December 8, 2024
Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Races

Could you run the Reggae Marathon barefoot?

How much would you pay for a hat that made you stupid? Just think of it… what sort of value would you place on a magic piece of headgear that could suddenly make all of your knowledge inaccessible and all of your know-how unusable? If you’re like most people, not only would you refuse to pay money for such a hat, but you’d likely also avoid wearing one at all costs. It simply doesn’t make sense to shell out money for something that would detract from your abilities, not enhance them.

As it turns out, there’s a considerable amount of evidence to suggest that’s precisely what we do when we buy most running shoes. We spend considerable amounts of money on shoes, intending to improve our running performance. Instead, the shoes we buy often slow us down and cause many of our chronic injuries in the process.

In fact, an intrepid group of scientists and exercise physiologist are persuasively making the case that our bodies know how to run properly but this innate wisdom is short-circuited when we try to run in expensive, over-engineered shoes. The video below demonstrates quite convincingly that discarding one’s running shoes will — all by itself — significantly improve an average runner’s stride.

(For a more thorough analysis of the mechanics of barefoot running, be sure to check out this video featuring Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman.)

As Christopher McDougall suggested in the title of his groundbreaking book, we are all “born to run.” The point of minimalist running is that it allows you to access the font of running wisdom that is already hard-wired into your body. In my experience, barefoot-style running produces fewer injuries, greater speed, more unadulterated joy. If you get rid of those over-engineered running shoes, you might find that it does the same thing for you.

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This guest blog post is from George Colombo who believes in natural running.  Check him out on his blog, Natural Stride Sports.

Until next time…

Reggae Marathon RunninGuy

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