Run to Win

The following article was written by Mary Gorski to the UltraList. Somebody was asking what gains can be made from barefooting on the treadmill, and how this can be translated into better performance on the roads or trails. Here is Mary’s response (reprinted with permission):

I’m just commenting from personal experience — I have no expertise in physiology. I started shoeless (I keep my socks on) running on the treadmill two years ago. For years I have had off and on frustrations with my lower left leg — a snowball of issues related to repeated ankle sprains.

Two years ago on a snowy winter day I was doing a run on the treadmill at the Y. About a mile into it my achilles started to act up. I got irritated since I had been doing all the things that I thought that I was supposed to do keep that cranky lower leg happy, including the use of expensive prescription orthotics and proprioceptive exercises. I thought that I was prudent in my mileage.

When the achilles whined I thought of either moving to the eliptical or the bike. But then I remembered some casual discussions about barefoot running.

Advocates promoted it as a way to strengthen your lower legs and feet. Thinking I had nothing to lose and knowing that I could stop at any moment while on the treadmill, I took off my shoes and tentatively gave it a try. It seemed so counter-intuitive but surprisingly, my feet felt great. Everything felt fine. My achilles was fine.

That first day I only did a very slow mile. I then put my shoes back on and ran again. After a mile barefoot, the shoes felt like little stiff tanks on my feet.

I added a shoeless running session one to two days a week, doing it on the treadmill because it was cold outside. I built up my shoeless mileage very slowly.

I have no empirical evidence, but my feet and lower legs felt stronger after a few weeks. Wear patterns on my shoes now indicate that I have more of a forefoot touch than a total heel smash as I did before. I slowly stopped using my prescription orthotics and have not touched them in probably a year. I moved to less structured over the counter orthotics but now rarely use those.

My taste in shoes has changed. I used to look for a lot of structure and control, thinking it best for my pancake flat feet, and now I am most comfortable in lightweight, less structured shoes.

My ankle is still as loose as a wet noodle (after months of accident-free running I tripped on an easy ski trail last week and did a minor sprain) but I seem to twist it less often than before. I feel more confident in my foot plant with the less structured shoes and without orthotics. I generally don’t have the shin, calf and achilles hassles that I used to.

Coincidence? Perhaps. My lower leg concerns may have finally begun to heal on their own. But I attribute much of my success to the shoeless running. I think of it as a strength workout. I don’t do much shoeless running, but do it frequently enough to maintain the lower leg strength that I believe it developed.

So, that’s why I run shoeless on a treadmill.

– Mary Gorski

Have any barefoot treadmill running experiences of your own? Did you get the same results as Mary? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

• This week last year, I offered some advice on what to wear to a race to prevent “severing your leg at the thigh” from chafing.
• I tried to decide if it was worth running in an ultramarathon a few weeks before my next marathon. Ultimately, I decided that yes, it was a good idea.
• I shared what I learned about velomobiles after attending a Bike Commuters’ Meetup. They look like fun toys.
• On the news front, Oscar Pistorius had some troubles after running out of his lane and getting persecuted by the IAAF. There also came down the first cyclists to get charged with doping after signing the UCI charter. The Yarmouth Clam Festival had 917 finishers and went off without any problems last year
• This week two years ago, I continued my series on icing with a description of how to ice w/an ice bag. and shared my thoughts on why you should not use weightlifting gloves or belts when you work out. I shared why it was important to determine how much you should be sleeping every night. One of my more popular articles over the past couple of years explained the differences between running on a track versus running on a treadmill.
• This week two years ago, there was some trouble in the UK with cyclists getting pushed off of their bikes by passing motorists. Three years ago was even worse, when an 88 year old hit some cyclists after ignoring the police who were controlling traffic at the Clam Festival. (Along with a 5 mile run, there is a bike race.) In Germany, a 16 year old killed one of Australia’s top cyclists when she drove into the whole team while they were training.

2007 has been a really busy year here at Run to Win. The website has really grown. I wrote more this year than I did last year, and received about half again as many comments and trackbacks. More than twice as many people visited me this year than did in 2006, and there are about 4 times as many people subscribing to this website this year than there were towards the end of last year.

I am really happy with those numbers.

The popular content on the site this year was not quite as surprising as last year. First, I have been paying a lot more attention to what has been going on this year than I did in years past, so I had a good idea about what was popular. Second, I predicted last year what would be the most popular content this year, because the articles had not had enough time to gain traction and take the top spots last year.

My Marathon Preparation Series article list was viewed more times than any other page besides my home page last year. I knew that it would be. More people actually visited the article about what to do the week before the marathon than the series page, but the series page was viewed multiple times as people jumped around within the series.

A few of the other articles from the marathon preparation series made the top 10 in both people reading the article and unique visitors over the past year. Almost all of the articles made the top 25. The popularity of this series is a big reason why I am writing a more in-depth book about the subject which will be available in less than a month.

The one big surprise on the list this year was a random article that I wrote about Tom Brady’s NFL Contract, which had a lot of people come to visit it. It was the only popular article that was more sports than running related, and I did not promote it at all.

The articles that dealt with running shoe frequently asked questions and tempo running were also quite popular and made it into the top 10. The environmental impact of running and describing the difference between running on a track and running on a treadmill were close to making that top 10 but just missed it.

Some of last year’s favorite articles are still really popular, though. My video about how to tie your shoes so that they don’t come untied has been bringing in a steady stream of traffic. The New Rules of Lifting is also just as popular, being the 11^th most viewed page on the site (including the home page!) I highly recommend the book if you are considering cross training.

A second surprise, although not as large of one since I did promote the page a little, was an article that I published this month. Just over two weeks ago, I began offering a free special report, The 3 Components of an Effective Workout. I started publishing a running tips newsletter, and you can download the report when you sign up. It is pretty amazing to me that it was the 15^th most popular page when it has had so little time or exposure. This must mean that if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter yet, you better hurry up and do so! (I’ll be releasing some new goodies in the near future to people that are on the list.)

Since 2007 has shown nothing but improvements to both the website and my satisfaction with it, I see no reason that this trend won’t continue into the new year. I believe that 2008 will see even more and faster growth, especially since I formed a company a few months ago and will be opening the doors to my new business, Run to Win LLC, in January. I hope that you stick around for another exciting year!

This week last year was pretty busy, with the Clam Festival and some site news. I spent a lot of time talking about health, both from the taking care of yourself and the treating injuries perspective.

• I continued my series on icing with a description of how to ice w/an ice bag. On the topic of injuring yourself, I also shared my thoughts on why you should not use weightlifting gloves or belts when you work out.
• I ran the road race at the Yarmouth Clam Festival this week last year. The race was a little slower than it was in 2005.
• I reviewed the VirtuRace.com website, but they no longer exist in that form and I have not gotten around to reviewing their new website. In fact, it has been quite a while since I even checked out the new site.
• On a health note, I shared why it was important to determine how much you should be sleeping every night.
• I explained the differences between running on a track versus running on a treadmill. Personally, I have trouble going more than a mile or so on a treadmill because I quickly grow bored out of my mind.
• Last year, there was some trouble in the UK with cyclists getting pushed off of their bikes by passing motorists. Two years ago was even worse, when an 88 year old hit some cyclists after ignoring the police who were controlling traffic at the Clam Festival. (Along with a 5 mile run, there is a bike race.) In Germany, a 16 year old killed one of Australia’s top cyclists when she drove into the whole team while they were training.

Wes, over at a Code Geek’s Tail, asks what’s the difference between a treadmill and pavement? He has been running on a treadmill for about 5 years, but has not spent much time running outside. He is thinking of moving his running outdoors and wants to know what the differences are so that he can account for them. Here are a few differences that should be accounted for off of the top of my head:
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