If you’ve been following the boom in #barefoot running over the past couple of years, you might have suspected (and rightly so) that it has been at least partially responsible for the current shift in running shoe design. What I’d like to say about that is that it’s not about the shoes…or lack thereof. Some of the major running shoe manufacturers and a growing number of younger, smaller shoe companies are joining the revolution and cranking out “minimalist” shoes at an astounding rate. These shoes are all designed around the idea that running without the traditional built-in heel lift is better for your body, which I wholeheartedly agree with and, which I have to say, has been a looooong time coming. That being said, I’d like to add in my own words of caution for those of you who might be led to believe that running barefoot or in minimal shoes, will automatically make you a better runner. Running in flatter, more minimal shoes will allow your feet, ankle and leg muscles to strengthen, readjust, and move with better structural alignment. All of these can help you become a better runner, but the onus to really become a better runner is really on you… not on whether you’re running barefoot or in shoes. It’s what Chi Running has been talking about for the better part of eleven years now.

I have been a proponent of good running form, as the primary way to run more efficiently and injury-free, since I began teaching Chi Running in 1999. For the better part of eleven years now I’ve felt a lot like a salmon swimming upstream. And, because of the recent media interest in running technique, I no longer feel like the voice in the dark.

I believe that the shift in the paradigm started in 2004 when Dr. Dan Lieberman (Harvard) published a study which showed that we humans were designed to not only spend most of our time on our hind legs, but to run (either after game or away from predators). Lieberman also recently published another study, which received wide recognition, showing the difference in impact between habitually shod and unshod runners. The recent upsurge in the popularity of minimalist running has also been partly spawned by barefoot convert Chris McDougall’s book Born to Run.

I totally agree with recent studies showing that over-built running shoes are a big contributor to the 65% annual injury rate. But the Chi Running book sets out to put the responsibility for injury-prevention on the runner, not on the shoes. If you’re running in a way that creates impact and injury to your feet, ankles, knees or hips you’ll need to look farther than a change in footwear to get to the source of your problem or you could be just as much at risk for getting injured as the next runner. It always comes down to running technique.

Running barefoot or in minimal shoes allows your feet to accurately sense the ground and allows your body to find its own natural balance and alignment. This works wonders towards helping runners and walkers avoid many of the more common impact injuries. The best way to consistently guarantee that you avoid running injuries is to adopt a “barefoot-like” running style. This means that, no matter what shoes you’re wearing, or whether or not your even wearing shoes, you’re always trying to run in a way that creates the least amount of impact, imbalance and extraneous effort in your body.

Here are some of what I would call the barefoot-like characteristics of Chi Running:
• Allow your feet to land under your center of mass in a soft, midfoot/forefoot strike with your lower legs completely relaxed
• Lean forward from your ankles
• Allow your upper body to gently fall forward with each stride while your legs swing rearward
• Take shorter strides (which allows for a midfoot strike under your center of mass)
• Run with a quicker, steady cadence (170-180 strides/minute) at all speeds

These are only a few of the Chi Running focuses, but they are each crucial components to effortless, injury-free running. And, most importantly, they can all be done with or without shoes. For a complete list of the Chi Running focuses please refer to the end of Chapter Four in the Chi Running Book.

Happy Trails,
Danny

We’ve got some exciting news. There’s an article about Chi Running in USAToday 5/18/2010. Go to this link and you can see the article and a video they did as well. It is really exciting to get this coverage in the national media. Also, tonight on HBO at 10pm ET will be a program on the minimal running shoe revolution which should also be some very interesting viewing. I’m curious to see if we get mentioned in that as well.

All of this media attention helps, in a big way, to spread the revolution in running that we’ve been promoting for ten years now. I just got home from teaching in NYC last weekend to two sold-out classes of ChiRunning. Sunday was the first-ever Level II ChiRunning class. It was a half-day class where we delved much deeper into the movement principles offered in the Level I classes, how to do a speed workout, how to run hills without powering with your legs and many other hot topics. I’ll be offering another Level II class in NYC in October.

Danny

I’ve been hot on the trail to get my hands on (and feet into) as many different pairs of minimal shoes as I can so I can recommend the best shoes for midfoot strike running. (For my most up-to-date shoe recommendations please go to Blogs from Feb. 7th and March 26th.) I have to say it’s been fun, getting to wear lots of cutting edge shoes with new designs and wild color schemes. My closet floor would be the envy of Imelda Marcos… but it has it’s downside. My feet don’t like to change shoe brands that often. You know what it’s like. When your feet find a pair of shoes that works well and feels great, it’s like a love affair between the two and not really something to be messed with.

Wearing lots of different shoes in lots of different environments can leave me feet feeling sore on the bottoms. The last thing I need is a case of Plantar Fasciitis. So, yesterday, when I felt that all-too-familiar tinge of discomfort on the front of my heel I spent no time getting to the fix. I ran directly to a neighbor’s driveway which has a deep layer of crushed granite gravel covering a space about 6′ wide by 20′ long. As soon as I got there I took off my shoes (left my socks on) and began walking back and forth over the gravel. It’s a gnarly driveway and, as you can imagine, uncomfortable (a huge understatement) to walk on without shoes. After about 10 minutes of this self-inflicted torture I put my shoes back on and continued my run.

As predicted, it worked like a charm. All sense of any soreness on the bottoms of my feet was totally gone and, I might add, has never returned. In fact, my feet felt so alive and energized by my “torture walk” that I had one of the best runs I’ve had in weeks. My legs were much more relaxed and my feet we’re happy as little clams.

So, if you’re ever feeling even the slightest nuance of a case of PF coming on, I highly suggest you bite the bullet and find yourself a nice, lovely stretch of gnarly granite to walk across. If are already dealing with a full-blown case of PF it’s even more pertinent that you take matters into your own hands and short circuit the time you spend having to deal with one of the most persistent running injuries there is. This is one of those rare instances in my ChiRunning practice when I would agree with the old adage, “No pain…no gain.”

I just received a pair of great shoes from the good folks at Mizuno. They’re called the Wave Universe 3…sounds like a good name for a water park. When I picked up the package I thought they’d sent me an empty box. No kidding, I’m a size 10 and these flyweight racers tipped my postage scale at a mere 4 ounces each! I almost feel lighter than when I’m barefoot. I can no longer offer the excuse that my legs are tired because my shoes are too heavy.

Another thing I really like about these shoes is that, unlike most racing flats, which are built to be tortuously narrow, these have a toe box that can easily accommodate my EE feet and my toes can breathe easily for a change.

This is interesting. It’s the first pair of shoes I’ve ever seen with a warning on the hang tag. There’s actually two warnings. First they warn against running on wet surfaces and then they say something to the effect that only highly paid athletes should even attempt to wear these things. After checking out the sole materials I took the first message to heart, and by default, had to ignore the second message.

I just ran a little over an hour on trails with them and I must say, they feel like moccasins. I could sense every twig and minute undulation in the trail. It was heavenly.

Getting to and from my nearby trail, I have to run on hilly paved roads. The extremely minimal heel offered just enough cushioning on the downhills that I didn’t have to slow down my speed (which I do have to do in my EVO’s and VFF’s).

All in all I’d say that Mizuno has set a pretty high bar with these Wave Universe 3’s, but take these words with some amount of caution. I could run just about any distances in these on trails, but I wouldn’t run a road marathon in these without a very slow build-up in mileage. Because they’re so minimal, they do a great job of forcing you to pay very close attention to all of your ChiRunning focuses.

The only major downside is the $110 price tag. Minimal shoes, in my opinion, shouldn’t cost this much. Racing flats have always been the cheapest running shoes because they use less materials and they don’t last as long. Maybe that’s why they have the warning that they’re only for highly paid athletes.

I just returned from a great weekend at the ING Atlanta Marathon Health & Fitness Expo and it was very successful. The weather was warm and sunny and Atlanta was thriving with runners ready to take on the pavement. It’s always inspirational to be surrounded by so many bound and determined individuals. I met one guy, running the marathon, who had lost 185lbs. and a 78-year-old running his 90th marathon! I was told that my talks were the most well attended and I’d like to thank all of you who came to listen and ask questions.

I look forward to seeing all of you who are registered in Washington D.C.—it’s a full weekend and I know it will be excellent. We’re maintaining a wait-list at the office, so if you want to get on it in hopes of getting into the D.C. classes, please call the office!

Time for me to put up my feet …more to come soon.

Great example of good positioning of the sheetmetal screws.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned in a past blog that my running buddies and I used to screw sheetmetal screws into the bottoms of our running shoes whenever the conditions got especially treacherous. Well, a good friend just sent me a picture of his newly enhanced running shoes and I thought I’d pass it along, so you could see how it’s done. Be sure to use 1/4″ screws unless you’re into S&M.

I was also recently sent a pair of Yaktrax to try out. I like them. They’re super easy to put on, they stay on, and they work great to keep you from slipping on ice or packed snow. They’re light weight and they don’t feel as weird under my feet as it thought they would. By that, I mean that my feet remain pretty flat in them. They don’t throw me off balance in any way and they don’t feel like I’ve got something strange stuck to the bottom of my shoe. I’d recommend them to anyone crazy enough to head out for a run regardless of how nasty the conditions might be…or how deep the snow.
All the best,
Danny

Since the release of Dr. Lieberman’s study I’ve had a few requests from folks wanting me to show my test results from a gait analysis I had done at the UVA human performance lab. They’re curious to see how my Ground Reaction Force (GFR) chart compares with the one shown in the Nature video showing a barefoot runner (I’m assuming Lieberman himself) landing on a strike plate with a GFR chart beneath.

In the tests I did at UVA, I was wearing three different pairs of shoes (I was never tested barefoot): tai chi shoes, NB-MF800’s and NB-790’s. I’ve pasted in three graphs below. The first two are of a barefoot runner running with a heel strike, a barefoot runner running with a forefoot landing and the third graph is of me with the graphs of all three of my tests overlaid onto the same chart in three different colors.

GRF for a Heel Striker

GRF for a Forefoot Striker

GRF for Danny

Notice the differences in GFR between the three runners shown as a multiple of Body Weight measured during the initial weight-bearing phase. The Barefoot runner had a multiple of 1.85 x Body Weight. To make the comparisons fair, let’s assume all three tests were done with a runner who weights 150 lbs., that would mean (with a GFR of 1.85 x Body weight) that his heels were absorbing a force of 277.5 lbs. upon impact. Let’s say that his heel has an area of 5 sq. inches. that would mean that his heels were experiencing an impact of about 55.5 lbs./sq. inch. Ouch!!!

In the second figure, the runner is landing on his forefoot and his GFR is 2.64 x Body Weight during his support phase which figures out to 2.64 x 150 lbs. = 396 lbs. Now let’s say that the area of his forefoot is approximately 16 sq. inches. That would mean that his foot would be absorbing about 24.75 lbs./sq. inch. … or less than half of what the heel striker feels.

In the third figure I’m landing in a midfoot (or fullfoot) strike which means that the entire bottom of my foot is landing as my foot hits the ground. My GFR was measured at 2.47 x Body Weight or 2.47 x 150 lbs. = 370.5 lbs. Now, if the surface area of the entire bottom of my foot is roughly 30 sq. inches. (I’m a size 9.5 shoe), that would mean that the impact felt by my feet would be approximately 12.35 lbs./sq. inch. or half as much as the forefoot striker. That’s less than 25% of the impact per square inch the heel striker feels and half of what the forefoot striker feels. You can also see that my GFR was the same no matter which shoes I was wearing. I imagine that it would still have been the same had I been tested barefoot… possibly implying that there’s something to be said for working on improving your running technique. It’s about the runner, not the shoe.

I’ve used 150 lbs. as a standard weight for all three runners because I don’t know how much Dr. Leiberman weights. I also used the size of my feet in my calculations because I also don’t know his shoe size. BUT, the point I’m trying to make here is that whether or not you run with shoes on, your impact with the ground will be most if you land in a heel strike because there’s a lot of force going into a relatively small area of your foot. Subsequently, if you land in a forefoot strike, you land with more area of your foot touching the ground and it spreads the force of impact over a larger area thereby reducing the amount of impact per square inch. And lastly, if you land in a fullfoot strike, you spread the impact out over a much larger area and lower your impact per square inch even more still.

Since greater impact with the ground can most likely be directly related to greater incidence of impact injuries, this all boils down to one big question. How do you lower your impact with the ground so that you don’t hurt yourself when you’re running. My premise is that although some types of shoes can reduce shock and impact, it’s the runner who, in the end, is responsible for learning how to manage his or her impact with the ground in a way that consistently works. This is the need that is presented to every runner and it is one of the main reasons why ChiRunning was developed.

Dr. Liebermans study was a good beginning into seeing the difference in impact forces between shod and barefoot runners. Next, I would like to see a study comparing the difference in impact between heel strikers, midfoot strikers and forefoot strikers; with bare feet, with minimal shoes, racing flats, and with your basic high-heeled running shoes.

There are times to run with a forefoot strike. There are times to run with a fullfoot strike. And, there are times to run (believe it or not) with a heel strike. I’ll cover these in a future blog.

Run well…be well,
Danny

In response to all the current interest in barefoot running (spurred on by Chris McDougall’s Born to Run book and the recent study published in the journal Nature by Dr. Daniel Lieberman, suggesting that barefoot or minimal-shoe running creates less impact on your legs) I’ve come up with a list of recommended shoes to try if running barefoot is just not what you’re drawn to. The shoes on this list represent only a small smattering of the spectrum of shoes available to those wishing to try running in a low-profile, minimal shoe instead of the basic “high-heeled sneaker that has been the trend for the past 40 years.

Bear in mind that any switch to either barefoot running or to a more minimal shoe (than you’re currently wearing) will require you to make a GRADUAL transition into the new way of running. If you’re going the minimal shoe route, start off by wearing them for brief periods around the house and for only short runs until you see how your body responds to the change. As your body “tells you” that it’s ok, you can slowly increase your time or distance accordingly. This isn’t macho training, it’s sensitivity training, so be smart about it. If you feel the slightest bit of discomfort in your plantar fascia, your ankles or your calves…back off and try it again tomorrow. As Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton says, “Don’t strike the ground. If you do it’ll strike back!” The idea of running barefoot or running in a minimal shoe is to feel what your feet are telling you about how to create less impact with the ground… so that you don’t get injured. It just wouldn’t make any sense to run in minimal shoes if you didn’t listen to what your feet are telling you.

The other thing I’d like to add is that the shoes listed here are only recommendations. Since everyone has different feet and different tastes when it comes to comfort and feel with their shoes, I leave it up to you to do the research at your local running shoe store to see which shoes actually work best for your feet and running needs. If all of the shoes choices is just too overwhelming…keep it simple and Go Barefoot!!!

Good luck with the journey.

Danny

The List

NB-790 (9 oz.) One of the best ever made for all terrains, from running a marathon on pavement to ultra trails. This shoe might be too much for someone really interested in feeling the barefoot feel. (discontinued in men’s models only…go figure…or better yet, write NB and complain) $60
NB-505 XC racing flat (7 oz.) very light, flexible and fast on trails or roads. $60
Adidas – Adizero Rocket (7.2 oz.) very flexible and wicked fast – better for narrow feet. $90
Brooks Mach II Spikeless (7 oz.) ultra-thin carbon rubber aggressively lugged sole – $60
FeelMax – Niesa 1mm thick sole with Kevlar to protect against sharp objects (Barefoot Ted likes them) Some complain that they’re too hot, but they are extremely minimal and give a good sense of the ground against your feet. $80
VivoBarefoot EVO– I’ve tried the Vivo street shoes and I’m waiting to be sent a pair of their running shoes to test (not available to the public yet). I love my street shoes and they are my favorite traveling shoe. They’re wonderful for any kind or any amount of walking.
Vibram FiveFingers – KSO’s are the most popular model of the VFF’s and I can see why. They’re thin, flexible, easy to get on and off and the next best thing to running barefoot. I prefer my Treks when I’m trail running because they have more traction in the dirt.
ECCO – haven’t tried them yet because I can’t afford a pair (hint…hint)
Wilcor Aqua Shoes – Bought these at a hardware store in Hot Springs, NC for $10 and they’ve proven to be one of the best trail and wet-running shoes I’ve ever had on my feet. They’re like moccasins with an attitude. Get some if you can find them for sale somewhere (not in running stores). This shoe, like most shoes designed for water sports and poking around tide pools at the beach, is a great way to run close-to-barefoot without spending over $30.
PUMA Cabana Racer II – (7 oz.) Was first introduced as a lightweight racing flat in 1981. Features a leather upper, EVA midsole and rubber outsole. As far as I can tell it is the exact same shoe brought back from the dead. $45
Asics Hyperspeed 3&4- (7 oz.) I haven’t run on these shoes myself, but I’ve heard from a number of folks that this is a good minimal shoe…very light and very fast. The downside of the shoe (as with many racing flats) is that they’re very narrow in the toe box, so they’re off my shopping list because my feet are EEE width. It’s a shame they don’t make racing flats in widths…they could multiply their sales by tenfold. $60

TRAIL SHOES
La Sportiva Crosslite – A great trail racing flat built low to the ground with extremely aggressive treads. Not a true minimal shoe, but one of the more minimal (while still aggressive) trail shoes. Reasonably light (10.0 oz.) for a trail shoe. $85
INOV-8 Rocklite 295 – (8.5 oz.) This is a fabulous shoe for trail runners looking for a very low-profile, light-weight shoe with great traction and flexibility. Sticky rubber soles with very aggressive lugs. They have a nice rounded toebox with plenty of room for my paddle feet. This is a more subtantial trail shoe for those looking for a good, dependable, lightweight, aggressive-soled shoe. $90
INOV-8 Talon 212 - (7.5 oz.) This is the stripped-down, mininal heel lift version of the 295 reviewed above. It’s a no-bones-about-it-flat-out trail racer…. a bit narrower in feel than the 295, but not uncomfortably so. It hugs your foot well and transfers the traction from the sticky rubber soles directly into your feet. I feel like a spider with them on. I haven’t tried walking up the side of a brick building yet, but they tempt me to try. I feel very fast and agile in them, and I’m sure I’ll be running in these at the next USATF Nat’l Trail Championships later this year. Hats off to INOV-8! Note: These shoes have very minimal cushioning and might not be for everyone. If you run on very hard-packed trails, these might be too minimal for you unless you’re minding all your ChiRunning P’s & Q’s. If you’re doubtful, go for the 295’s. (BTW, the numbers show the weight in grams of the shoe model!) $100
NB-MT100 – (7.0 oz.) One of the lightest trail shoes ever made. Very flexible and breathable…also drains well when wet. Great for most trail running, but tend to lose traction on wet surfaces, especially wet rock. Personally, I’d like the lugs a bit more aggressive for these North Carolina mountains, but they’re totally adequate on dry trails. $70

Since Chris McDougall’s book, Born to Run came out, there has been an increasing amount of press coverage around the question of running technique in general and especially with respect to barefoot running. Well, this week the discussion jumped to a new level when Dr. Daniel Lieberman, Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, published his recent comparative study of the gait patterns and subsequent impact for runners wearing shoes and running barefoot. You can see Lieberman actually running barefoot in a YouTube video interview. There was also an article in this week’s Time magazine about his study as well as a segment on NPR.

One of the findings in Dr. Lieberman’s study was that runners who run with shoes tend to hit harder than barefoot runners. This flies in the face of the marketing of the shoe companies saying that their high-heeled shoe designs reduce impact and therefore help to prevent impact injuries. Don’t be fooled, they don’t. The best way to reduce your impact with the ground is to run more softly along the ground, which has been our main message here at ChiRunning for the past ten years.

Dr. Lieberman also found that runners who were used to running in shoes tended, almost exclusively to have a rearfoot strike and that most barefoot runners had either a forefoot or midfoot strike. (NOTE: I’d like to make a distinction here. Many people believe that midfoot and forefoot can be just combined to mean the same thing. I disagree. If your forefoot strikes the ground first [on the balls of your feet], you’re a forefoot striker regardless of whether or not you’re wearing shoes. If, on the other hand, you feel your entire foot touch the ground as you come down, you’re a midfoot striker. It has been suggested we change this term to “fullfoot strike” and I couldn’t agree more.)

The information from Lieberman’s study isn’t new information (see NPR story from 2006), but it is fabulous to finally have some scientific backup for our claims that a midfoot strike and minimal shoes can help you reduce or avoid many common running injuries. That’s why we’ve been doing all we can to teach runners how to transition to a midfoot (fullfoot) strike and it’s why we’re suggesting that runners try running in more minimal shoes. It’s all leading to the next phase in the evolution of modern day running, which is being aptly called “natural running” for a good reason. It’s how we all ran as kids and it’s how we all need to learn how to run as adults.

BUT, there’s a huge caveat here that I feel needs to be mentioned in the midst of all this hubbub around footstrike. The path to injury-free, efficient running is so much more than just being about the footstrike. It’s about body alignment, symmetry, looseness, biomechanics, and balance of the entire body.

ChiRunning teaches you how to land with a midfoot (fullfoot) strike without necessarily having to go directly to running barefoot. We suggest running either barefoot (on a firm surface, not on grass) or in minimal shoes. Whichever way you decide to go, it is crucial that you increase your distance over a long period of time so that your body can make the adjustments in a healthy and natural way. The good news is that many new shoes aimed at fulfilling the needs of those wishing to move away from over-built shoes are beginning to show up in running stores everywhere.

Danny

They’re predicting that the days are going to be warming up this week, thank God. It’s been a difficult time for those of us who insist on doing our ChiRunning outdoors. I’ve still been going out regularly, but I must say, there have been a couple of days where the only thing urging me outside was my dog. When I have gone out for runs, I’ve limited them to a slower pace than I’m used to. There’s something about running in the cold that tells me it’s not the time to push the pace. With snowy vistas and sub-freezing temperatures outside my body is telling me to just stick with maintaining my aerobic base until conditions warrant going any faster. I’m fine with that.

Another reason I take it more slowly in the winter is for injury-prevention purposes. Running on refrozen slush or mud is an invitation for a rolled ankle, so I have to practice my “dance steps” through the rough spots while constantly searching out smooth running routes. One of the exceptions to the ChiRunning “rule” of always landing in a midfoot strike is that I negotiate most of the really rough, uneven sections while running on the balls of my feet. I know I’m on my toes for only brief periods, so I’m not worried about stressing out my calves or shins.

Wintertime has never struck me as a time to do anything fast. So, I just spend my time taking in the stark beauty that surrounds me, stopping occasionally to take in a view that is only offered during the winter months.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are richly endowed with deciduous trees, providing great shade and shelter from the rain in the hot summer months and mind-boggling colors in the fall, but which allow very few expansive views of the horizon anytime except winter. When I first moved here I felt claustrophobic when running trails. Having spent most of my life in Boulder and then in Northern California, I was used to seeing hundred-mile views on a daily basis. So, there are things about winter running here in Asheville that I appreciate.

I’ve also always enjoyed the quiet of running in the snow. Right after a fresh snow here are less cars, less people…and everything is covered with a white silence that feels deeply peaceful and calming. Winter is a time to go inward, to rest and gather for the coming spring, and the harsh weather offers us all the perfect opportunity to slow things down in many ways.

Have a great winter,
Danny