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[Guest agteros]

Hogwash.

 

Always concise!

 

 

People should first read the literature, and if not convince try it themselves, then make wild (substantiated) statements!

[Guest agteros]

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Edited October 30, 2011 by agteros

[tunariaan]

i agree running barefoot is MIGHT be good

Then again if your foot does srike hard and you have proper support it should be fine in most shoes

Running with a string between your toes, lekker especially when it;s serious downhill

You run Simola downhill on the Knysna marathon doing a sub 4min pace with that thingy between your toes and it cant be too comfy

Anyway do it first and tell me what it feels like

Anyway i gave my opinion take it or leave it ; i am also moving to very light shoes specially the racers since i enjoy fast running so i believe in natural aswell

All i am saying watch out for injuries and run with whats comfy for you and not for others

I know what work for me and needs no convincing

Doing a trailrun specially in the mountain and going downhill , well i will rather do it in something better

[Guest agteros]

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Edited October 30, 2011 by agteros

[Guest agteros]

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Edited October 30, 2011 by agteros

[Wyatt Earp]

Obviously horses for courses, etc. The strap between the toes is actually smaller than those of the flip-flops I wore when I was a kid. it "might" become a problem on SERIOUS downhills, but that will most probably be because of improper gait / over-striding. I heard no negative feedback on the Comrades down hills. Most probably because of proper foot strike and no over-striding?

 

Anyway, I'll take a chance on one downhill which MIGHT be uncomfortable rather than a whole 42/21/10/5km being uncomfortable in shoes. (I do come from a barefoot running background right through high school - track middle distances and cross country (but that is 1/2 a lifetime ago!)

 

I hear you on the trail run, as I have not tried it myself - find them overpriced, however I cannot see the problem. Will definitely go do a few runs around Northern Farm / the Spruit when I have time to play. If a trail run borders on mountaineering I'm not interested as I am not a budding mountain climber. Horses for courses come to mind again. I want to run, not climb mountains!

The Vibram Komodo steps is.

[jannosmit]

my babies, here's my review for Duesouth https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150158206591134.292840.596391133&l=0990732dca&type=1

 

I like them, you have to ease into them though, kuite werk harder, maar geen geswikte enkels nie

[Guest agteros]

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Edited October 30, 2011 by agteros

[TNT1]

If a trail run borders on mountaineering I'm not interested as I am not a budding mountain climber. Horses for courses come to mind again. I want to run, not climb mountains!

 

You see, I'm a free climber with a passion for bouldering. So after wearing climbing shoes, pretty much everything feels good

[tunariaan]

How is that Merrels grip on wet rocky patches, the other day we ran Robberg point as training for the Otter, they guy running with me slipped a few times then a few weeks after that we did another trailrun , this time officaily racing it

we ran First and second swopping the whole time but again he came down 3 times very hard onto his knees through slipping, he says he loves the shoes( it the new purple colour) merrels but the amount of times he slipped was not good so maybe it good shoes but the sole is not the best

might check these blue merrels out before i get sone inovs

[DavidE373]

I am BarefootSA Dave :-)

 

My site is still in development but I am thrilled someone has already found it!

 

I written a piece on how my Vibrams saved a run, the Mont Aux Sources Challenge, it's on the Runners World website.

 

My next step is to have sandals made (I'm currently in Vibrams) and then I would eventually like to go completely barefoot but I am concerned about all the crap lying in the road.

 

If anyone would like any help with barefoot running please feel free to get in touch with me.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I have done some research into it since our last "chat" and I have to say "sorry man", but I am totally unconvinced on the benefits of running barefoot or in sandals

 

I would say it will only be good for light neutral runners, however, very few (less than 10% of all runners are natural (neutral) strikers, the overwhelming majority of us are pronators / supinators of some sort, and shoes most definitely provide shock absorption and cushioning to the knees, legs, hips and ankles for these biomechanical issues.

 

Also, in my experience tired, battered legs cannot maintain a perfect stride or strike and so, like in long distances will be far more more susceptible to injury with no shoes or sandals, - there is no doubt in my mind on this matter.

 

You also need to look at the requirements of some runners for orthotics, ignoring biomechanical issues (which we all have) is almost guaranteed to cause hip and knee injuries over the long term, hell even the great Bruce Fordyce had a serious overpronation, which he corrected with specially made shoes and minor orthotics.

 

Maybe it also depends on what you call long distance, jogging 5km twice a week is unlikely to cause long term injury, running 120kms a week with an unsupported pronation / supination will almost certainly cause long term injury.

[Guest agteros]

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Edited October 30, 2011 by agteros

[Wyatt Earp]

I have done some research into it since our last "chat" and I have to say "sorry man", but I am totally unconvinced on the benefits of running barefoot or in sandals

 

I would say it will only be good for light neutral runners, however, very few (less than 10% of all runners are natural (neutral) strikers, the overwhelming majority of us are pronators / supinators of some sort, and shoes most definitely provide shock absorption and cushioning to the knees, legs, hips and ankles for these biomechanical issues.

 

Also, in my experience tired, battered legs cannot maintain a perfect stride or strike and so, like in long distances will be far more more susceptible to injury with no shoes or sandals, - there is no doubt in my mind on this matter.

 

You also need to look at the requirements of some runners for orthotics, ignoring biomechanical issues (which we all have) is almost guaranteed to cause hip and knee injuries over the long term, hell even the great Bruce Fordyce had a serious overpronation, which he corrected with specially made shoes and minor orthotics.

 

Maybe it also depends on what you call long distance, jogging 5km twice a week is unlikely to cause long term injury, running 120kms a week with an unsupported pronation / supination will almost certainly cause long term injury.

Grumpy

 

I will be very honest, reading your response I think you might have only perhaps seen one side of the argument.

The orthotics and cushioned shoes is where the problems started.

We have all been blessed with a malleolus cushion on the forefoot, this cushion can be found on all animals in nature.

The way we land on that cushion with a combination of the muscles as opposed to out joints dealing with the impact is where the validity of barefoot/forefoot running starts coming in to play.

As a forefoot striker you are also free from being pronator or supinator.

As rac. here I would opt for total barefoot freedom, the sandals don't appeal to me, I get a bit rough especially on the trail and I can see the thong bugging me.

The Vibrams kinda remind me of the movie Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs where the fella walks around in spray on shoes.

Grumps, get a book called Born to Run, it's really an awesome read.

[SwissVan]

Grumpy

 

I will be very honest, reading your response I think you might have only perhaps seen one side of the argument.

The orthotics and cushioned shoes is where the problems started.

We have all been blessed with a malleolus cushion on the forefoot, this cushion can be found on all animals in nature.

The way we land on that cushion with a combination of the muscles as opposed to out joints dealing with the impact is where the validity of barefoot/forefoot running starts coming in to play.

As a forefoot striker you are also free from being pronator or supinator.

As rac. here I would opt for total barefoot freedom, the sandals don't appeal to me, I get a bit rough especially on the trail and I can see the thong bugging me.

The Vibrams kinda remind me of the movie Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs where the fella walks around in spray on shoes.

Grumps, get a book called Born to Run, it's really an awesome read.

 

I’m kind of with GOG on this, thousands of years ago when man started wearing shoes or something that resembled shoes it was not because the Nike salesman told him he would run better, but because he had a need to wear shoes. Why exactly he decided to improve on his foot situation is open to debate and interpretation and pointless imo, the point is since then feet and the way we live have evolved i.e. we now wear shoes and don’t live life like a caveman.

 

I do believe that going barefoot or minimalistic has definite benefits for our feet, legs and lower extremity biomechanics. However I would be inclined to limit barefoot minimalistic activity to a regular but casual activity i.e. walking around at home, shopping, playing with the kids / dog etc....

 

I have a question for the barefoot clan, hopefully someone has an answer:

Q: What if someone has “dropped metatarsals” and experiences pain in the region of the affected metatarsal due to the close proximity of the joint to the sole (in the case of someone wearing shoes) or the ground in the case of someone who is barefoot, how does running in sandals, minimalistic shoes or barefoot affect these people?

[Zaskar09]

I have no idea as to the dropped metatarsals but people started wearing shoes because it was cold (europe) when Jan got here in 1652 everyone was still very much running around barefoot. Tell a boesman that he has "dropped metatarsals", I think he'll probably run away. . . barefoot.