sappho96 - 2007-03-21 9:37 AM
superb! thanks waterdog suffice to say my gym bollocked me for barefoto running. iodits! they'll willingly let people come in and pump iron still dressed in jeans and timberland boots, but not let me go barefoot on the dreadmill!
Ha- Dreadmill. I will never use the word treadmill again. That fits the stupid things so much better.
I read somewhere that:
A) running barefoot can create stronger memories, becuase the nerves in your foot are sensitive and are stimulated more by barefoot running, aka you can feel the grass, etc. Kinda like walking into a room and smelling something and having a flash back to when you were young, etc. You walk on the grass and the thought of the run comes back. Or that's how I interpreted it.
B) Isn't there a guy I read about in Runners World that's done like a gazillion Marathons barefoot?
C) I also read that you should run as close to barefoot as you can stand. Helps with everything (form, injury prevention, etc).
D) Having any excess weight on your feet is 6 times less efficient than having it around your torso. Even a 100 grams makes a difference. Adding 100 grams in moderate exercise increases oxygen uptake by 1%. A soft soled shoe vs. a hard sole decreased oxygen uptake by 2.4%, even though the softer soled shoes weighed 34g more. Figure that one out, kinda goes against barefoot running. Must be the rebound from the sole, or perhaps it lets the body relax more becuase there's less jarring, in turn less stablity muscles locking up, I don't know. Thank you Applied Exercise Physiology...
E) I love racing flats, and run in them a lot. I train in asic cumulus, which have little support, and are a "lighter" shoe. I can't see running over 5, or really even 3 miles, without a little bit of something. Can't run on the dirt roads where I live barefoot at all though- at least I'm not brave enough to.