Did We Evolve to Invent Shoes?
I have been known to gently tease the fans of barefoot running, and wearers of minimalist shoes. However, I’m not against running barefoot, but in fact believe it can be a helpful training tool.
As part of my training for CIM, I ran a mile or so barefoot on grass a couple of evenings a week. I gave it up when the days got shorter and it was too dark after work to spot the dog-doo.
A non-running friend of mine told me about a coworker sharing his devotion to barefoot running, saying that we’d evolved to run barefoot. My friend wondered if maybe we had evolved to invent shoes.
Let’s just say I’m a bit skeptical about the hype. Barefoot running zealots claim that running barefoot will cure almost any running related ailment. If you are injured while running barefoot, they say, it is because you are doing it wrong.
After the initial frenzy of interest in barefoot running, spawned in no small part by McDougall’s Born to Run, it was not surprising to see a little backlash and at least some anecdotal evidence of increases in barefoot-running related injuries.
My favorite new anti-barefoot advocacy website is www.runningbarefootisbad.com. Like the barefoot running zealots, they throw objectivity to the wind and let the snark fly.
Buried amongst the snark and fervor, there is some science. If you are interested in actually learning something, a good place to start is Harvard researcher Daniel Lieberman’s site. Here you can read the cutting edge research on the biomechanics of running–with or without shoes and some real objective information about the pros and cons of barefoot or shod running.
I’m just happy to see people running. If it takes them kicking off their trainers to do it, then so be it. Just watch out for the dog poop.
Mr. Blue has forgotten, or perhaps never knew, that the woman he married started her running career a barefoot runner. She might have stayed a barefoot runner had Nike not come out with those all-the-rage swoop “running” shoes. Come to think of it, maybe she could still BE a runner if she had never worn a running shoe… Would have had faster triathlon times, too, if I didn’t have to lace up. Riiight.
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