As I nurse my foot back to some semblance of health (I’m pretty sure it’s a foot sprain, which is a real killer, in terms of time it takes to heal the ease in which I can re-injure it) I’ve been obsessively taking in information about long-distance running — especially the growing trend towards barefoot running.
So, naturally, I read this article in the New York Times, which explores how evolution may have shaped the human body for distance running in a way that other animals weren’t.
Of course, I had read most of it before, but I was particularly interested in the linked video, in which a Times reporter runs barefoot — for the first time — with barefoot promoter Christopher McDougall.
I wish I could embed it, but you’ll just have to go to the article and watch it yourself. Suffice it to say that the reporter becomes convinced.
I’m less convinced about being able to avoid sharp gravel and things like glass — McDougall, in the video, says he uses “specialized equipment — eyeballs” to avoid rocks — but I’m pretty keen on the biomechanics of it all.
Grant Hamilton
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Colin