Running is an expression of freedom and nothing exudes the feeling of being free than barefoot running. But who would have thought that a song would be derived from it?

Sarah Betts did!

We were quite surprised when this Cambridge native shared to us her original raw recording of a piano-vocal musical piece entitled “Barefoot Running Shoes.” According to Sarah, barefoot running has given her two things and these are being FREE and HAPPY. And, with this song, she hoped that a lot of people would go and listen to it so that they too could feel what she has felt about minimalist running.

Of course, we were curious and thrilled to know about this inspirational runner and composer. We found out that she is inclined toward the arts such as Philosophy and History of Art plus she’s studying Italian as well. When she does not study, she dabbles with music and she shares that the “Barefoot Running Shoes” song was written when she was just 15 or 16 years old.

We wondered whether there was something deeper to the song but according to Sarah, it does not actually recount any past experiences. Instead, it was borne out of the sheer freedom and happiness that she felt with running barefoot. The activity in itself evolved into ideas and eventually, the words of the song. She added that she was in an unchained and merry mood when she developed the piece.

The recording, which you can listen to here, sounds organic and raw. It is unedited in a way that you can visualize the artist just sitting at home and playing the piano while singing. A breath of fresh air really, compared to the latest bings and bangs of synthesizers and electric beats. In short, it is like barefoot running – natural and uninhibited.

Most of us would think that minimalist shoes and barefoot running is healthy for the body but Sarah Betts proves to us that it is likewise instrumental to a happy and inspired spirit. Perhaps it is indeed time that scientific debate about barefoot running vs. running with trainers be put to rest and we can all start looking at this form of activity as something which meets more than the human eyes.

Hopefully, we can all be inspired like Sarah Betts. We feel grateful for having the chance to be able to share it with other running enthusiasts as well. Let’s all find inspiration to live a healthier life and have a healthier spirit through barefoot running!

Enjoy the song: The Barefoot Running Shoes Song

If you want to learn more Sarah sent us this email about herself and her song:

… You mentioned you wanted to know a little about me and why I wrote this song… well in all honesty there is no one specific event which the song is recounting. I just thought that the idea of running barefoot was quite evocative of a sense of freedom and happiness, and I was in that sort of a mood so I wrote that sort of a song.

My life so far is pretty uneventful so I will keep biography succinct. I was born in Cambridge and have lived here all my life. I have just finished sixth form where I studied Philosophy, Art, History of Art, and Italian. I enjoy music in my spare time and have been writing songs since my early teens and I wrote “Barefoot running shoes” when I was 15 or 16 (I can’t quite remember). My family have been suggesting I record some of these songs for ages (for the purposes of entertaining the grandparents) and I have only just got round to it. I have made 6 recordings so far and there are about 10 left to do.

Human history will show us that we human beings have thrived and survived without the perks of technology and any of today’s invention. Yes, it was a simple life but it was also a more organic living that left no strain to the environment, natural resources and to our health.

As time went by, a lot changes have been made and we have elevated the status of our clothing and shelter. Most especially, we have learned to find a way to protect our soles from getting punctured or wounded when we run.

However, barefoot running has been steadily rising to fame once again. Ever since Christopher McDougall wrote his book Born to Run, a lot of runners have switched to this form of running. Nonetheless, if there was one reason why people are going back to the basics of running unshod, it is because running barefoot has been giving people relief from chronic injuries.

Experts and runners alike have been debating about the efficiency of running barefoot and how much it can help in improving one’s health and posture. It is known that the foot and the lower leg are very efficient in absorbing the shock of landing while running. It also turns the energy of the fall into forward motion through the springing action of the foot’s natural arch.

On the other hand, the large amounts of padding from a running shoe or the regular trainers causes you to land on the heel rather than on the ball of the foot. Therefore, the natural motion is impeded and the arch and lower legs are not able to absorb the shock of the movement. This can be quite dangerous because the shock of the motion is sent up through the heel and directly to the knees and hips.

A study shows that running in conventional trainers or shoes can increase stress on the knee joints up to at least 38% when compared to running barefoot. Although there is no real clear finding on whether it is also responsible for a higher rate of heel injuries, most people who have taken up minimalist running have been attesting to the fact that they can now jog and even run a marathon despite having recent injuries that impede their ability to do so.

A review from Michael Warburton in the journal Sports Science concludes that running barefoot contributes to the lesser occurrence of acute injuries in the ankle as well as a couple of chronic injuries of the lower leg. More so, the energy cost of running barefoot is reduced by about 4% because the feet lack the extra mass on the foot. So whether there is enough proof that running barefoot lessens injuries or not, it cannot be left unsaid that there are substantial benefits that can be reaped from it.

The controversial blog post title is not our desperate attempt to grab your attention. It’s actually how Peter started out his comment on our post about Vivo Barefoot Shoes: Customer Service and Concerns. Actually, that’s not 100 percent correct either. His comment started out “Warning.” Should you be scared? Read on and judge for yourself.

Peter’s full confession on how Vivo Barefoot Aqua shoes ruined his life is as follows:

WARNING !!!!

Vivo Aqua shoes have ruined my life.

My foot is permanently damaged now as a result of running in these shoes. I can no longer run. I can no longer even walk without limping. It keeps me awake at night. I have been to several doctors, had x-rays, ultrasounds and finally an MRI. Still haven’t got to the bottom of it officially. But it all started after one run with these shoes.

I had them a month before I ran in them. A week spent just wearing them around the house. Then a couple of weeks wearing them occasionally walking to the shops etc. Finally a short run. Next day – pain.

18 months later still pain.

Anyone tempted, be tempted like I was.. but be aware there is a least one person out there with feet that should never have graced these shoes. How much do you value your feet ??

Sincerely,
Peter.

There you have it. Peter had his Aqua shoes for one month. In that one month he walked around the house in them and went shopping in them. None of that caused him any pain. However, after only one run his life was dramatically altered. He’s now had to live with 18 months of pain. It’s hard to say if it was the shoes or something else, but it’s clear that Peter is not a happy camper and blames the Vivobarefoot for his foot pain.

This week’s rundown of barefoot shoe news include a cover story of the rising popularity of going almost-barefoot, an exclusive interview with a bestselling author and the first barefoot run/walk in Tennessee.

This Rising Trend is More Than Just a Novelty

The 2009 bestselling book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall has ignited a renewed interest in barefoot running among runners over the last year. In fact, barefoot and minimalist runners alike have continuously sprouted from around the country and even overseas to bask in the benefits that barefoot running brings.

Some of the benefits of running barefoot or with minimalist shoes are: it can strengthen your feet and improve the way you run; and it helps you avoid massive striking with the heel which can minimize injuries.

Freeman Health System’s Mick Ward, who is the Rehabilitation Services and Sports Medicine Director said, that the cushioning and high-tech assembly of modern running shoes have possibly caused feet to become less trained and less durable than they used to be.

Read more about this story here Running Almost-Barefoot is a Growing Trend or here Shoes Simulate Barefoot Running.

Interview with Christopher McDougall

Duncan Larkin of Competitor.com sits down with the author of Born to Run, Christopher McDougall to reveal his thoughts on barefoot running, his bestselling book and more.

Have fun reading The Barefoot Brahmin: Exclusive Interview With Christopher McDougall.

UT’s Barefoot Benefit First Run/Walk

Six undergraduates from UT have organized the country’s first barefoot run/walk to benefit the Samaritan Place, a home for the elderly in East Tennessee. Barefoot Benefit will have its first event on October 24, 2PM at Lambert Acres Golf Course, Maryville.

Participants can choose to run or walk for 3.1 mile or 1 mile distance. They can also opt to wear running shoes and Vibram FiveFingers if running barefoot is not their thing.

Get more of this news here UT Students Organize Barefoot Benefit.

At the time of this writing there is a large variety of Vibram Five Fingers Shoes that are available in North America that aren’t available else where such as UK and Australia. China currently only has a handful of Vibram Five Fingers, the original 4 (Classic, Sprint, KSO and Flow). But what are some of the more unique styles of FiveFingers only available at certain parts of the world and not in others?

FiveFingers TrekSport

One of the more versatile Vibram FiveFingers shoes out there, the TrekSport’s is a cross between the KSO and the KSO Treks. The cleated outsoles are great for traction and the breathability the mesh offers is great. The TrekSport is great for trial, road running, cross training, walking and for casual wear and travel. This pair of FiveFingers is also only available in North America.

FiveFingers Classic SmartWool

Only available in North America, the FiveFingers Classic SmartWool was made for comfort. Not focusing on the actual process of running but what you can wear afterwards to just relax or when you go traveling. The point of this shoe is to keep you warm when it’s cool outside and to keep you cool when it’s hot. As many experienced Vibram FiveFingers enthusiast know, when you’re wearing normal Vibrams out in the cold weather without socks, it can get very cold. These snugly Vibrams looks like they can keep you warm.

FiveFingers Speed

The FiveFingers Speed is one of the more popular and hot items outside of the U.S. The Speed is currently available in Europe although there have been rumors that they may sell in the U.S. as well in the near future. Designed for natural running and walking, the laced up speed looks the closes to actual running shoes. I’m definitely digging the new blue and white colors as well.

FiveFingers Classic Paillettes

Just when you thought the Vibram FiveFingers shoes weren’t flashy enough or made you stand out enough, our friend’s outside of North America (minus China) come out with the FiveFingers Classic Paillettes. These shoes are pretty much like the classics but have a cascade of multicolored sequins which makes it nice and shiny. You can get it in shiny black or silver.

China and The Shanghai Expo

Although China currently only sells 4 types of Vibram FiveFingers (Classic, Sprint, KSO and Flow), this may change as Vibrams gain popularity in China. Vibram is currently sponsors of the Expo 2010 in Shanghai and will showcase Vibram FiveFingers. They are currently a sponsor of the “Italian Pavilion” at the Shanghai Expo. To find out more about the Expo itself, go here.

For the past several weeks I’ve been running in my new Vibram FiveFingers Classic shoes.  I’ve reported on the very first run I did with the shoes and even my second run in the shoes.  Since then I’ve been running more in the shoes.  I can now run up to 3 miles in the shoes at a time without too much discomfort.  I still feel a little scrunched in the pinky toe area, but the pain is at least a little more manageable now.  Bottom line is running in these shoes is just more fun than plain old running shoes (like the difference between driving a manual car and an automatic transmission car).

Anyway, this past weekend I had the bright idea to combine 2 of my favorite hobbies together: exercising in my Vibram FiveFingers Classics and playing tennis.   So instead of barefoot running shoes, turning them into barefoot tennis shoes.

I was inspired to take my barefoot running shoes and turn them into barefoot tennis shoes after I read the history of Terra Plana’s vivo barefoot shoes.  The initial concept for the shoes started out when the designer discovered that playing tennis barefoot made his chronic knee and ankle injuries disappear.  I like to play tennis and have had problems in the past with blisters and ankle injuries so I figured now that I had a pair of minimalist shoes that it was worth a try.  Check out the video below:

The Good

The biggest difference you notice between FiveFingers shoes and traditional tennis shoes is just how light they are.  You feel (and look) more like a ballerina than a tennis player since the FiveFinger’s don’t have all the padding shielding you from the court.  In addition to feeling all the textures of tennis court the rubber bottom of the Vibram’s gives you great grip on the court.  I felt very agile on the court.  Moving is not an issue in these shoes.

The Bad

While moving around the court is not a problem what ends up being a problem is sprinting to chase down balls.  Sprinting in FiveFingers is easy, what’s hard (and painful) is slowing down quickly.  Tennis is a lot of stop-and-go and spurts of speed.  When you have padded shoes you don’t really notice how much you rely on your heel to stop or brake your movement.  However, when wearing FiveFingers you feel everything and I found myself taking more time to slow down just to ease the pain of stomping on the hard surface.

Conclusion

Playing tennis in Vibram FiveFingers is definitely doable.  However, depending on how intense you play tennis it could be painful.  While I know a lot of padded shoes, especially in the running community, get a bad rap since it encourages a less healthy running style (heel strike) in some cases it’s not such a bad idea.  I found myself less fast on the court with my barefoot shoes, but it definitely was a fun experience…even if I looked ridiculous.

Even billionaire geeks have been seen wearing the Vibram FiveFingers KSOs.

Check out Google’s Sergey Brin at the Chrome OS event wearing the gorilla feet, albeit ultra comfortable gorilla feet shoes.  I’m impressed that such as high status executive is he’s down to walk around in the Vibram Five Fingers KSOs!

I just came back from Asia, specifically Hong Kong for business and pleasure.  I wore the Vibram Five Finger’s KSO the entire time I was out trekking about in the crazy and hectic city of Hong Kong.  Hong Kong is a very busy place, with a ton of walking, shopping and site seeing .  It’s the New York of China and seems even busier no matter what time of night you decide to go out to the well known busy street areas.  This review goes over some of the terrain I covered and experiences in the Vibram KSOs.

Packing and Traveling with KSOs

One big plus for these shoes was the ease of packing these shoes.  It was easy for me to throw into any suitcase front pocket or back pack.  In the airplane, I simply placed them in the front area where you place magazines and in-flight entertainment guides.  After wearing these shoes for a couple months, it was easy to take them off and put them back on without misplacing a toe in an incorrect toe slot.  It would have been difficult taking them on and off quickly, like they have you do at LAX, if I wasn’t an experienced Vibram Five Finger KSOer.

Long City Walks in Vibram Five Fingers

Walking around the city is similar to long hikes on natural terrain, except there are less mountain hills and valleys.  Most of what I encountered was concrete and indoor flooring which can be a bit more painful than natural dirt and grass.  The only hiking I did was up the steps of the Big Buddha on Lantau island.

The long walks in a humid city like Hong Kong made it easy for me to sweat.  Luckily I was wearing a pair of Injinji socks as well.  This helped absorb most of the sweat and stink that goes along with long periods of Vibram wear.  If not for the socks I would have to wash them after every heavy use like this.

Man Made Ground

Walking on concrete for long periods of time definitely differs from running on grass and dirt.  It hurts more.  At first you don’t notice it but after a couple hours or even half a day you feel the pain.  I’m sure it’s something i would get used to if i wore them all day every day.  I would also think they would wear out quite fast and you’d have to purchase a new pair of Vibram Five Fingers every month or so.  After walking, shopping and wandering around in these things for hours, it felt good when I saw flooring like this in the subway systems:

It kind of felt like a foot massage (which is something that is also really popular in Hong Kong and China right now) and I would stretch out and walk around these areas for extended periods of time.

Attention of the KSOs

Since I don’t think I’ve seen anybody wear these shoes out in Asia yet, it did get some attention.  Some people in subway systems would stare and some would have remarks.  Some of the remarks that I’ve overheard:

Man telling his wife in Chinese while pointing, “Look honey, that’s crazy”

Women at store laughing uncontrollably, “Those make you look really good”.

Kid at the subway station telling his friends, “I want a pair”

and many other comments made by random people asking where they could buy a pair of Vibram Five Fingers.

Conclusion

After wearing them all day in the city, I would still recommend wearing these for every day activities.  They are quite breathable and definitely wont make your feet and shoe stink more than wearing regular sneakers.  They are comfortable and I feel like I’m working out my legs while walking for a long time.  It think there is more impact from concrete than dirt and grass, so be warned.  I also heard the Nike Free’s are excellent for training and long periods of walking.  If anybody has any experience on that, let me know!

For more information on Vibram Five Fingers Shoes, click on the links below:

Shop Vibram FiveFingers for Men	Shop Vibram FiveFingers for Women

This post and images were sent in by one of my readers from Las Vegas Nevada about his first time wearing the Vibram Five Fingers Shoes and the injury he incurred because of them:

All I heard about was how the Vibram Five Fingers shoes would improve foot strength and reduce foot injuries such as knee, hip and foot problems related to running.  When I bought my first pair of the Sprints I didn’t have the greatest experience.  I wore the shoe and decided to go for a run on the neighborhood school track near my house.  The actual track was made of the soft rubbery material that the nice track programs these days have as opposed to regular dirt tracks.  This was a perfect testing ground for the Vibram Five fingers as it wasn’t too rough of a terrain for a beginner like me.

I started walking around the track and felt awesome! no pain, light on my feet!  Very light on my feet…

I then ran a mile, then 2, then 3 and decided to call it quits. I usually run much more than 3 miles on an average day.  I’ve heard that you must slowly work your way up to a normal running distance when you first start running barefoot or with the Vibram Five Fingers barefoot running shoes.

The next thing i noticed was pain under my foot.  Not directly under my foot but on my big toe.  I felt a blister.  A frickin toe blister.  One that I have never gotten from running.  Here’s some pictures:

Now the good news.  This blister was evident and was slightly painful on the first day.  But the next day it was nearly fully healed.  The day after was even better as the foot was practically 100%.  My calves were another story.  Those took about a full week to heal.  Now I understand that there would be a period my feet needed to adjust.  That’s fine.  My main concern was my joint paints in the knee and hips.  I noticed that I didn’t have any joint pains related to running.  I didn’t want to get too optimistic so I decided to try them out a couple more times before I got too excited.

After a few more runs a couple weeks later, my foot pretty much adapted to the shoes and i no longer get these blisters.  But I also no longer get the joint pains that I experienced in the past from running as well.  I STILL don’t want to get too overly excited as I haven’t ran more than 6 miles at a time yet.. but things are looking great so far.  Once I do some real distances on this baby I will write another post.

For more information on Vibram Five Fingers Shoes, click on the links below:

Shop Vibram FiveFingers for Men	Shop Vibram FiveFingers for Women

More and more people are starting to look into the virtues of barefoot running I was no different after I had just bought a brand new pair of running shoes and still had issues with blisters and shin splints. It was pretty frustrating since I love to run, but I hate the pain that had started to creep on me. All of my running friends told me I just needed to find the right pair of running shoes so that’s what I did.

Before I just went to the local Foot Locker and picked out a shoe that looked good to run in and bought that pair of shoes. However, my friends said that the best way to get a good pair of shoes was to go to a dedicated running shop where the staff was more knowledgeable about running and running shoes. So that’s what I did next. The staff did seem a lot more confident in their shoe knowledge and when it was all said and done I ended up with a pair of New Balance MR1063. It was a pricey purchase at over $150, but I figured I was investing my health and well being.

After I bought these shoes I couldn’t wait to try them out. The next day I took it easy and just did a slow 2 mile pace to wear in the shoes and get a better feel for them. While they felt a little stiff it seemed like they were working. After a week in these shoes and about 15 miles later, however, I started feeling my old shin splints creeping up on me again. I couldn’t believe that with the money I had spent and the time I had spent trying to find “the perfect shoe” that really these shoes did no better than my old pair of trainers, which was a quarter of the price.

I decided I needed to look outside the box if I was going to find something better for my feet and running.

About this time I read an article in Wired Magazine called “To Run Better, Start by Ditching Your Nikes.”  In this article they made a convincing argument that a potential cause for foot injuries and aches and pains were the shoes themselves and that actually by taking the shoes off and going barefoot you were allowing your body to run the way nature intended.

This got me more interested in the concept of barefoot running so I dug a little deeper.  Turns out there might be something to this idea that barefoot is better than wearing shoes for running.  This quote from a research paper on barefoot running got my attention.

Chronic ailments such as shin splints, ilio-tibial band syndrome and peri-patellar pain are attributed variously to excessive pronation, supination, and shock loading of the limbs (Siff and Verkhoshansky, 1999, p.451). When running barefoot on hard surfaces, the runner compensates for the lack of cushioning underfoot by plantar-flexing the foot at contact, thus giving a softer landing (Frederick, 1986). Barefoot runners also land mid-foot, increasing the work of the foot’s soft tissue support structures, thereby increasing their strength and possibly reducing the risk of injury (Yessis 2000, p.124).

From that it says that by taking off your shoes you allow your foot to act as a natural shock absorber which spreads the shock of hitting the ground to the “mid-foot”.  However, with shoes this isn’t possible as the cushioning and angle of the shoe prevent this natural phenomenon from occurring.

The next part in this same research paper is what convinced me a lot more that maybe it WAS the shoes that were causing me problems with my feet.

Wearers of expensive running shoes that were promoted as correcting pronation or providing more cushioning experienced a greater prevalence of these running-related injuries than wearers of less expensive shoes (Robbins and Gouw, 1991). In another study, expensive athletic shoes accounted for more than twice as many injuries as cheaper shoes, a fact that prompted Robbins and Waked (1997) to suggest that deceptive advertising of athletic footwear (e.g., “cushioning impact”) may represent a public health hazard.

I know while I was at the running store the employee was selling me on getting shoes that added cushion and helped correct over pronation as a way to help my shin splints.  Of course these shoes were more expensive, but I figured that’s the price you pay for extra cushioning.  But I know from my experience with these more expensive shoes that it didn’t help much if any with my shin splints.

At this point I decided it was worth it to at least try running barefoot to see if helped my foot problems or not.  I mean what more had I to lose ?  I had already spent over $150 on a pair of shoes.  At least barefoot was free.

I went running around the neighborhood on the sidewalk one day after work.  At first I just started walking to get a used to walking without my shoes.  This process alone was kind of painful.  My feet have been used to being shielded from the outside elements so any rough surface I touched was painful.  Though painful just walking around barefoot was very refreshing to me.  I felt like I was a kid again!

After building up some courage I decide to have a go at barefoot running.  I picked up the pace and started a light jog.  The first thing you’ll notice when you run barefoot is that you run totally different than how you run with shoes on.  I noticed that I was running more so on the balls of my feet rather than landing on my heel and then transitioning to my toes.  I wasn’t able to run very far thanks to the pain from the sidewalk, but in the little I had run I could definitely tell that things felt a lot better than they did with my expensive New Balance shoes.  It’s hard to describe, but it just felt right.

The bigger problem though with running barefoot was just the fact that it wasn’t practical running outdoors with no shoes on.  I was watching the sidewalk like a hawk for stray rocks, glass, uneven grooves, etc… that might put a damper on my barefoot foray.  Half the time I was worrying about stepping on something that I wasn’t really concentrating on the running.

I wanted to try this barefoot running some more, but under the present conditions it didn’t look like it was going to be possible.  That was until I decided to try out Vibram FiveFingers Shoes.

It was in that same Wired Magazine article that I mentioned above where I learned about Vibram FiveFingers shoes.  They are shoes shaped kind of like gloves, but for your feet.  The toes each have their own compartment and then the shoes kind of slip on like a sock.  The shoe itself is very thin and flexible (you can actually fold the shoe back on into itself), but the nice thing is that on the bottom of the shoe you have a rubber sole that gives you traction and more importantly protects you from the outdoor elements.

I wasn’t sure which pair of FiveFingers I wanted to get, but after finding some additional Vibram FiveFingers shoes information, I finally decided on purchasing the Vibram FiveFingers Classic.  It’s the entry level Vibram FiveFinger shoe and at $80 it seems like a great deal compared to the New Balances I bought.  I didn’t want to splurge for the higher end Vibrams and to start I just wanted to see if these shoes would help me more than my past shoes had.

I’m happy to report that after a few months and about 100 miles of wearing these Vibram FiveFingers shoes my feet feel great!  My shin splints are practically gone and I now I never have any issues with toe blisters.  I do have to be honest and say that the first few weeks were a little painful for my feet (as in muscle soreness) since my feet weren’t accustomed to the natural way of running and I had to build up foot muscles I never knew I had.

However, so far the pain has been worth it and I love these shoes.

I can’t say my experience with Vibram FiveFingers shoes is typical, but I can say firsthand that these shoes helped me out.  If you are looking to get rid of foot pain I’d put these shoes on your shortlist to check out.

For more information on Vibram Five Fingers Shoes, click on the links below:

Shop Vibram FiveFingers for Men	Shop Vibram FiveFingers for Women