The Barefoot Running Book - Jason Robillard [29]
Being able to run smooth is the last concept prior to increasing speed and distance. To run efficiently, you must be both relaxed and be able to run by gently touching the ground with each step.
To add efficiency, make sure all body parts are moving forward. Don’t allow your arms or legs to swing wildly from side-to-side. Flailing is a tell-tale sign of inefficiency. Only lift your feet as high as necessary to clear the tallest obstacles in your path. Work on limiting your vertical up-and-down movement as much as possible.
Some runners will waste energy and increase shock by “hopping” with every step. In almost every case, hopping is caused by overstriding.
One analogy I’ve found useful is imagining I am a graceful animal, such as a gazelle. Other times, I may think I am water smoothly flowing over the terrain.
Concept—Experimentation
“Each of us is an experiment of one—observer and subject—
making choices, living with them, recording the effects.”
—George Sheehan
Learning to run barefoot will require you to try many different techniques and methods. To be successful you must be open to experimentation; adopting anything that works and discarding anything that does not.
Whenever you encounter something new, try it a few times. If it seems to lead to improvement, stick with it. If not, revert back to what worked best. When going through this process, it is important to change only one variable at a time. If you attempt to change multiple things, it will be impossible to determine which variables were successful or unsuccessful. Some find it helpful to keep a journal of the changes they try to determine what does and does not work.
Studying other running techniques like Good Form Running®, Evolution Running®, ChiRunning®, and Pose® can be useful in this regard. Each method will have many different teaching points and drills that can be used for experimentation.
Activity—Fartlek Run
A Fartlek run is a training run of varying speed with no predetermined pace. You run based on feel. When doing Fartlek runs, start slow to warm up. Once warm, speed up to the fastest pace you are currently comfortable running. This will be determined by your barefoot experience. If you are new to barefoot running, this will be a slow pace. After several months of barefoot running, this pace will approach or even surpass your 5K pace.
For myself I will run at this pace for a short time, perhaps one minute. I do not predetermine the time, I just run based on feel. Once I tire, I will slow down to a near-walking pace. Sometimes I will actually walk. Once I am sufficiently recovered, I will speed up again. The total time I spend on this run will usually be predetermined, but the actual content of the run will be based on how I feel during the run. This activity can be completed once or twice per week.
Fartlek runs constitute a major component of my training (see appendix).
Issue—Top Of the Foot Pain (TOFP)
One of the dangers of beginning barefoot running is doing too much too soon. Your feet have likely spent most of their active life confined in shoes. Shoes weaken the bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons of your feet. The skin on the soles of your feet will not be accustomed to the sensory input from the ground. In order to prevent injuries, it is important to begin barefoot running cautiously.
Do not give in to the temptation to “run through the pain.” The soft-tissue injuries that can occur during the foot-strengthening process can set your progress back by weeks or even months. TOO MUCH TOO SOON injuries are the greatest obstacle to successfully transitioning to barefoot running!
One fairly universal complaint is often referred to as the “top of the foot pain,” or metatarsalgia. It feels like a dull ache on the top side of your foot. This seems to be a function of your foot anatomy adapting to the different