A real thing that actually happened
Colin Pistell Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:44PM BONUS POST! It's because I love you.
Actually, it's because of an experience I had this afternoon. (not that I don't love you...)
I was finishing up some barefoot running form practice in the woods behind my house. There are some nice trails back there that are very popular with UNC's runners. I was feeling great and packing up to head home when I noticed this young guy crashing along the trail. He was clearly an undergrad, neither in great shape nor bad shape, wearing what looked like new fancy running shoes, and with the now ubiquitous ipod headphones in his ears.
I watched it happen in slow motion. His left foot extended way out in front of him. It came down on a decent sized rock. The rock shifted underneath his foot, his ankle buckled, and he went down hard. HARD. Right in front of me.
I helped him to his feet and immediately knew he was in no condition to continue. My guess was a mild sprain. So, I helped him get back to the main road - about a 5 minute hobble from where we were.
During those 5 minutes, I explained to him my take on why he had fallen. His fancy, thick soled shoes encouraged him to land on his heel, an unstable platform, and raised his ankle higher off the ground, which increased the torque placed on it. Finally, the thick padding prevented the propreoceptors in his feet from sensing where his body was in space. Add a rock and you've got a significant sports injury. (I didn't tell him that blasting his ipod probably wasn't helping his perception...)
I then told him about how barefoot running could fix these problems, if learned and adjusted to it slowly. He seemed skeptical, but interested. I recommended he read Born to Run, left him on the main road back to campus, and walked barefoot back into the woods.
Reader Comments (9)
Nice teaching moment!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8483401.stm
Hey Aaron - Good stuff. Thanks for the share!
Cool story! I've just started to try some barefoot walking, after I run or after I work out (from SRC back to KFBS), and it's a curious new sensation. Here's another link to share:
http://runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267--13401-1-1X2-3,00.html
I like how all the skeptics say "There's no evidence to prove that barefoot running reduces injury." My natural responsive thought is "where's the evidence to prove that running shoes reduce injury?!?"
How wonderful article, I am very interested in your story!
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