Barefooting

Rhydian said:
Would any of you do a marathon barefooted?
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Being a frequent person who jogs between 5-7 miles a day I think I personally would run Bare footed any type of marathon. At this moment in time, my concern is going shopping baring feet so I've decided to not shop today so I can continue my extended probationary Bare Footing period. :)
 
Shelley said:
Being a frequent person who jogs between 5-7 miles a day
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Woohoo! Another runner.
I do about 40km a week, split across 3-4 runs.
Although it's getting harder to stick to that commitment now that Maya's here.

Not sure I could run 10-15km barefoot though, especially on concrete.
I expect my bones in my heels would be like mush at the end of it.
 
Brogan said:
Woohoo! Another runner.
I do about 40km a week, split across 3-4 runs.
Although it's getting harder to stick to that commitment now that Maya's here.

Not sure I could run 10-15km barefoot though, especially on concrete.
I expect my bones in my heels would be like mush at the end of it.
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I think if you can enforce your calf and upper leg muscles to take some of punishment your feet would take minimum punishment as you kind of spring with each step. That's my theory anyway. Over the past month I haven't been able to jog due to health reasons and recently undergoing surgery but I plan on running again in a week or so.

@John - Totally agree, I'm going to do something with those feet, feet that are tormented and tortured are the words that are coming to mind. ;)
 
Shelley said:
I think if you can enforce your calf and upper leg muscles to take some of punishment your feet would take minimum punishment as you kind of spring with each step.
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I do weight training also so my calf and leg muscles are actually over developed for a medium-long distance runner.
Also, I try to keep as low a stride as possible, as this apparently reduces unnecessary energy expenditure which is important for longer runs for obvious reasons.

Truth be told, if beer and wine hadn't been invented, I wouldn't run at all :D
 
ROFL! I love my five fingers. I can get out an about and still feel bare footed, and be protected from all those things you talking about.
 
Freddie said:
Not so, running barefoot, you will find you have a different gait, you don't land on your heels.
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I've had detailed barefoot gait assessments done every year for the last 5 years.
My gait doesn't change, I still strike heel first.
 
Brogan said:
I've had detailed barefoot gait assessments done every year for the last 5 years.
My gait doesn't change, I still strike heel first.
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I guess you're not a good candidate then, but most people naturally find a stride that doesn't involve a heel strike and makes far more use of the arch of the foot as an important shock absorber.
 
Kier said:
I guess you're not a good candidate then, but most people naturally find a stride that doesn't involve a heel strike and makes far more use of the arch of the foot as an important shock absorber.
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I'd be happy if I had an arch on my foot. I'm flat-footed. :(
 
Kier said:
I guess you're not a good candidate then, but most people naturally find a stride that doesn't involve a heel strike and makes far more use of the arch of the foot as an important shock absorber.
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Interesting.
I wasn't aware that a lot of people's gait changes when barefoot.

I have quite a severe over-pronation so that might account for it?
 
Brogan said:
I've had detailed barefoot gait assessments done every year for the last 5 years.
My gait doesn't change, I still strike heel first.
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Interesting, I've now run about 1,000 miles in minimalist shoes, shoes that are really designed only for race day, but I use them 100% for training as well. Naturally my stride has changed, but I have also forced my stride to change further over time, such that I rarely heel strike now. The wear patterns on my shoes attest to this. I compare the heels on the shoes to my old "normal" padded, support shoes which have thousands of miles and I can see the clear difference. That said, I would never endeavor to run a marathon barefoot. I've done it in support shoes, and when I do it again, I will use minimalist shoes but not barefoot.

My only agenda is to not have injuries. The minimalist shoe works for me at present so I see no need to experiment with barefoot. Clearly, walking around barefoot is a different decision than running barefoot though. I see no need to go around barefoot, I like my feet to be dry and clean. I have never in my life had a problem with my feet/legs/back from walking in a shoe.

To be frank, I only bought a minimalist shoe because they are lighter and hence hoped to cut time off my races. I started wearing them full time because they just feel better do to the less weight. I just couldn't imaging running barefoot because I have enough pain to deal with as it is now with the stuff I run over in my current shoes, which really only have a type of "foam" as the sole. Barefoot? OUCH
 
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