We started the Spring track season at North Star this past week. Always fun to see kids getting out, being active, trying something new, and pushing themselves. Invariably we have a bunch of rookies who show up in volleyball shoes, or soccer shoes, or basketball shoes, or something that is not a running shoe. Within my extended family and even friends, the question of what to wear on our feet comes up. The conversation always come around to something along the lines of, “What do I think about running barefoot or the Vibram Five Fingers?”
You know what I am talking about. Those shoes (or whatever they are) that look like gloves for your feet. I have seen them on adults, teens, and even some toddlers. The popularity of this type footwear has prompted an explosion in the sales of so called “minimalist” or “zero-drop” shoes. Every brand has a shoe that they deem to be the next best thing in barefootesque running. In fact, there are a number of new brands out there that specialize in shoes like this (great article on the Newton brand in this month’s Runners World). If we weren’t being distracted by the debate on contraception, or the Federal budget, or immigration policy, or moon bases I have no doubt that this is the debate that would be gripping the nation. Maybe not.
On the one side you have the Born to Run disciples. Those people who think that the major shoe companies are out to keep us down and put heavy shoes on feet that are meant to be free and be one with the ground and hunt wooly mammoths or some crap. The more unshod we are, the better we run.
On the other side you have people who think the above folks are a bunch of wacky hippies who can’t hang with “normal” footwear. Or that going barefoot is going to destroy your foot. The people in this category also really like having a lot of gear.
Of course there are the folks in the middle who think maybe a little less is cool. I am likely in this category.
But I have a news flash for those people who think they are cutting edge by going with a much lighter weight shoe. Runners have been running in shoes like this for years. They are called racing flats. My take is this: Use lighter weight shoes, the FiveFingers, minimalist shoes as a compliment to what you are already doing. Go barefoot on the infield of a track and do some accelerations. Buy a pair of spikes and rip some intervals on the track. But if you want to run for performance, avoid the barefoot trap. When was the last time you saw an elite rolling through the Olympic Trials with no shoes on? If you have been trying everything to get rid of an injury, go for this strategy. It can’t hurt you any worse. But to transfer to solely going soleless? Not a good idea.
For more reading on this topic check out a site that makes me smarter just by linking to it.
Science of Sport Link #1– Barefoot Running
Science of Sport Link #2– Running Technique
