Barefoot Vs Shoes

Runner's World recently came out with another article.  It was complete brilliance.  OK, maybe I am being sarcastic.  But all of these barefoot vs running shoes debates are kind of stupid.  In this one they test a bunch of different runners to see where they are most efficient.  They find that the people who run in shoes with no added weight are more efficient than those who run barefoot with no added weight.  It's a great discovery and all except I think they forget one thing... Every single person they tested probably is your average runner who run's in Asics Kayanos or Brooks Adrenalines, pretty typical trainers.  Now, if they performed the same study on a practiced barefoot runner or one who ran in Vibram Five Fingers or New Balance Minimus I think the results would show that each runner is most efficient in what they use most often.  I recently read "Natural Running" by Danny Abshire, the founder of Newton Running and he said that runners in traditional trainers have become efficient at running inefficiently.  I think that this is a poor study but I can't think of a better one myself.  However, I do have an idea; let every runner find what works best for them.  Every runner can't do the barefoot thing and I can't run in Nike Structures or Asics Kayanos.  I have found that somewhere in between is the best for me.  I do relatively high intensity and high volume on somewhat minimal shoes and it works great.  Somehow, every time I start talking about running it comes back to talking about how every runner is different. Anyway, Happy Runnings, experiment and find what works for you!

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This Day In Running- March 7th

1982- Jarmila Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia sets the indoor world record in the 400 meter run with a clocking of 49.59.  Jarmila set world records in the outdoor 400 and 800 in the span of 10 days the next summer at the age of 32.



1997- Wilson Kipketer, a resident of Denmark, of Kenyan descent, sets world indoor record over 800 meters.  Wilson would go on to beat this record just two days later.  Wilson was a remarkable athlete having run under 1:44 in the 800 for 10 straight years.  He also had the world record outdoors until the recent exploits of David Rudisha.

Kipketer, 233

This Day In Track- March 6th

1994- Colin Jackson of the UK set the indoor 60m hurdles world record in Sindelfingen, Germany with a time of 7.30 seconds.  Colin won three world championships and took home one silver at the Olympics in three tries.  Around the time of his record, 1993 to 1995, Jackson went 44 races without losing.  During this period he also won a Euro championships in the 60m with a record 6.49 seconds.

Colin Jackson

2011- Teddy Tamgho set the indoor triple jump world record.  He also set the second best indoor jump ever.  He set the record of 17.92 meters on his 2nd and 4th jumps of the 2011 European Championships.  Teddy is only 22 years old and already has a world championship.

Winning the Worlds