs react to the stress, with my calves in particular taking more of the strain. This is certainly more noticeable the faster I run. Up until 2012 most of my running in vibrams had been at a slow easy pace. I had used the vibrams before in races but had not pushed myself too hard. In 2012 I ran a couple of 10 milers in the sprints and came within 8 seconds on my PB in Ballycotton in March. However I paid the price with rock solid tight calves afterwards that prevented me from warming down.

After a few introductory runs with the Seeyas I began using them for some of my quality training runs as the light weight and feeling of freedom encouraged me to run faster and it felt good. The idea was to train for a few short 4 and 5 mile races over the summer and see how the Seeyas performed in a race compared to my more traditional racing shoes. However this plan had to be put on hold in early July as I was laid up for over 2 weeks with a right calf strain, a few days after pacing the Waterford Marathon (in my more traditional Asics).  A return to running in late July lasted for only 2 weeks with the calf injury returning. After a return to running in late August I  again succumbed to injury in late September which prevented me from running until Mid-October. It wasn't until I analysed my training log that I noticed that a few days before the onset of each injury I had completed a steady/tempo run in the Seeyas and while I can't say for sure that they were responsible for my injuries i'm pretty sure there is a link. Perhaps I ignored the health warning that they came with .........."suitable only for experienced minimalist runners"............

Running in minimalist shoes , including the Seeyas, requires acclimatisation over time -  building up from short slow runs, waiting a few day to see how your legs react and incrementally increasing the stress (pace/distance) over weeks and months to allow your muscular skeletal system adjust to the new stresses. My problem is that I'm not consistent and could go a month or two without running in the vibrams and effectively "de-training" my muscular skeletal system only to pick it up again thinking that I could start form where I left off. The Seeyas taught me that this only leads to injury.

Conclusion...
In conclusion the Seeyas fit like gloves, are easier to put on and feel more comfortable than the Sprints, making me more likely to wear them around the house (like slippers) and are great to run in. On the flip side they offer minimal protection and are likely to cause injury if you do not use them intelligently (more so than the Sprints).

Many thanks to Grellan for the review of the Vibram Seeya shoes. The shoes were provided by Owen Loughrey of Barefoot.ie on the basis that the review would be open and honest and if anything bad or negative was found then it would be published.

Barefoot.ie stock a wide range of minimalist footwear and their website can be found at http://www.barefoot.ie

Barefoot running workshop in CIT on Sat 12th of May

For those with an interest in barefoot or minimalist running, there is a workshop in CIT in Bishopstown on Saturday, the 12th of May. The workshop will be given by Australian Max DeLacy who is an ultra marathoner and barefoot running coach. From the organisers........."With the increase in barefoot and minimalist activities and footwear it is vital that people know how to use them correctly. Max's workshop will give participants all the tool they need to understand barefoot movement and how it differs from running in traditional shoes. And equip them with the correct techniques to ensure that if they want to start running barefoot, or simply incorporating barefoot activities into their normal training, that they will do so correctly."

The cost of the workshop is €30. More information about the workshop on the Barefoot.ie website

or ring 021-4868167

Principles of Natural Running...

Back in early February, I had a post with a link to an audio interview with Dr. Mark Cucuzzella who was extolling the virtues of natural or barefoot running. This time around, here is a video clip on the subject....

Audio Podcast on minimalist running...

If you search through the various running sites on the Internet, you'll notice that the big debate on minimalist or barefoot running shoes continues.

I came across this audio podcast which I think gives a pretty good description of what minimalist running is all about and what it's advantages might be. Please note that it is 65 mins long but it's easier the listen to than read through pages and pages of text.

Out of all the points made in podcast, I'll just mention two...

1) If you are making the transition from normal shoes to minimalist shoes then you need to do so slowly. Barefoot type running puts an extra strain on certain parts of the feet and legs and you need to adjust to this slowly.

2) The number of models of minimalist shoes has increased from 5 to 60 in the last year or so. Obviously, the five finger vibrams would have been an early model but it's a crowded market now.

If this barefoot running craze is just a fad then it obviously still has a bit to go.

Article from the Guardian on barefoot running

There was another article recently in the Guardian about barefoot running. It basically came to two main conclusions...

1) There is no real evidence that barefoot running reduces injuries. Lots of theories but nothing factual.
2) Anyone starting off running barefoot needs to change how they run and how their feet hit the ground. People who continue to heel-strike when barefoot, and who may "force" a forefoot landing put a huge strain on the calf muscle and Achilles tendons. As such, it's a skill. Some master it, some don't.

It does however suggest that it may be benefical as part of a training programme where it loads the joints differently and activates muscles in different patterns.

The full article can be seen HERE

Barefoot Running...the debate continues

In the magazine section of the New York Times recently, there was an article on barefoot running and the '100-Up' running technique. It was written by Christopher McDougall, the author of the best selling book 'Born to Run' which promotes the minimalist approach to running and advocating that people should run barefoot or close to it. The full article can be seen HERE

However, not everyone agrees with this approach. On the SweatScience website, their take on the article is that McDougall's approach is just a series of anecdotes and he has no scientific facts behind his arguements. The full response can be seen HERE

On another website, a jounalist interviewed the author of the 1976 book The Joy of Running. The author Dr. Thaddeus Kostrubala had also visited and written about the Tarahumara Indians that were the basis for McDougall's Born to Run book. In the interview, Dr.Kostrubala said this about barefoot running..."It’s a fad. Running is full of fads. Food fads, training fads, you name it. And the idea that we were running barefoot on cement is nonsense." The interview can be seen HERE
So is barefoot running good or bad?

There are a lot of vested interests involved here and any claims should be examined in that light. While it's obvious that the vast majority of runners will keep wearing normal running shoes, I have read that the publicity behind the barefoot running phenomenon may well influence the design of future design of running shoes. We'll see.

Talk about running by Christopher McDougall

This video clip is by Christopher McDougall, the author of the book Born to Run . This book looked at the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico and how they travel long distances by running. It also looked at barefoot running and ultra-running in general.

In this video from the TED conference, he covers some of those issues and puts forwards a theory as to why people are suited to running long distances. What might be of interest to most people is his thoughts on why distance running is more suited to women and older runners.

Another video clip about barefoot running...

Last week, I put up a post about barefoot running. In the meantime, I came across another clip.

This one is about an 8 mile race / fun run in New York city. Also included in it is the author of the 'Born to Run' book which is about the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico who run long distances barefoot........covered in a previous post HERE.

Benefits of Barefoot Running....???

Back in January of this year, I put up a post about barefoot running.

Now a group of researchers in Harvard University have carried out a series of tests to compare running with shoes and comparing it to barefoot running.

Most people who run in shoes strike the ground with their heel first. They found that this resulted in a sudden shock as the foot landed.

When people are running barefoot, they tend to land on the forefoot, the foot rolls forward and there is less impact.

Needless to say, if you are interested in trying some barefoot running, it probably makes sense to try it on a soft surface like grass and to run short distances like 1 to 2 miles to see how it feels.

There is a link to a video on the Guardian website.

'Why expensive trainers could be worse than useless'...

Over the last few months, several people have commented to me that they had been reading a book called Born to Run about the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico. They live in a remote part of the country and are famous for running huge distances, often barefoot or with very basic shoes.

Just a few days ago, an interesting article appeared in the online version of the Daily Telegraph debating the pros and cons of barefoot running and also mentioned that book. The writer contends that "those expensive running shoes you've been relying on may be worse than useless: they could be causing the very injuries they're supposed to prevent ". The basic argument is that most people with modern shoes tend to land on their heel and 'pound the road' whereas people running barefoot adopt a different style of running to protect the feet which results in a softer landing...i.e. no pounding.

The article goes on to say..... "When the Tarahumara aren't barefoot, they wear nothing more cushioned than thin, hard sandals fashioned from discarded tire treads and leather thongs. In place of artificial shock absorption, they rely on an ancient running technique that creates a naturally gentle landing. Unlike the vast majority of modern runners, who come down heavily on their foam-covered heels and roll forward off their toes, the Tarahumara land lightly on their forefeet and bend their knees, as you would if you jumped from a chair. "

Also......."Out here in the non-Tarahumara world, where we have access to the best in sports medicine, training innovations and footwear, up to 90 per cent of all marathoners are injured every year. The Tarahumara, by contrast, remain spry and healthy deep into old age. "

Needless to say, there is an opposing opinion as well. The full article which is a bit long can be found at this LINK.