Barefoot U turn: Is Barefoot Running Practical?

With regular trail runs throughout the summer all set at a distance of 10km (aiming for quality over quantity), a change in diet including reduction in alcohol to practically nil, and use of Dunn's River as a recovery drink I am finding that I am experiencing an explosion in fitness. Although some weeks I only manage one run of 10k (last two weeks) on a good week I do 30k. I am getting to the point of looking at a half marathon distance however I am finding myself questioning the barefoot running concept, least of all because I trod on a sharp stone the other day which bruised my foot and I had to limp home...

Here are my thoughts...
I think being almost middle aged and having no need for competition puts one in a delightful situation of being able to do something for the sheer pleasure of it. It wasn't so easy when I was young and the insidious Ego was ever present; the days when if I saw other runners I would puff out my chest (and hold my breath so they couldn't hear my laboured breathing) and run really fast only to stop when I got around the corner and no one could see me. Or be overly conscious of what I looked like. Or how fast I did or how many miles I averaged.

Having said that I think the Ego has crept into my running in my self-identification as a barefoot runner. Suddenly the average man is a little less average, with people remarking that it is "hardcore" and people doing double takes in the street. I suspect many average runners are attracted to the concept for the same reason. I can't run well but I can focus on a minority trend and do that fairly well and call myself Barefoot Adamski. Sort of . You get the point. The Ego has crept back into running. I mean I even have the epithet "barefoot runner" on my twitter page. It sounds cool....but....now I feel a bit ridiculous. I will have to change it...Why feel the need to identify as one thing or another? But I suppose that's human nature.

However barefoot running, or should I say in my case "barefoot" running in VFF has been a useful tool for posture re-education and muscle strengthening. I have quite a pronounced leg length deformity, my left leg is about an inch shorter, and barefoot running seems to (on the whole) compensate for this. As part of a "training" program VFF has been invaluable to me.

However barefoot running has one or two (or three) very limiting factors.

1) true barefoot running is really limited to smooth trails or paths or sand beaches. However most of my trail runs involve gravel tracks and or paths with sharp stones. I wanted to go totally barefoot but I cannot see how this could be practical. I don't want to end up with a cut foot 3 miles from home, or tread in dog's excrement. The urban environment may have other risks such as broken glass. Hence I cannot take off my Vibram Five Fingers, I need shoes...and regardless of the shape, VFF's are shoes.

2) Speed (lack of). Barefoot is really quite slow and it seems that a lot of the muscles are concentrated on keeping the foot fall light and this seems to sacrifice speed. Not a major issue but for (trail) running having to keep at a slow pace kind of limits the progress of ones quest for improved fitness.

3) In trail running I have to walk through ditches and other obstacles for fear of twisting my ankle or breaking something...

Now...lets talk Paleo... the whole barefoot thing is meant to be like the cave man thing right? I have to say running in the VFF has unleashed my inner animal or connected me to the sensation of a prehistoric past. When I run through the pine forests I imagine my ancestors running with flint spears after some fleeing prey. However...in cold climates prehistoric man would have had some covering to his feet.

I recollect the occasion when I first run barefoot. I was on the estate of the anthropologist Bernard Grant Campbell (author of the paleoanthropological textbook Humankind Emerging) , when I kicked off my shoes and ran around a paddock. It was a revelation. However I think that we must give our prehistoric man / woman some credit. I think (for example) if we could bring Mr and Mrs Prehistoric in  a time machine and present them with my trail run they would fashion some leather shoes. He or she wouldn't risk injury. You have to live to run another day.

So it brings me back to the concept of barefoot running, and the inherent design fault in the Vibram Five Fingers, and (after much internet research) have ordered my first pair of Skora running shoes. I feel a slight traitor to the cause, however I think that a prehistoric man would have made a "minimalist" shoe for running, he wouldn't have fashioned toe pockets as per the VFF. It is an uneconomic design with no benefit other that the style and I suspect aesthetic considerations were not high on a prehistoric man or woman's considerations when they fashioned their moccasins. So I now patiently await my Skora shoes...A review will follow in due course.