Moccasins and the whole barefoot running/hiking question

[darrenleroy]

I was listening to Midweek on Radio 4 this morning when I heard Libby Purves interviewing the American journalist and writer Chris McDougall about his book Born to Run. I think the gist of it is that he met a tribe in Mexico who are famous for running long distances either barefoot or in sandals. McDougall saw that they suffered fewer injuries, trod lighter and with more finesse on the ground. He threw away his trainers and now runs barefoot. I wouldn't do the same in London because of human contaminants – glass, syringes etc, but there was a link on his website to a company that make modern moccasins for running and hiking in:

http://www.softstarshoes.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=43&aff=75270

There is also another site link to a bloke who makes huarache running sandals as mentioned in his McDougall's book:

http://www.lunasandals.com/

The nice thing is there are some instructional videos and the man who runs the site sells kits. I might give it a go.

I work in a job where I'm on my feet all day and suffer from aching feet. I wear boots in the winter and trail shoes in the summer. Also, when I run, which is three or four times a week my left foot goes numb. I know this is down to it being larger than the right and not fitting the (expensive) trainer as well as it should.

While I was in Brazil at Christmas for three weeks I wore nothing but flip flops and after getting used to the lack of support I noticed my feet were pain free at the end of the day and didn't ache in the mornings on getting out of bed. Is this a coincidence? I don't think so. I'm going to do some research into running in these moccasins and maybe even shell out on a pair.

The more I think about it the odder it is that we wear the kind of boots and shoes that we do. For the majority of man's time on earth he would have gone barefoot or worn sandals in summer and moccasins in winter. When did we change to the rubber soled behemoths we now wear!?

Has anyone given the change to a more natural foot covering some consideration?

 

[Buckshot]

I use my Vibram Five Fingers when in the woods. the only issue for me is protection against stingers etc.
SWMBO has banned me from wearing them in public otherwise I'd live in them!
If I could find somewhere that did 'normal' looking moccs, rather than a pixy look, at a sensible price I'd be tempted. Perhaps that means I have to make my own again...

Cheers

Mark

 

[Dark Horse Dave]

Have you come across the runner Gordon Pirie? He has strong opinions on footwear for running in particular:

http://www.williamsichel.co.uk/documents/Running_Fast_and_Injury_Free.pdf

 

[treadlightly]

Last August, after suffering with knee trouble for a few months, I read up about the barefooting movement and decided to gibve it a try, investing in a pair of five fingers. Ten months on I am a convert and no longer wear my heavy boots or so-called lighter summer walking shoes. My knee trouble did not magically vanish but it did improve and the whole process of walking and running felt much more natural in light, non cushioning, non-supportive footwear.

The good thing is you don't have to buy expensive branded shoes. I found a pair of flat soled leather mocassin type light shoes in a charity shop and I use them in the woods or to walk in and I have no problems with blisters or aching feet. I walked up Snowdon on a nasty day last october in my five fingers and a pair of toesocks and had no problems with grip or cold feet.

 

[darrenleroy]

Good stuff. I will have a go at changing my running technique and see how I fair. I know what you mean about the pixie look. Perhaps paint a Nike swoosh on the side!

 

[Buckshot]

Perhaps paint a Nike swoosh on the side!

I'm sure that will make all the difference!!!
lol

 

[torjusg]

For walking just around camp bare feet are sufficient. However, running with moccasins is risky business, at least in this kind of environment. Every now and then there are sharp rocks and pokers sticking up from the heather which can cut your feet. I walk barefeet to save moccasins when just close to camp, but on several hours journeys, hunting or walking with a backpack I use moccasins. I make them from moose buckskin, since it's fairly thick. It offers quite a bit of protection against the sharpest objects, but retains most of your feel on of the ground and the silence of walking barefeet.

 

[Cromm]

Cool.
And the softstarshoes look good too. I may have found a use for all the odd bits of deer, sheep skins that I have in bags.

 

[J4C3]

Did it for ages until a unseen big thorn went deep into my sole ,while 5 miles from home

 

[Retired Member southey]

All I can say is take it easy when you start to run, dont be tempted to pound out on your first couple of times out, your muscles will take a little time to get used to the different tensions and releases.try not to force any speed at all let your body dictate how things go, then after a while its great, if you can get to a sandyish beach have a few sessions there, I find i seem to run how the people look in cave drawings, all boundy and big strides.

 

[torjusg]

Did it for ages until a unseen big thorn went deep into my sole ,while 5 miles from home

Exactly, which is why natives wore footwear when on extended missions. Eventually, you will get one of those nasty pokers into your sole. I have too. Unfortunately I had an assignment and had to wear shoes after that, walking nearly 200 km in a week. The result was: A nasty infection that made my whole foot red. Took two antibiotics cures to get rid of it.

 

[darrenleroy]

i suppose the downside of wearing softer, thinner soled shoes or no shoes at all is that occasionally you will get a thorn or hit a rock. But the upside is that you move more stealthily and your feet don't suffer blisters and are able to flex naturally. I have a left foot that is wider than my right and it always rubs in boots and trainers. It doesn't rub when I wear flip flops.

I've been out on two runs using the barefoot method (although still in my trainers), the first was 10K (6.2miles) and the second 6K (4miles). After the first my calf muscles ached. I guess this was due to more strain than usual. During the run I noticed my arms came in to my sides and sat a little higher, and I found the smaller, lighter paces left me with more breath. It was a more economical gait for sure. I didn't clump around and my body was more erect and still. A day after the second run I feel fine. It took some concentration on the last mile to maintain the gait as I found myself slipping back into the heel first habit, but overall I was impressed with how easy it is to change.

 

[darrenleroy]

Have you come across the runner Gordon Pirie? He has strong opinions on footwear for running in particular:

http://www.williamsichel.co.uk/documents/Running_Fast_and_Injury_Free.pdf

Great PDF. Informative. I've never heard of him but he was pioneering it seems.

 

[darrenleroy]

For walking just around camp bare feet are sufficient. However, running with moccasins is risky business, at least in this kind of environment. Every now and then there are sharp rocks and pokers sticking up from the heather which can cut your feet. I walk barefeet to save moccasins when just close to camp, but on several hours journeys, hunting or walking with a backpack I use moccasins. I make them from moose buckskin, since it's fairly thick. It offers quite a bit of protection against the sharpest objects, but retains most of your feel on of the ground and the silence of walking barefeet.

Would you be able to post any pics of your moose buckskin moccasins? I'm sure everyone on here would love to see them.

 

[Laurentius]

I have read somewhere the BBC website I think, that fewer injuries are caused by running in barefeet because it is more natural, but I am not a runner so I can't speak from experience. I do however eschew footwear whenever I can, and after a while you can even tolerate gravel. If you go barefoot regularly you build up protective callouses. City streets, glass and dogs mess though is another matter, I stick to sandals in town.

I posted in another thread what it feels like to walk barefoot on frozen ground. Wierd!

 

[torjusg]

Would you be able to post any pics of your moose buckskin moccasins? I'm sure everyone on here would love to see them.

I posted them here:
Moccasins

 

[Mojoracinguk]

SWMBO has banned me from wearing them in public otherwise I'd live in them!

Mine has given up on that front....vibrams are an ice breaker for sure!
I have not run for a month as i was told to put orthotics in my trainers...since then I have a constant pain in my right ankle
Currently Vibrams are my most used shoes as the pain does not re appear the day after wearing them as it does if i use Orthotics.
as mentioned below it really strained my calves the first couple of runs in them....an i would invest in toe socks for two reasons.
1. to help prevent blisters (although feet do harden in time)
2. so you can wash them (otherwise the vibrams stink after a day or two, to be fair)
Mojo

 

[sasquatch]

Shame I missed thel radio broadcast, I saw a documentary on the tribe you mentioned in the original post years ago. They're an amazing lot to say the least!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarahumara

I'll never forget the documentary after seeing elders of the Tarahumara tribe take part in running all day just for a laugh. Searching for more info I came across this;

http://www.mytreadmilltrainer.com/run-fast-injury-free.html

I've never ran barefoot myself but reading this makes me want to give it a go. Dodgy hips and knees might not feel so bad once used to it

 

[darrenleroy]

My calf muscles have been killing me since I ran a fast 10K on Tuesday and a slow 6K yesterday. I suppose they're not used to the new forefoot first motion. I'm persevering with it though. Just need to ditch my trainers next…

Great Moccasins, Torjus. You're an inspiration.

 

[rawshak]

I used to go barefoot from April through to November without going near any kind of footwear, and did so for around five years. You do build up feet like a hobbit, but once you get to that stage, very little hurts your feet. The odd pointy rock would occasionally bruise the foot through the leathery layer, but I used to pull glass out the bottom of my feet on a fairly regular basis with no pain or problems as it rarely went though the thick layer of skin on the sole.

I would highly recommend the experience. It puts you in touch with the terrain in a unique way. While my feet felt great, I did however actually end up getting quite a lot of pain in my knees through doing it, which is why I ultimately stopped. I do have an existing knee problem, so this maybe isn't going to be an issue for everyone. I put the problem down to pavements, there is no give in them, and the constant pounding eventually took its toll.

I would still suggest giving it a try, it's well worth working through the 'sore feet' period. Just keep the pavement pounding to a minimum