female barefoot /brooks/against minimalism

Finally! A FEMALE barefoot runner!





www.runBARE.com President & Co-Founder, Jessica Lee takes a light barefoot run down a cycling path in Boulder, CO. After 3 months of training, Jessica is up from 1 mile with shoes on, to 4 or 5 miles barefoot. Form & Technique Analysis of Jessica's run to follow. Women, you can run barefoot, too!


How could something we have for free—our bare feet—be better for running than $150 shoes? The truth is that running in shoes is high-impact, unstable, and inflexible. Shoes promote a heel-centric ground strike, which weakens your feet, knees, and hips, and leads to common running injuries. In contrast, barefoot running is low-impact, forefoot-centric, stable, and beneficial to your body. It encourages proper form and strengthens your feet in miraculous ways.
When you run in shoes, you not only risk developing poor form, but you also hinder the natural relationship with the ground that running facilitates. Barefoot running restores the delightful sensory and spiritual connections to the earth that you were meant to experience.
Barefoot Running offers the only step-by-step direction runners need at any age to overcome injuries, run faster than ever, and rediscover the pure joy of running. Once you tear off your shoes and learn to dance with nature, you’ll tread lightly and freely, hearing only the earth’s symphony and feeling only the dirt beneath your feet. Hit the ground running with revolutionary techniques for starting out slowly, choosing minimalist footwear, navigating rough weather and rugged terrain, and building your feet into living shoes.
So You Want to Get into Barefoot Running...
If your goal is to use barefoot running to improve your stride, here are five key considerations to keep in mind to keep you healthy.

Form – Focus on your form. Make sure it doesn’t change when you go back into a shoe. Some shoes won’t let you run like you did barefoot - they don’t flex right, have a funny last (shape of the

Take note of the curvature of your shoes and compare this shape to the shape of your foot. Is this a right fit?

shoe) which curves your feet or toes, or have a big heel - stay away from these. In general, look for a shoe that gets you closest to the ground and lets your foot move most naturally (more on this in our current and upcoming reviews).
Fit – Even a “good” shoe, or rather a “better than traditional” shoe can get you if it doesn’t fit right. If it’s curving up in the front, constricts your toes, doesn’t let your foot bend naturally, or binds your foot, putting pressure or your plantar fascia, no matter what the marketing and sales pitches, stay away.
Feel – If you can’t feel the ground, particularly in cushy footwear, it’s easy to go back to a heavy landing, or even a mid-foot or heel strike. Make sure you’re still striding light in your new shoes. The best way to do this - take off your headphones and listen to your landing. See how light you can land. If you can’t land light in the shoe, find something else.
Increasing mileage or speed – When we’re in a shoe, we’re no longer letting our skin be our guide. There is a natural tendency to increase speed or duration too quickly. This is a surefire way for an overuse injury in or out of a shoe.
Listening to our bodies – Barefoot, our bodies quickly tell us what’s going on. What we need to do different and if there are any tweaks or twinges of pain. In a shoe this is much more difficult. We tend to push hard, go fast, and pound away the miles. Even if we’ve spent a good deal of time barefoot, it’s too easy to veto the body and just “go for it” once we’re back in a shoe. Don’t give in to temptation, instead listen to your body with each and every step.

Your feet know best, but in a shoe they’re blindfolded and it’s hard to stay safe. You need to remain hyper-vigilant and stay in tune with every step. If you do so, your feet will carry you through the miles, almost effortlessly.

Focus on these five key points and it’ll help keep you safe and injury free as you dabble in the world of minimalist footwear. Most importantly, trust your gut at every turn. If it doesn’t like a shoe, don’t wear it. If it wants the day off, don’t push through. And if you know something’s up with your form or the way you’re hitting the ground, stop, re-evaluate, or get professional coaching before you tear yourself apart.

~ Coach Michael Sandler
http://www.runbare.com/taxonomy/term/131

video

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http://www.runBARE.com

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Brooks Pure Project: The Pure Flow Shoe Review


New Brooks minimal footwear line: "Pure Project" shoes have a low profile, are lightweight, flexible, and promote a more natural (forefoot) strike. The shoe discussed here is the "Pure Flow" which is a neutral shoe that has a little more cushioning (compared to the "Pure Connect"). 2:16 marathoner and Brooks sponsored athlete Sage Canaday talks about some of the design features, why they are better than Vibrams, and runs in them outside. Slow motion video clips of the shoe in action demonstrate how the technology promotes a forefoot strike.
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Merrell Fall 2012 Sneak Peek

Check out our sneak peek of Merrell's barefoot line including Vibram outsoles and predominantly 0mm drop. These are minimal the way minimal was meant to be. Colors shown are only available at running specialty stores in the fall of 2012.

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Steve Maxwell: Modify Your Shoes





Steve Maxwell: Modify Your Shoes 2





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against minimalism

http://www.flotrack.org/blog/19549-Minimalism-in-Running