Barefoot Running (Less is More)

I just finished a pretty incredible book by Christopher McDougall called "Born to Run," about ultramarathoners, a tribe of Mexican Indians called the Tarahumara, and the lost skill/art/practice of distance running.  The book is all about why (when humans have actually evolved to be distance runners) we are constantly getting hurt and have largely stopped enjoying what should be a healthy and liberating activity.

The short answer:  it's in the shoes.  In fact, McDougall says that "running shoes may be the most destructive force to ever hit the human foot."  As just one small piece of backup, he cites a 1989 study that proved that the greater the padding in the shoe, the greater (not less) the impact on the runner. 

In the name of profit, McDougall says, Nike, the inventor and designer of countless running shoes since the early 1970's (and the rest of the running shoe industry), promotes more and more "advanced" shoe designs that are worse and worse for your feet.

It leads me to a conflicting conclusion:  that better, or at least more "advanced" design can actually be worse for the end user.  In this case, more padding and support actually inhibits development of muscles and other structures that are protective of the foot.

So who's to blame, and how can design come to the rescue?  I think it's safe to say the blame can be spread around; this isn't about Nike.  After all, I'm responsible for my running technique and the impact it has on my body.  But from a design perspective, McDougall and others say that we already have access to the best design, which is to say no design at all, other than our foot itself.  He says that running barefoot actually promotes a correct and healthy running style. 

Check this out:



But of course, business has the ability to capture value from "barefoot" running.  Take a look at the below from Vibram, which is the latest in running shoe design:

For the last two weeks or so, I've been running barefoot and in the barefoot style (for the record, I don't own the above shoes).  And though it's still early in my experiment, it's so far been a tough design lesson I'm happy to have learned.