Day 17 - Podiatrists on elites switching to barefoot shoes

My cousin, Emma, is a podiatrist, a foot expert. And she's about to complete her first half marathon in Tewksbury. So she's been following my blog with a certain amount of interest, and pointed me to an article in Podiatry Today. As you can no doubt imagine, I'm not a frequent reader of this foot-based periodical, but on this occasion it's right up my street. They've brought together a panel of podiatry experts and asked them about their experience of patients who are keen on barefoot/minimalist running.

It's noticeable that none of them is a particular advocate of the craze. They don't dismiss it, but tend to give “it depends” type answers when asked how they respond to patients who are interested in giving it a go. Most talk about assessing the current fitness/strength/flexibility etc of the patient, and they generally deem it unsuitable for a beginner-runner

It gets most interesting when they are asked whether any of their elite running patients have ever switched to barefoot or minimalist running. I've often noted that elite runners don't run barefoot (with a nod to Zola of course, though even she ended up shod), and you certainly never see them in a pair of FiveFingers. But I've often supposed that elite runners don't need these minimalist shoes. For whatever reason, they already run in a fast, efficient style, regardless of what is on their feet. But it's interesting to hear whether any have tried. Here's a little digest of what the doctors had to say.

Dr Richie. One veteran ironman triathlete made the switch, trying to find more speed. He'd apparently been injury free for 4 years but within 3 months of changing had developed a stress fracture. Two others have switched and had no problems, but they mix barefoot and shod running.

Dr Johncock. Only one, who made a total switch to Vibrams. He ended up with a metatarsal fracture. A number of other patients use barefoot running in their training, but it accounts for less than 10% of their mileage. He has noticed more elite runners moving to lighter less supportive shoes.

Dr Romansky. Many have switched, but few use minimalist shoes exclusively. He says they alternate between a barefoot shoe and a zero-drop shoe. I think this might depend a little on where you draw the line between barefoot and minamlist.

Dr Kirby makes the point that all his elite patients were already running in minimalist shoes – racing flats that is. So it's not really such a new idea. In fact he finds it a bit laughable that anyone thinks it is. He makes the point that there are no current world records held by barefoot runners. But, as I said above, I'm not sure world record holders need barefoot shoes.

Neither Dr Sanders nor Dr Blake has had an elite runner make the switch. And Dr Johncock talks from a runners point of view (his own) about noticing more ultra-runners in barefoot shoes. He seems particularly pleased that none of them have beaten him in anything over a marathon. Interestingly, he says that did try make the transition himself, in a six-month experiment. But he ended up with an achilles injury. However, does say that he has ended up wearing lighter shoes as a result so clearly his style or preference has changed in someway

I'm not particularly surprised that they haven't really had elite runners make the switch to barefoot. When you consider that elite runners, with a natural flair for running, will tend to have a better basic form it seems less necessary for them to do something so dramatic. Also, distance runners are putting in 100 miles and more a week. The vast majority of keen amateurs will do a third of that or less, and I would think that allows the luxury of removing the cushioning and enjoying the barefoot experience. Elites are far more likely to run into problems putting in all those miles without at least some cushioning.

Fortunately for me I am unlikely to become an elite runner, so I can probably continue with my experiment for now. If I find myself getting too fast I will of course review that.