New Barefoot and Minimalist Running Research

Two new papers have been ePublished ahead of printing in the Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise journal out of Dr. Daniel Lieberman's lab at Harvard University.

Effects of Footwear and Strike Type on Running Economy concludes:

"Minimally shod runners are modestly but significantly more economical than traditionally shod runners regardless of strike type, after controlling for shoe mass and stride frequency. The likely cause of this difference is more elastic energy storage and release in the lower extremity during minimal shoe running."

Foot Strike and Injury Rates in Endurance Runners: a retrospective study concludes:

"...Runners who habitually rearfoot strike have significantly higher rates of repetitive stress injury than those who mostly forefoot strike... One hypothesis, which requires further research, is that the absence of a marked impact peak in the ground reaction force during a forefoot strike compared to a rearfoot strike may contribute to lower rates of injuries in habitual forefoot strikers."

Essentially, these two papers suggest that forefoot strikers have fewer injuries than heel strikers and that no matter your foot strike pattern, if you run in minimal shoes, your running is more efficient with improved running economy.

I'm taking away from these two conclusions that forefoot strikers who run in minimal shoes are more efficient and have fewer injuries compared to heel strikers who run in conventional shoes. Sounds to me like ingredients included in a recipe for maximized efficiency and minimized injury...

Speaking of running news, stay tuned for some EXCITING developments in the coaching related area. Announcements are coming soon!

Back at the Track

As all the sidewalks and paths have been icy where I live, I've returned to running at the indoor track.

The indoor track at Spray Lake Sawmill Family Sports Centre

To keep it from being too boring, I thought I'd try a variety of shoes and see which ones I like best for indoor track running. I always start out running a few laps barefoot. Then I put on some shoes (and socks if necessary), run a few more laps, switch shoes, and repeat. Below are the pics of the shoes I ran in my last time at the track and some thoughts for each model.

No shoes: best barefoot feel (hehe), not that grippy, felt like I was landing too far laterally on my forefoot (I haven't figured why that might be), very quiet landing, got quite a few looks from other runners.

VIVOBAREFOOT Lucy Lites: AWESOME track shoes, my preferred shoe for running on the track, excellent grip, felt like I was running super fast, no shock absorption (how I like it), felt like I was landing on the medial forefoot more easily than barefoot, not as quiet as barefoot, love the uniformity of the outsole, ADORE the width, no need for socks with their super soft inside, kind of hot even without socks.

New Balance Minimus Trail Zero: despite their being designed for trails, I like them for indoor track running because of their excellent flexibility, a little high in the stack height, outsole absorbs some impact making for a cushy run (which I don't particularly enjoy, I like no shock absorption whatsoever), love the width, need socks because the inside is kind of rough, good ventilation, not too loud on the track (in terms of sound but not colour).

Soft Star Moc3: soft inside, great width, really loud slappy sound, good ventilation, decent grip, surprisingly uncomfortably cushy on the track.

Vibram FiveFingers Performa Jane: great grip, very quiet, quite comfortable upper, no shock absorption, but I can feel the edges of the pods underfoot which is kind of distracting.

Switching shoes is a great way to make an indoor run more fun. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to do that. Winter makes me miss some of my great barefoot alternative or minimalist shoes so indoor running lets me wear them for a while. At least until Spring arrives. :)