Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Touting the benefits of barefoot/minimalist running.  The whole movement makes sense.  If you see people walking, and look at their shoes, you see feet/toes, crammed into narrow toed shoes, often with a big heel causing your foot to continually slide down to the "point".  No wonder people have problems with their feet!  Began running in huaraches, the flat sandal similar to that used by the Tarahumara Indians of northern Mexico.  They are famous for running hundreds of miles, using only sandals made of tire tread, laced to their feet with leather thongs.  Running in huaraches, or better yet, barefoot is a truly liberating experience!  You must start slow, as your foot strike has to change from the plodding heel to toe gait that many runners have while wearing "running shoes" with heavy padding on the heels and throughout the foot pad.  Once you have done it, though, you realize that THIS is how your feet were designed to work by a million years of evolution.  I realize that the billions of dollars annually spent on the "Running Shoe Industry" is a horrible rip-off.  You won't find a better design than that which exists on the end of your leg already.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

I realized something during my morning run today.  Fat is nature's way of telling you to get off of your butt.