Free the Feet!

Preface: There is not one single study out there that shows any relationship between running shoes and a decrease in running injuries. In fact, the opposite is true! You are twice (2x! about 123%) as likely to get injured if you wear top of the line ($95+) running shoes than the cheapies (under $40).

Oh, and my favorite: Runners who stretch are 33% more likely to get injured than those who don't. I knew it!

I discovered I'm a heel striker- Ack! This explains why my back tightens from 20 miles of flat but is fine climbing 20 miles of hills.

So what's on my mind? First of all, all I want to do is run right now and play with my stride. So, after checking out a bunch of research out of Harvard, Oregon and Stanford here is what I'm working on today as I hit the trails:

1) Straighten my torso
2) Eyes on the horizon (yeah, right... not on the roots or snakes)
3) Land evenly on forefoot
4) Land as softly as possible
5) Shorten my stride with quicker steps (180 beats/min?!! Holy hell...). Anyone got a metronome I can borrow?
6) Whole body reeeelaaaaxed 7) Assume a "ready" position as though I'm "sprinting after a small child in danger" (?) What exactly that means, I'm not sure. Anyone got a small child I can borrow?

According the the world of running these days, if you run barefoot, your body will adjust it's stride to be relatively perfect, naturally assuming the overwhelming mishmosh of things listed above you're supposed to keep in mind to prevent injury.

So here it is: Squid (aka "Quadzilla") goes barefoot:
I walked around in bare feet today, all day (besides the 2hrs I was at school), including driving. I decided in the morning to try my first barefoot run after work. I have to say, my back and hamstrings were super tight all day and only got worse when I went out for a 25min pavement warm up (keeping in mind the form points above, which is BTW, a TON to think about when you're running). I decided to take off my shoes and run around my block a few times in bare feet.

WOW- it was pretty cool. Besides laughing a lot at myself and how I must have looked, my hamstring and back actually stopped aching. I was like, "Naaahhhh, no no no. That can't be right." But it was and while I'm still unsure why it all stopped hurting, I will be giving it another try asap just to see if I can go for 20 minutes. I would have kept running but I was running late annoyed at the rough pavement and gravel on my street, and a little embarrassed I liked it so much.