Ran Half-Marathon Again

Yesterday morning, my wife pointed out to me an Associated Press story appearing in Thursday's Gainesville Sun. Harvard University's Daniel Lieberman, with apparently the very appropriate qualifications of being both a biologist and runner, has put forth the proposition that it is better for runners to run shoeless. His reasoning is simple enough: when people run barefoot, they tend to land on the middle or front of the foot. This minimizes the force of the body weight that the feet must absorb every time they hit the ground. Although the effect is to run faster, there is less weight to carry. Lieberman then referred to those great distance runners from East Africa who grow up running barefoot and now simply run the same way with shoes on during races. So I said to myself, "Self, let's try this out!"

The Wednesday before last, I ran my half-marathon around the neighborhood. I did it largely running almost flatfooted, I believed, to save myself from getting too tired and sore. But the effect, although keeping me from ever becoming winded, was to leave me with a lot of aches in my feet and shins. And severe leg cramps as well. Yesterday I ran a second half-marathon, taking my new information about barefoot running into account. No, I still used shoes; I simply took care to land my feet in the middle-to-toes areas. The effect automatically made me run faster, without me attempting to do so. I had intended originally to run a 5.58 mile course and see how I felt, but I decided during the run to just go as far as I could. And I ended up covering 13.1 miles in 1:56:03. This was at a pace of more than a minute less per mile than my previous half-marathon. My feet and calves did not ache as before, and the only cramping I experienced was some in my feet for a short period after the run. I did work out my lungs and heart more, though.

This experience made me wonder whether there wasn't a "minimum effective running speed" for each person, below which the body, especially the lower parts of the leg and feet, would be severely taxed by the body's full weight on landings. It certainly appeared so on yesterday's run, and I intend to continue running as I did then.

Breaking two hours for a half-marathon had been a personal milestone goal of mine that I had distant hopes of achieving in the upcoming half-marathon race in Gainesville on February 14. I ended up fulfilling it just by loping around the neighborhood without making any special effort!