They Removed the Rough Gravel . . . Maybe?

Lately I’ve been doing a fair bit of walking (I really can’t call it “hiking” in good conscience) at another local Metro Park, Blacklick Woods. It’s not particularly challenging in the usual sense: it’s quite flat, unlike the trails about an hour away in southeastern Ohio.

But it is challenging in a different way.

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Colorful Characters — Worley Stout

There have been a smattering of barefoot runners since Abebe Bikila. Of course there is Zola Budd, and I’ve written about Dale Story and Marcus Clarke.

Here’s another one: Worley Stout.

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Winning at the Triathlon

Amazing news. The International Triathlon Union has changed their rules.

You can now run barefooted.

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Colorful Characters — Dale Story

We are all aware of Abebe Bikila, who won the 1960 Olympic Marathon running barefoot. And I’ve introduced you to Bruce Tulloh, who won a 6-miler at the British games in 1962 barefoot, and the gold running the 5000m the at the European Championships.

Here is another barefoot winner from the 1960s.

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Dr. Lieberman, I Presume?

Dr. Lieberman of Harvard University has yet another new study out, Strike type variation among Tarahumara Indians in minimal sandals versus conventional running shoes. As you can see from the study title, he visited the Tarahumara Indians, who were featured in Born to Run.

What he found is that conventional running shoes really do weird stuff to feet.

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Dr. Lieberman Strikes Again

The barefooters’ friend, Dr. Lieberman of Harvard, is part of a team with a new study out on minimalist shoe running.

The study shows that running in minimalist shoes (and by implication running barefoot) really does strengthen the foot muscles.

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One in Six Podiatrists . . .

On his America’s Podiatrist blog, Dr. Michael Nirenberg points us to a survey of podiatrists in the magazine Podiatry Management. The survey asks “Do you recommend barefoot running?”

The response is (somewhat) better than I thought it might be.

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Bare Feet, Gyms, and Treadmills

The Wall Street Journal has an article out of how many (most?) gyms get pretty upset if you try to use them barefooted. It is the usual frustrating read.

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A Toe-Shoe Stew

There have been other reactions to the Foot Bone Marrow Edema after 10-week Transition to Minimalist Running Shoes study that I wrote about in Vibram Transitioning → Bone Injury.

Let’s see what they had to say.

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DeFalco v. Vibram

Yesterday I blogged about the current state of the Bezdek v. Vibram lawsuit, and posted a copy of the order allowing the suit to proceed. If you read that whole order (you did read the whole order, right?) you might have noticed that there is yet another lawsuit against Vibram.

Again, it’s a class action lawsuit for fraud.

Let me say a few words about this newer lawsuit, DeFalco v. Vibram.

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Lawsuit Against Vibram Survives Motion to Dismiss

We’ve been following the lawsuits against Vibrams for making unsubstantiated claims (including claims about the benefits of barefoot running). There was a pending motion to dismiss before the court, and that motion was denied on Wednesday.

So, here’s what’s going on.

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How Barefoot Running Works

I’d like to highlight an interesting video. It is of Lee Saxby of the Vivobarefoot Training Center at the Barefoot Connections Conference.

What I found fascinating about the video is its explanations of the kinetics and the kinematics of running. As Lee explains it, “kinetics” studies the forces involved while “kinematics” studies how we shape our bodies as we move.

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Cargo Cult Barefooting

Can’t get enough earthing? But are you so addicted to the whole idea of shoes that you want to get your daily dose of quackery even when shod?

Well then, Earthrunners are just right for you.

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What You Kneed

I’ve heard story after story of shod runners who had to stop because of their knees. Then, after switching to barefoot running, they are able to take it up again, because barefoot running really doesn’t allow the kind of heel strike that thuds up to the knees that you can only get from heeled, padded shoes.

So, what do you do with that already damaged cartilage?

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Catalyst

ABC TV in Australia has a very good segment on science called Catalyst. They recently did a segment comparing barefoot and shod running, and did an excellent job showing the science and highlighting the differences.

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