barefoot running

I recently finished a book called "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall.  I borrowed the book from a friend and finished it in the course of three evenings.  It was a great story, and told in such a way that reading it was quick.  He interweaves very interesting research data from faculty and researchers with a story about a tribe in Mexico called the Tarahumara, and an epic ultra-distance race between some of the best US trail racers and natives from the Tarahumara.

The premise of the book is that humans have always been running, and up until the advent of super-cushioned shoes, we had very few running injuries.  These days, runners swap stories all the time about plantar fasciitis, shin splints, and knee surgeries.  The reason for all these injuries is that the shoes we now wear to run actually cause us to run in unnatural ways.  These unnatural ways don't allow the amazing bone structure and design of the human foot to perform in the way it was meant to. 

In shoes with big thick soles, we run using a heel strike motion, putting all the force on the bony heel and basically stopping our forward motion because of the angle of our foot.  But when we run barefoot (or semi-barefoot), we strike on the outer part of the mid-foot.  This allows the structure of the foot to absorb more of the impact than when we strike with our heel.  With the heel strike, the impact travels right up to our poor knees.

I'm not going to say that the book made a convert out of me, but the evidence presented was hard to deny.  It made me want to go for a run and use different form.  My understanding is that you really have to work your way up to long distances when using a more natural running form because your body (mostly feet and calves) are not as used to it.  Also, you don't actually have to run barefoot.  Some people have bought and use the Vibram Five-Fingers "shoe/gloves", and others, like the author of Born to run, bought a pair of old school running shoes that have a very low level of cushioning so that you can truly feel the ground under your feet, not just the cushioning.

I have a photo of me from the Rock and Roll half-marathon I ran last summer.  I didn't post this photo on facebook or elsewhere for a reason.  When I saw this photo I immediately knew that I needed to change my form.  It was so embarrassing.  I look at it and just see all the energy being lost! I am practically doing a one-legged squat, stopping my forward motion.  I look like I'm walking!  No wonder my knees were killing me at the end of 13 miles!

This idea of barefoot running or chi-running has really taken off, from what I can tell.  Of course, with Nike/Adidas/New Balance/Asics all creating new models of their highly cushioned stability shoes every year, I don't expect to see a majority of runners moving to barefoot running.

I just want to run like Caballo Blanco  in Born to Run says to run: Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast.  

Here's a little excerpt from the book Born to Run that I especially like about running form.  In this, Caballo is showing the author the natural way to run (pp.110-111):
    "My arms floated until my hands were rib-high; my stride chopped down to pitty-pat steps; my back straightened so much I could almost hear vertebrae creaking.
    "Don't fight the trail," Caballo called back over his shoulder.  "Take what it gives you.  If you have a choice between one step or two between rocks, take three."  ....."Lesson two," Caballo called.  "Think Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast.  You start with easy, because if that's all you get, that's not so bad.  Then work on light.  Make it effortless, like you don't give a shit how high the hill is or how far you've got to go.  When you've practiced that so long that you forget you're practicing, you work on making it smooooooth.  You won't have to worry about the last one---you get those three, and you'll be fast."

Have any of you tried either barefoot running or even just a different running form?  I saw today that USA Triathlon has an article and video on "The importance of run mechanics".  A professional coach recommends a higher cadence, just like Caballo.  But he doesn't say anything about where one should land on their foot-he focuses on the extension of the legs, the forward leaning of the upper body and the rotation of the shoulders.