Running Barefoot

(From March 22)
A paper published in Nature in January 2010 estimates the impact (ha ha, I made a pun) of shoes on runners' bodies. In research that was funded in part by Vibram, the authors determined that shod runners tended to have a heel-to-toe gait, while barefoot runners often have a fore-foot strike, generating smaller collision forces. This page gives a good summary of the research and links to several YouTube videos from the authors' lab.

I keep thinking that once my endurance is up, my next move is to ease into barefoot running. I always used to be so proud of my leathery feet when I was a little girl and walked around barefoot all summer long. My leathery, black little feet. I could walk on anything: pebbles, hot street, sometimes even thorns and burrs on the ground...



Figure 1 and caption from Lieberman et al. (2010):
(a), RFS during barefoot heel–toe running; (b), RFS during shod heel–toe running; (c), FFS during barefoot toe–heel–toe running. Both RFS gaits generate an impact transient, but shoes slow the transient’s rate of loading and lower its magnitude. FFS generates no impact transient even in the barefoot condition.

Lieberman, D.E., Venkadesan, M, Werbel W.A.,  Daoud, A.I., D’Andrea, S., Davis, I.S.,  Mang’Eni, R.O.,  Pitsiladis, Y. .2010. Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners. Nature 463, 531-535 (28 January 2010)