A distance runner and evolutionary biologist decided to look at barefoot runners. Only question: do you go to the physical environment that our earliest modern-human ancestors lived in, or do you go to a part of the world known for great distance runners who also run without shoes? Turns out it's the same answer for both: the Rift Valley in Kenya. And it turns out that biomechanically, barefoot runners land on the balls of their feet, which lessens the strike impact. It makes sense that this would mean less abuse to the joints and a longer running career - which you need if you're going to be chasing after game herds until you're old - but the real test would be to look at these folks when they're older and compare to a control group. Finding that control group would be tough.
As for me, I would love to "paleo run" and switch over to barefoot, but unfortunately our ancestors (and apparently the people of the Rift Valley) didn't have nails and glass. Next question: the Tarahumara usually run in home-made sandals, but what is their form like?
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6 comments:
I just saw your comment on Asha's blog and am glad I gave your running blog a glance (or two). I'm with you on the barefoot running and lack of long-term studies.
If you are attending UCSD, I'm assuming you live in/near La Jolla and the coast - which is a fabulous area for running. Have a great time exploring all the trails here.
Welcome, thanks for stopping by! I do live near the University, technically not in La Jolla, but right next to Rose Canyon. Now, not to be a smartass, but trails - where? There are the three canyons in the city (Tecolote/San Clemente/Rose), then Penasquitos, and for trails that seems to be about it. Am I missing them?
You need to get Jerry Schad's book on trail running, or the other one, which lists many, many more trails in San Diego County. There's a lot more off the coast...though you missed the most popular one in La Jolla - Torrey Pines. The Broken Hill trails are my favorite there because they lead right to the beach for a nice romp in the sand all the way to Del Mar's dog beach.
I'll check out that book, thanks a bunch. I do run over to Torrey Pines fairly frequently - it's nice, just kind of small.
Definitely consider: Lake Hodges; Lake Poway/Blue Sky Reserve; Mission Trails; Black Mountain; and Iron Mountain (my personal favorite, though it's easier to hike than run). All are inland trail systems. The coast is so developed, many once-long trails have been cut short.
These are now on my list, thanks once again. I think you hit the nail on the head about the coastal trails. There's a smaller set of people who want to live near the coast in NorCal, because all year it's 50 F and windy and you never see the sun, plus it tends to be more rugged right at the coast than in SoCal. The upside is that it doesn't get developed. The other contributor is there is lots of decommissioned ex-military land that's now Federal open space (e.g. Marin Headlands). That hasn't happened here yet, so let's selfishly hope for world peace so we can run all over Camp Pendleton!
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