When Derek Shaw was visiting his family in Scarborough, Ont. earlier this month, he attracted more attention than he had anticipated during his daily run.

B次元官网网址淲ay to go man,B次元官网网址� yelled a passerby. B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e going old school.B次元官网网址�

The residents of the Toronto suburb were a little more impressed with the long-distance runnerB次元官网网址檚 choice in footwear B次元官网网址� or lack thereof B次元官网网址� than the avid running community in Victoria. But even amidst the mild climate and the free spirits of the West Coast, Shaw is a bit of an anomaly amongst his peers.

HeB次元官网网址檚 a barefoot runner.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a cool feeling,B次元官网网址� said Shaw, who began running in his late 40s after he had to give up his morning bicycle commute. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a whole different dimension to running, feeling the ground beneath your feet.B次元官网网址�

Now the information technology consultant visits his clients barefoot to keep his feet trained on the midfoot strike B次元官网网址� a hallmark of the style, allowing the calf, instead of the heel, to absorb the bulk of the shock.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like having a really good golf game, feeling everything in your swing, then halfway through putting on the biggest, thickest mittens and playing the rest of the game. ThatB次元官网网址檚 the difference between running barefoot and running with shoes on,B次元官网网址� Shaw said.

Seated inside the coffee shop at Cedar Hill Golf Course, Shaw doesnB次元官网网址檛 appear much different than any other middle-aged runner in town. He dons a technical T-shirt and baseball cap over his silver hair, a hydration belt and timing watch. But when he stands up and walks across the caf茅 toward the trail outside, his bare feet tell a different story.

It was here just more than a year ago that the 55-year-old Saanich resident first took off his shoes and ran 100 metres along the wood chip, grass and dirt trail.

But Shaw, amidst a plan to log six half-marathons in a year, was running 35 to 40 kilometres each week in shoes and wasnB次元官网网址檛 willing to risk falling behind on his schedule by adding barefoot to his regime.

Between those small jaunts out to the chip trail, Shaw walked barefoot everywhere: to Mount Doug and Thetis Lake with his wife and dog B次元官网网址� and, of course, to work.

B次元官网网址淲hat you learn is that your feet change really quickly when you change the demands on them, so going out of shoes and walking in those environments is like going to the gym and doing perfect weight training,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址漎our tendons and ligaments all get stronger. Your feet change shape.B次元官网网址�

Equipped only with minimalist shoes when the cold was too much to handle, Shaw systematically worked up his running base (after completing those six runs in traditional footwear) and this month took on the McNeill Bay Half-Marathon in Oak Bay as a pace bunny sans shoes.

B次元官网网址淭he most efficient and fastest runners have excellent biomechanics and they donB次元官网网址檛 need to run barefoot to have them, but itB次元官网网址檚 a lot easier to learn them barefoot,B次元官网网址� Shaw said.

B次元官网网址淚 have 50 years of bad habits to overcome and thatB次元官网网址檚 not something thatB次元官网网址檚 easy to do consciously. Taking your shoes off forces you to do everything differently.B次元官网网址�

Barefoot running, or natural running, may offer benefits to runners such as Shaw, who was willing to take his shoes off and add mileage incrementally, but even with the proper precautions, it poses risks.

B次元官网网址淲e know biomechanically, that people who run with a midfoot strike get less injuries because theyB次元官网网址檙e not running into the ground, theyB次元官网网址檙e running over the ground, which means thereB次元官网网址檚 less breaking forces at the knees or the ankle or even the hips,B次元官网网址� said Dr. Jamie Grimes, a chiropractor at Synergy Health and a former Olympic sprint coach. B次元官网网址淚t forces us to go back to a more natural, improved biomechanical way of running.B次元官网网址�

But despite the efficiency and the lessened impact of training the foot to run as we did as kids, said Grimes who has used running on sand as a training tool, the lack of structure provided by a shoe can wreak havoc on a runner should they suffer from poor mechanics of laxity, hyper mobilities, pronation or a disparity in leg length.

Grimes warns of the corkscrew effect that can begin in the unsupported arches and continue through the shins and knees, eventually changing hip angle and external rotators of the hip and alignment through the back.

B次元官网网址淚t is true that if you run barefoot often enough, you do build callouses up and it protects the skin, but the problem is people going out there and thinking that running without shoes on is good for you, is just silly,B次元官网网址� added Victoria-based podiatrist Dr. William Mirchoff. B次元官网网址淔or most people, it doesnB次元官网网址檛 make a lot of sense. YouB次元官网网址檙e not protecting the foot.B次元官网网址�

Yet for Shaw and a growing number of barefoot runners born with good biomechanics, going old school makes much more sense.

B次元官网网址淎fter a few times doing it, probably after a couple of weeks, I was lying in bed and my feet were just B次元官网网址� alive,B次元官网网址� Shaw said. B次元官网网址淗ave you ever been to a concert where you clapped so much your hands had a tingly feeling afterward? They were just alive.B次元官网网址�

nnorth@saanichnews.com

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