The Joy of Running Barefoot (almost)

Nike Free Run +2

Lately I made a major change in my life.  I switched to 'minimalist' shoes.  I had no idea something as pedestrian as shoes could inject a spiritual charge into my life.  Yet these shoes make a difference.

I learned about minimalist shoes through the advocacy of one of my favorite running experts, Matt Fitzgerald (currently a contributing editor for www.competitor.com).  Because I had learned to trust his counsel, I decided to test his thesis that minimalist shoes would minimize the risk of injury as I pursued my goals as a runner.

The minimalist shoe movement began when a group of Nike engineers wondered why Stanford's cross country team excelled so consistently and seemed to run more injury-free than their rivals. They discovered that the difference in training appeared to be that the Stanford runners did a lot of barefoot running on a golf course. So they put sensors on the bottoms of the bare feet of the team to find out why that mattered. They discovered that barefoot running strengthened muscles that naturally kept injury-prone joints aligned properly.  The barefoot running craze was born.

Unlike the running shoes we've been wearing the last few decades, minimalist shoes minimize the difference in height between the heel and forefoot.  In addition, they are more flexible, wider in the forefoot, and engineered to maximize the foot's sensory contact with the ground.  The net effect is to force the feet and legs to function naturally to provide cushioning and stability rather than relying on the artificial means built into shoes since the 1980's. 

After reading Fitzgerald's recommendation, I decided to test his advice with a pair of Nike Free Run+ 2 shoes, the state of the art in Nike's line of shoes designed for barefoot-like running.  Because my feet and legs were not used to the stresses of barefoot running, I phased them in slowly over six weeks.  I ran in them once the first week , twice the next week, thrice the third week, etc., until my feet were well adapted.  This phase-in period is important.  I know folks who skipped that part and quickly developed plantar fasciitis.

I was astonished and delighted by my Nike Free+ 2 shoes.  The wider toe box allows my toes to splay naturally in reaction to the terrain that I now can sense just like when I was a boy running barefoot in the grass of my backyard.  It's a wonderful feeling.  I noticed immediately that hill running seemed easier because by splaying my toes instinctively I can bring into play muscles in my legs that, judging by an initial soreness, had not been utilized fully in my old shoes.

After a few months, I packed my old pairs - which still had lots more running left in them - and donated them to Goodwill. Why?  Because I could not imagine going back to my old ways now that I have experienced what I can only describe as a spiritual charge from my barefoot-like running shoes.  It's something I have felt before only in a few of my habits.  I get that same charge when I feel a rich and nutritious soil sifting through my fingers and delight in its fertile fragrance.  My spirit is similarly uplifted when I gather fresh organic produce from our garden and feel it, smell it, taste it, and delight in it as my wife and I prepare a healthy meal together.  I find a similar aesthetic joy in barefoot-like running.  With my feet in such close and natural contact with the ground, I feel more grounded, more in contact with reality, more a part of the humus on which I run and from which I come and to which I go.  I feel free.  

This season I've put about 400 miles onto three pairs of Nike Free+ 2's that I rotate daily.  I've run in heat and rain, on hills, trails, and the track.  I've done endurance runs as long as twelve miles (I run in  Nike Lunarglide's, another minimalistic shoe with a bit more cushion, for longer runs).  So far, I've not had even a hint of a hotspot, blister, or knee soreness, all of which were routine in my old style shoes.  In a few weeks, it will be time for me to order my fourth pair of Nike Free + 2's, and I'm looking forward to testing their new foul weather version in the snow.

Minimalist shoes make a difference.  I recommend them highly.