The Barefoot Revolution

I've probably already mentioned this, but I wrote a one hour single drama for tv based on the book Born To Run about ultradistance runners searching for some sort of distillation of what makes humans natural runners.

Some creatures are in capable of it, some can but can't last long. The thing which makes us different to our competitors in the animal kingdom is our sweat glands, we don't overheat and so forth.

So this post is about death and rebirth. The death of my Saucony Pro Grids, ones that I bought in 2008 and proceeded to murder up until a few weeks ago, where we finished an 8 mile race, which would retire my former pristine white trainers that had devolved not just in colour, but in it's sole. Slowly my running has worn it down over the course of these years, where I have accumulated at least 700 miles in them. A smart person, would've bought a new pair of trainers after a year, but I wanted to keep wearing them until the day whilst running they crumbled off and it was just my feet padding the ground instead of my former protective shell, breaking out of the cocoon.

That weird fantasy did not come to pass, but upon the end of my 8 mile race, I was exhausted, out of breath, injured and all I wanted to do was take off my trainers hold them above my head and walk around in respect to them, much to the bewilderment of the crowds. But I just hobbled back to the car. I took one week off from all training, and then one week off from running.

My Grids and I have been through an evolutionary phase in my running. I used to be a heel striker, I used to get injured more often, with shin splints usually being the main culprit. Then my dad said I had to read a book called Born To Run: The Rise of Ultra'running and the Super-athlete Tribe. I got through it in that summer, it was about an adventure of these runners trying to find a legendary Mexican Indian running tribe intercut with research and brief interviews about the evolution of the running shoe and how it has become overcomplicated and heavy. I slowly started changing my running strides and I was a part convert to the book. It all made a lot of sense, but I was not going to throw away my Grids, I can't throw things out that fast. We were going to see things through.


I wrote a spec of it for class at University, it must have been the first forty page script I had ever written. I still feel guilty for my friends taking part in my readthroug, that was a slog. 


Fast forward to today, I knew I wanted new running trainers, I'd cut the laces off my Grids, like it was an ubilical cord. I went out searching for the mystical pair of trainers that would fit all my needs. The theories that the book was pushing is still very much a sub-culture and there are a few minimal/barefoot running shoes from different companies. I wanted something different to my Grids, I didn't know what but all the regular running trainers felt too heavy and looked more like an 18 wheeler truck. Like a kid with their drivers license trying out the most expensive car, I tried out some barefoot trainers.


Minimus, I had to go through three pairs before I got the perfect fit. They are more like gloves than shoes in the way they have to fit. I tried them out of the treadmill, it was like running as a gazelle. It felt good, I bought them.




Now, the thing about changing from regular running trainers to barefoot/minimal shoes is that it takes time for your body to get used to the new way of running, because they are as light as a feather and make you land on your forefoot because there is hardly any cushioning.

It should be faster for me, because I destroyed so much of the cushioning on my grids that I was basically do a not far off version. I can't stand modern trainers in the way that they bounce when you run, it feels like I'm on the moon, not running.

So yeah, I did a two mile run earlier, I sprinted, I jogged, I ran uphill, I ran downhill, I ran on the road, I ran on the mud, I ran on the grass, I ran on stones, I ran slow, I ran fast. I tried them out throughly. 

It is tough, but a new journey in my running.

I mourn the loss of my Grids

I welcome my Minimus' 


I don't know why I get attached my running shoes. It is pretty weird, but at least I don't give them names.