Barefoot Running -- according to a running shoe makerA review of Natural Running, by Danny Abshire and Brian Metzlerreview by Smelph
[Editor's note -- All the discussion of barefoot running in the past few years has boiled down to an interesting consensus in the media. Few running experts these days are aggressively defending highly padded and structured shoes for most runners. Indeed some shoe makers, such as Newton Running's Danny Abshire, acknowledge that such shoes could be part of the running injury problem rather than a measure of prevention. The solution, they say, isn't necessarily abandoning shoes whole hog, it's learning to run with good form, that is, in a barefoot-inspired way. Here Smelph reads Abshire's book and sees what a barefoot runner can learn from a running shoe expert, and examines how much that expert knows about bare feet. --stomper]
Natural Running: The Simple Path to Stronger, Healthier Running.
by Danny Abshire and Brian Metzler, Velo Press. ISBN: 9781934030653
Before I get too far into the review of this book I must say: I am not a part of this book's target audience! I have been running for about 9 months and barefoot for about 7 months. I have considered myself a barefoot runner since the first time I took off my shoes and ran (happily, I might add) the 300 feet to the end of the block and I still consider myself a barefoot runner after completing my first marathon on May 1, 2011 despite having to resort to cushioned trainers to get me the final 6 miles to the finish line (you don't understand how hard it is to coax good form out of a pair of “normal” trainers until you need to do it at mile 21!).
When I first received my review copy of the book thanks to the good people at Velopress, I thought “hey, here is a book for all the people I know who like the idea of barefoot running but who just aren't comfortable running without some kind of protection on their feet!” The tagline on the back cover said it all: “Enjoy all the benefits of barefoot running – while wearing shoes.” Unfortunately my initial enthusiasm faded by the middle of the book and I found myself seeing this tagline as not much more than an attempt to exploit the fears of would-be barefooters nervous about the soles of their feet.
Indeed, each time barefoot running is mentioned the author resorts to the standard “damning evidence” about how dangerous barefoot running is: the world is a dangerous place and apparently the ground is absolutely covered with glass, gravel and other horrible hazards that runners don't usually notice when in a shoe. Since just about every barefoot runner I have met knows to watch where they are going in order to avoid (or at least minimize) such hazards, I eventually began to question how much barefoot running experience Mr. Abshire has to draw from. He certainly has plenty of running experience and plenty of professional experience dealing with footwear related injuries, but when his strongest argument against barefoot running can be shot down by saying “watch where you're going”, it seems he could use a little more experience with it before discounting it as he does.
So getting into the book itself, there is one obvious fact that rears its ugly head at every turn: this is a book written from the perspective of a shoe/orthotic manufacturer. From the introduction, Danny Abshire has made his living first making ski boot insoles, then to forefoot orthotics (lightweight, flexible ones targeting specific areas of the forefoot in particular), and finally as a co-founder of Newton Running. This is something that most barefoot runners will find difficult to get past (I know I did), but that most minimalist runners or folks just entering the world of barefoot and minimalist running will probably not notice.
The first section of Natural Running focuses on the general concept, describing Natural Running in relatively vague terms (it would be expanded upon in chapter 8 ) and generally asking the same questions as many of the books on barefoot running I have read: “If shoe technology is so advanced, why all the injuries?” It then goes on to provide some statistics and an entire chapter on the history of the running shoe, which I actually found pretty interesting. Kind of a spin on the “road to hell is paved with good intentions” kind of story. It's a good read, even if you don't care about the rest of the book.
The next section covers various mechanics of running, and for the most part was a valuable read despite clearly being written from the shoe industry's point of view. It is made abundantly clear in this section that Mr. Abshire's problem isn't with shoes so much as it is with the raised heel present in most running shoes, as it more or less forces people to run with incorrect form and eventually causes all kinds of health problems. He touches on barefoot running briefly here and there, but mainly as an example of “yeah it would be great to run barefoot, but the world is just not safe enough.” Reading this section I learned quite a bit about running mechanics and the imbalances that plague shod runners, even if it was tainted (in my opinion) by the “written by the shoe industry” undertones.
Following the chapters on biomechanics, Mr. Abshire goes into common injuries and the general forces that cause them. This was an informative chapter to me, as it didn't just point out a form flaw and say “this causes shin splints.” The injuries were described as being caused by rotational, impact and propulsive forces. The descriptions and form fixes are well described, but they tend to all come back to the heel striking form so it's unclear if this was a section where the author spent 3 pages saying what could have been said in a paragraph. There was also no mention of how to treat these injuries if they occur, instead focusing on injury prevention. That said, I have read several other books with sections on injuries that went far past the heel strike, citing things like the foot's ability to flex or feel the ground as underlying culprits, and also how to treat common overuse injuries if they occur. This might be a symptom of the barefoot vs. minimalist mentality (blaming the heel vs. blaming the shoe altogether), but it seems like if I could combine this section with ones found in other books I would have a very good chapter on injuries.
Heading into the final section of the book we finally get to a specific description of Natural Running, various drills and a training plan for transitioning over from “normal” running form, as well as a CliffsNotes-style run-through of five principles of Arthur Lydiard's training philosophy. The form is described well and in layman's terms, which I appreciated. It was easy to wrap my head around everything Mr. Abshire described, while in some barefoot running books I have had to puzzle my way through things like “lift your foot before it touches the ground.” Sure, after 7 months of practice and reading I think I have a handle on it, but things like that can be hard to nail down, especially for beginners.
The author also stresses transitioning slowly and making sure to be patient, which also gets my seal of approval. All the books I've read have stressed patience, so seeing it here was no surprise, but when an author is giving out good information you just have to give them a thumbs up.
The drills are pretty much standard fare in the world of barefoot or minimalist running literature (and maybe running literature in general), as I have seen many of the same drills in several different books. There are a few different ones here and there, which is the same case with any of the books I've read, and they are all illustrated with back and white photos. It's all good stuff, and like the injury section if I could mash it up with the drill sections from other books I would have a pretty awesome and complete set of exercises to strengthen pretty much my whole body.
Note to barefooters: there are only a couple exercises that seem targeted for the foot and ankle, so there isn't a lot here for us that we couldn't find elsewhere.
Note to minimalists: There are a couple drills that are meant to be done barefoot on a pillow, in an effort to train your feet to “feel through” the cushioning of a shoe. I have no idea if this works, and honestly as a barefooter I would want to call BS on them, but since I didn't actually try them I will give the benefit of the doubt and suggest that they may be very useful for people unwilling to actually lose the shoes.
The chapter on drills also contains a short section on barefoot running, which as a barefooter almost made me angry. When people ask me about barefoot running I usually suggest that it's good for you even if you only do it a couple times a week as a training tool, which is similar to Mr. Abshire's take on it. While he lists the names of several coaches who use some amount of barefoot drills as training tools, he also lists a coach that doesn't have anything to do with it claiming “there's too much that can go wrong” and another who really only does stationary barefoot drills and only lets his runners go barefoot as a way to relax the foot under very controlled circumstances. Mr. Abshire appears to lean heavily on these expert opinions in regards to barefoot running, which is completely understandable, but considering how often he falls back on “the world is a dangerous place” as the reason against going bare it would have paid off to have described a little more personal experience or testimony from a former barefoot runner to reinforce his opinion.
The author then spends two pages talking about Abebe Bikila, claiming proponents of barefoot running often point to him as “the patron saint of barefoot runners.” Honestly I had never heard of the guy until Vibram made a shoe with his name on it. The long story short is that these two pages make the author sound pretty defensive, and it has a tone that I found insulting as a barefoot runner. I'm not saying his facts are wrong, but I don't think it was necessary to include this material and after reading the rest of his book with an open mind this felt like a slap in the face. After reading this section of the book I found it extremely hard to separate the guy who wanted to reduce running injuries from the shoe salesman.
Without belaboring the topic too much further, I honestly think if he'd embraced barefooters as kindred spirits (all the lessons on how form affects our running were pretty much the same), not pushed the shoes and orthotics quite so much (he reminds you in pretty much every chapter about the great things he's accomplishing at Newton Running) and removed the section on Abebe Bikila I would have enjoyed this book a lot more than I did. In the end, this book is ideal for someone who likes the idea of barefoot running but who is unwilling to actually take off their shoes. It is also a good alternative for people who don't quite go for the “hippy” approach some running plans take as it explains things in scientific terms while remaining easy to understand. I wasn't happy with the handling of barefoot running here, but as I said at the beginning, I am not part of the target audience.
When I first received Natural Running I thought it would be a perfect fit for the people I knew who were interested in minimalist or reduced shoe running, but after a couple times through it I'm not so sure. For experienced runners looking to make the transition I think it might make a good fit, but for beginners I think I would suggest a different book as the place to start as Natural Running is missing a lot of the information I found invaluable when I was first starting out such as how to treat injuries, nutrition, stretching, and more. This book is focused like a laser beam on running form, so it is less useful in my opinion than the barefoot running books that teach pretty much the same form but also include all the other good stuff beginners need.
To sum up: It's a decent book for experienced runners making a transition to minimalist or reduced shoe running. It's a bad book for beginners or those transitioning to barefoot running, especially considering the “scare tactics” used.
