Two years into the journey

It’s been a little over two years since I began my exploratory journey into barefoot running. Two years is a reasonable amount of time; long enough to have learnt something new, changed a habit, and long enough for me to consider myself a natural runner. I think now would be a good time to reflect on where I’ve got to, what I’ve learnt, and how I’ve changed.

I can now answer the following questions:

What is barefoot running?

Running with no shoes on; running in bare feet. Whilst I have run barefooted a number of times and enjoy doing so, I don’t consider myself to be a barefoot runner because by choice I run in shoes most of the time – largely because of the environment I live in. If I lived somewhere more conducive to running without shoes I definitely would do so a lot more, and would consequently consider myself a barefoot runner.

What are minimalist shoes? (or natural running shoes)

Shoes which have little or no cushioning in the sole, and which have little or no difference in thickness of sole between the heel and the forefoot (known as the ‘differential’). There are different degrees of minimalism. Some minimalist shoes have no differential and no cushioning; some have no differential with some degree of cushioning; some have a small differential (maybe up to 10mm). In comparison, shoes at the opposite end of the spectrum may have up to 20mm differential and a heel thickness of up to 30mm.

What is natural running?

Until my journey began if someone told me I was a natural runner they probably meant and I would have understood it to mean that I was born with running genes; that I am naturally good at running. What I now understand that to mean is quite different. Whereas at one time we all ran naturally, modern shoes with thick cushioned soles have permitted us to adopt an unnatural running style with big strides landing heavily on the heels. I now consider myself to be a natural runner because I have coaxed myself into adopting the natural style; with a running form that efficiently engages the human body’s natural mechanics, in shoes that don’t have unnecessary cushioning.

As an aside, there is a school of thought that everyone is a natural runner in the sense that we were all born to run and to run naturally. There was a time when our ancestors had to run to survive; to hunt, and to flee, and would have done so by running naturally. This was at a time when food was harder to come by, and we would have run more through necessity than for fun. Modern lifestyles with easy access to poor diet and sedentary behaviour have removed that survival necessity to run and people have developed the notion that they are not (or rather, don’t want to be) natural runners. Ironically it is these people who actually do need to run, or at the very least get some regular exercise.

I believe that whilst we were all designed to run, and to do so in the natural style, some people will naturally be better runners than others. Today very few people run as a necessity. Too few people run for fun.

I run naturally, most of the time in minimalist shoes, occasionally barefooted. I no longer have any other running shoes. My previous heavily cushioned shoes are long gone.

So what exactly is natural running?

I guess you just need to read the right books, have a good coach, or have a barefoot guru to teach you about the correct natural running form. I initially read the inov-8 transition program which nicely describes how you should do it. I then went on to read more in ‘Born To Run’, Scott Jurek’s ‘Eat And Run’, and ‘Barefoot Running Step By Step’ by Barefoot Ken Bob et al.

Lean forwards, land on your forefoot not your heel, lift your knees high, take shorter strides, use your gluteals for propulsion not your calves. When running you should face straight ahead and you should not be able to see your toes in your peripheral vision – your feet should be landing immediately below your centre of gravity not in front of it. One additional tip I’ve learnt is to make sure your arms swing forwards and back, without any sideways motion. Too many people run with their arms swinging left-right across their body. It’s far more efficient to swing straight back and forth and it helps to power your legs.

Having read all of that, I have only recently figured out the best and simplest way to discover the perfect natural running form is to just run barefooted. That will force you into the best form, simply because without the cushioning of shoes your body automatically adjusts into its in-built shock absorbing form. Just go for a short run around some playing fields (best on hard dry ground rather than soft squelchy ground) or even a nice clean bit of tarmac that won’t hurt you with too many bits of debris. Try that for 5-10 mins and you’ll quickly work out the right form. Put your shoes back on and remember that form and just make sure you maintain it.

How do you transition into natural running?

I followed the transition training program published by inov-8. As you might expect from a shoe manufacturer their program takes you through a series of progressively more minimalist shoes. In my case I transitioned in road shoes; not because I favour road running, but because inov-8 were releasing their road shoe series throughout the year that I started. I worked my way through a number of these road shoes, road running for my transition runs whilst getting my quota of off-road running in between.

inov-8’s Road-X 255, Road-X 233, Road-X Lite 155, Bare-X Lite 150

I have spoken to people who don’t have a vested interest in selling shoes who would advise a newbie to just go straight in at the deep end with barefoot running. If you’re wanting to become a barefoot runner, what better way to learn than to run barefooted?!

Whichever route you take; the multi-shoe route or the skin-to-earth route, I recommend following the training phases that inov-8 prescribe in their program. This is will ensure that you introduce the natural running technique slowly so as not to overload muscles that will have been largely dormant for the time spent heel-striking in cushioned shoes.

Is natural running better?

That’s a difficult one to answer. It depends on how you define ‘better’. If better means faster, then maybe. If better means more efficient, then I am convinced the answer is yes. With better efficiency it should be easier to get faster, easier to run for longer, and to do so whilst suffering fewer injuries.

My journey into natural running coincided with the birth of our first child and with me losing my job. My established routine, in which I was able to train up to 10 hours a week and clock up to 70 miles running, went out of the window. My training is now half of what it was back then so it’s difficult to directly compare my running results from before and after my transition. But despite the reduced training I have achieved a number pb times in races within the last 12 months. This could be attributed to less but better training; it could also be attributed to better running form despite less training.

I certainly feel like a better runner. My running feels more efficient, I feel more graceful, lighter footed; running at tempo pace seems to come easier. I feel like I could run for longer periods despite a lack of long endurance training.

Last October I completed the OMM A class. Having done the event eight times previously, this year recorded my best result yet, after more than 13 hours of running in mountain terrain. I hadn’t trained any more for this OMM than previous years, in fact I’d probably trained less. If natural running equals more efficiency, that means I can sustain longer periods of running and can therefore thank natural running for this result. But then it could also be my age and the cumulative effect of years of running.

Over my years of running I have had my share of injuries. Plantar fasciitis, illio-tibial band syndrome, strains, pulls, sprains etc. I have had very few injuries or running pains in the last two years. I’d love to categorically state that this is down to a more efficient running form, but I suspect that the concurrent reduction in training is largely responsible too.

I must add that my calf pain, which was one the major factors behind my decision to try natural running, is still a problem. I had hoped that stronger natural running calf muscles would stop the pain, but as yet, this isn’t the case. I have identified that the pain is worst following road runs but is insignificant after terrain runs.

So I have no real answer to the question of whether natural running is better. I feel like a better runner, my running results haven’t really got any worse since my training has been halved, and I’m happy to be a natural runner.

Two years on, and there’s many more to come.