Born to Run?

On a trip to Los Angeles last month I read Chris McDougall's Born to Run. The book is an amazing piece of narrative-meets-investigative-journalism that tales why the knees, ankles, and feet of technologically advanced runners (i.e. those wearing expensive running shoes) are injured more frequently than runners wearing little or no supportive footwear. Throw in an incredible story of a race in the Copper Canyon of Mexico between the Tarahumara Indians and some of the best (and quirkiest) ultrarunners in the United States as well as a little evolutionary biology claiming that humans were born to run and you have a fun summer read. It definitely made me want to hit the trails each time I put the book down.

Considering my current bout with running injury one of the most helpful concepts from the book was McDougall's description of the foot's arch:

"Your foot's centrepiece is the arch, the greatest weight-bearing design ever created. The beauty of any arch is the way it gets stronger under stress; the harder you push down, the tighter its parts mesh. Push up from underneath and you weaken the whole structure."



The analogy of a Roman Arch is helpful. If we were to add a column directly under the keystone of a Roman Arch--hoping to provide it with some support in its old age--it wouldn't be long before the compressive action of the arch was destroyed and the entire structure crumbled. McDougall similarly claims that expensive running shoes eventually destroy the natural arching action of the foot.

The take home for me is my need to strengthen the muscles in my feet. McDougall's argument was the specific impetus for my current experiment in barefoot running. Over the last three weeks I have increased from 100 meter stride outs to 3 mile grass runs completely barefoot. The experience has been exhilarating, especially in the early morning when the grass is still wet and the air is cool. This past weekend I got up to 5 miles in a pair of Vibram Five Fingers (KSO model). As of yet I have no discernibly stronger feet but its been a fun experiment. My ultimate goal is to be able to hang with this guy: