Senior fitness can and should include running. Unfortunately, poor running methods have doomed most of my generation to stop running entirely. Here is an easy way to get it back into a weekly exercise program, with an important warning.

The Main Problem: Shoes

First, take a look at the short videos at this page from the Harvard University Skeletal Biology Lab (this is GREAT stuff!):

Biomechanics of Foot Strikes &
Applications to Running Barefoot
or in Minimal Footwear

It is pretty amazing to discover how the human body is designed to run. In this case, rediscover. I remember running like this as a child. Most of us probably do. That was way before the running craze of the 1970s and the explosion of running equipment such as all those fancy-dancy shoes that seem to come out in dozens of new models every year.

Barefoot Running Does Not Have To Be Barefoot

I came onto this topic in Timothy Ferriss’ new book, The 4-Hour Body: an Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman. His chapter, Ultraendurance I, really caught my attention with a description of how we are supposed to run – i.e., the method or technique – for better endurance. I recommend this book to everyone even if all you get out of it is the information in this chapter.

In a nutshell, as the videos show, we humans evolved to run on the balls of our feet. This is contrary to all the running that I have done over the past 30 years. Damn!

Part of the problem is that our undercarriage – strength and flexibility – has atrophied due to our sedentary lifestyle. Even though I like running, here I am, for example, typing on my laptop, like I do most of the day.

Another part of the problem is high-tech running shoes. It seems like forever ago that I decided to run in what Runner’s World ranked as 5-star running shoes. Lightweight, lots of heel cushion, great foot support.

The bad news is that running in my top-of-the-line shoes promotes a style – heel striking first – that is more tiring and causes more damage that I realized. No wonder so many of my former running buddies now have artificial joints! Their running days are over, so I have been lucky in that regard.

Now What?

Tim’s book describes how to strengthen what should be stronger, how to become more biomechanically efficient, and how to train with minimum effort for better speed and endurance than ever. Part of that includes barefoot running. As I sat (!) and pondered how or where I was going to accomplish that, I remembered my son-in-law’s new Vibram Five Finger shoes, which offer a simulated barefoot experience.

I immediately got a pair (on sale, too!) at our local Fitness Road and began my barefoot running experiment. I will have a lot more to say about this experiment as I go along.

For now I’ll just say that I discovered what Tim warned about: Don’t overdo it. In fact, so far I have done two workouts, partially or entirely in my ‘barefoot shoes’, running as my body is designed to run. It has been quite a shock to my system. I have soreness after only two workouts, less than 4 miles total, that feels like I just finished a half-marathon.

Yes, I definitely overdid it. Running the right way was too easy. However, my body was not conditioned for it. I can hardly wait until I get my strength and flexibility up to par, like they were supposed to be in the first place. Fortunately for me, Tim outlines everything I need to do, once I recover from my latest self-inflicted abuse-by-running.

Stay tuned, my senior fitness friends!

FitScientist
(Dennis)