baby we were born to run . . . barefoot

So another lecture I attended at Parents' Weekend was by Daniel Lieberman entitled "Evolved to Run? Walking, Running and Human Health." I was interested in this lecture because I thought he might say that walking was actually better than running for humans (since after training religiously for four months for that dam race I still could not run very far without gasping for breath). However, Lieberman opined (see his long list of scholarly articles) that while walking was great, we actually evolved through our ability for persistence running. So while an animal, say dogs, can outrun us; they can actually outrun us for only a short distance. The only way an animal can get rid of the heat generated by running is by panting. They cannot get rid of the heat through their fur and they cannot run while panting! Hence animals must stop or slow significantly every so often to pant. Meanwhile, human skin is like a like a giant tongue (Lieberman's analogy) so we don't have to pant and certainly don't have to stop to pant. According to Lieberman, if I am remembering correctly, it was our ancestors' ability to run long distances (not our tool use) that allowed us to track down animals to obtain meat and the proteins that eventually resulted in our large brains! Wow interesting stuff.

Plus, citing, among many other things, runners tendency to get injured, Lieberman said that all these super running shoes are actually not good for our feet. We would be better off running in cheap shoes and even better running barefoot. When we run with running shoes we tend to go heel to toe, when you run barefoot you midway or on the ball of your foot and use all or many of the muscles in the feet. When wearing running shoes, your feet get lazy and the muscles go unused. Here's a good explanation I found by googling Lieberman:

However, shoes treat your feet like planks that move only at the ball of the foot. In other words, they often protect the feet so much that certain muscles get lazy because they are not being used. Michael Warburton, a physical therapist in Queensland, Australia, found that running barefoot decreased the occurrence of ankle sprains and chronic injuries such as plantar fasciitis. According to his study, shoes also increased the risk of sprains because they made a runner unaware of the foot’s position.

Some consider shoes protective devices from dangerous or painful objects rather than corrective devices because their capacity for shock absorption and control of overpronation is limited. In other words, shoes do a good job of protecting from the elements, but over time they desensitize the tiny sensors in your feet that tell them how to react to the terrain. Eventually feet grow lazy and weak, triggering a chain reaction up the entire leg that can lead to shin splints, runner’s knee, and iliotibial band strains. Cushioned running-shoe heels add to the problem by shortening calf muscles and the Achilles tendon. Barefoot running stretches the calves and gets foot muscles moving again, promoting good biomechanics. (I don't know where all this highlighting came from. ) (http://www.marathonandbeyond.com/choices/clift.htm)

Well well, what interesting stuff there is to be known in this world. I wish the lecture had been videoed and put on youtube. I should have had my spy pen and videoed it myself!

Two brothers running video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjco3boDZ7A