Barefoot running remains a hot topic, and with any hot topic comes strong opinion — often ill-founded. One of the greatest claims of the barefoot running revolution has been that running barefoot reduces injury risk for distance runners. I must admit, I sit very firmly on the fence here. I came to barefoot running with long term plantar fasciitis and also tendency to suffer with runners knee (patellofemoral pain syndrome). The PF cleared up very quickly despite its seemingly stubborn nature. The knee pain is also now much less prevalent. However, on the other side of the balance I have suffered with Achilles tendon problems and increased calf injuries since running barefoot.
So where does that leave me?
Much more knowledgeable about barefoot running than those who have never tried, but — and this is important — much of this knowledge is specific to my own running. I cannot say with any certainty how you or anyone else will be affected by running barefoot. I can offer that common sense advice that says do it gradually, but much more research and reliable opinion needs to be sourced before me or anyone else can safely recommend barefoot running without personal consultation.
The sources of good information are building thankfully, and one recently provided some meaningful data to the barefoot running and injury debate. It was not lab research, which is often of limited value unless expertly performed and evaluated. No, this was real world data, provided by typical distance runners and so perfectly in tune with Running Training Plan. It looked specifically at a 12-week transition period to barefoot running. The sample was not huge, but the results are valuable. The study also has credibility, indeed its author, Rebecca Leong, was rewarded with a $50,000 scholarship for her efforts.
It is a fascinating read for sure, and anyone who believes that barefoot running reduces injuries for distance runners should take a long hard look.
My own barefoot running has been reduced over recent months. There has been no conscious decision to cut down, it’s mainly due to a general reduction in running mileage over the summer coupled with maybe a decreased motivation to kick off the shoes. I do still get out barefoot occasionally though, and it is my aim to return to a 10% barefoot running schedule, UK winter permitting.
I have 4 comments on this study:
– I agree with Jack that statistically speaking, 40 runners doesn’t make sense…
– it takes more than 4 months to transition to barefoot running. I am now barefoot running for 9 months (after two knee surgeries), and still I’m learning to improve my running style. After 5 months, I still had some transitioning problems. I’d say that 1 year is a better definition period for transitioning.
– transitioning from shod to barefoot running is a learning process to adapt your running style to a natural biomechanical movement lost by a lifetime in shoes, and requires a lot of ‘knowledge’ and awareness of what you’re doing. There is no guarantee in this study that the limited sample of barefoot runners is actually proceeding in the right way.
– barefoot runners are mostly longtime shod runners reverting to barefoot running in despair to save their running career after a shod period full of injuries. It’s obvious that, due to their injured past, they are more prone to injuries than shod collegues, running for only a couple of years. Moreover, the injuries they are dealing with are probably of a more benign nature, like tendonitis due to exuberance (from the study, this is not clear), than the ones inflicted to shod runners, like cartilage breakdown.
The study is valuable in the sense that it tries to shed some light on a controversial topic, but the conclusion seems a bit odd in the sense that it is stated that the study is not conclusive, but the final paragraph claims that it is not ideal to switch to barefoot running solely for the purpose of reducing the amount of injury…
In my opinion, the evidence is obvious that barefoot running should be promoted (also in the major running media that are hugely sponsored by running shoe companies) in order to produce a young generation of barefoot runners that are not contaminated (and busted up by a decade of shod running like in my case) by shoe induced injuries.
Yes, Jack, it is a small study. Certainly, here in the UK although there are huge numbers of runners, there are still very few who venture out barefoot. Our own survey is creeping towards 200 respondents and is giving quite useful data; we’ll be publishing some analysis when we get more.
Whilst the report is an interesting read the sample size of 40 runners in total is very small when compared with the number of people who run, who must number millions.