I was pleasantly surprised to see Michael’s post on human tribal feet because I’ve been thinking about my own for about a week now after reading a masterpiece book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. I was inspired by the story of the Tarahumara tribe of the Mexican Copper Canyon region and their amazing culture of running distances that most people would consider suicidal (435 miles? WTF?). Just a note, this book isn’t really about running.
It seems feet and hands have truly changed the world, and the relatively recent invention of shoes has accelerated our ability to go places and do things maybe we shouldn’t be going or doing. The human capability to capitalize on an extraordinarily unique set of features has lead us down a path that we may want to reconsider. In an effort to question just about every facet of daily life, I’ve been questioning shoes — in particular, athletic shoes.
The athletic shoe business is a $21 billion net revenue industry that is growing almost exponentially with new designs erupting throughout the market and throughout the year. Sales of athletic shoes has grown from about 150 million pairs in 1968 to about 2.5 billion pairs last year and the average household in America (3 people) spends $327 per year on footwear. Overlay these numbers with the most recent rising obesity rate measurements, and I start to smell the bacon frying. If athletic shoes are so prevalent, why are nearly 1/3 of all American children obese? Similarly, if shoes are getting better then why are foot ailments also increasing?
Feet are just plain, friggin’ awesome. A perusal of my wife’s Anatomy book illustrates a whole mess of bones, joints, and ligaments that look so complex I can understand why some doctors specialize in nothing but feet. But, then again, why do the Tarahumara run essentially barefoot for hundreds of miles and Americans get massive bunions by sitting on their asses in $175 Nikes? Somehow I doubt the Tarahumara are a tribe of podiatrists. I would imagine the Tarahumara and other tribal people frustrate the hell out of Nike and podiatrists, which earns my instant respect.
This seems to be yet another case of marketing really fucking things up by first creating the problem to solve through increasingly costly and consumptive innovations. I’ve been long distancing running for several years and have followed the “replace shoes every 300 hundred miles” paradigm for most of that time, so I’m embarrassed to report that I’ve burned through dozens of pairs of these shoes. I’m done with that nonsense. It seems that all the high tech padding and shock absorption technology is merely messing up a nearly perfect evolutionary creation — feet, and it seems that our technology keeps driving us to avoid one of the most basic human activities — running and walking.
I’ve been running the 12.5 miles home from school every night for the past couple weeks, and it has been great. Not only do I get the benefit of exercise, but my commute takes on much more purpose. I don’t live around mountains and streams, but when I start to think like a kid who has no access to cars, buses, or trains the world becomes much more acceptable, and I can see the mountain everywhere I go. There is no better therapy than a long walk or run, which also lends more evidence to the idea that perhaps we were indeed born to run.
Accepting something less may be giving up your birthright.
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I look at things from the repairman’s standpoint. You can’t fix those molded rubber shoes. Your feet will grow to repair themselves and adjust for wear. Any real advancement in footwear would match that, but the inventor’s primary creed would be violated, “Invent something that people wear out or use up so that you can get repeat sales.”
Tommy: I recommend you consider the moccasin business as a sideline. Perhaps making foot molds and leather stitching needles in the metal shop. I wonder if shoes weren’t invented less for the comfort of our feet as they were invented to thwart snakes and for frostbite prevention.
By the way, I noticed a sign at a local university yesterday that said, “Bioengineering Annual BBQ”….don’t think I’d want to go to that.
Dude! I have been diggin on the barefoot movement for a few years now. But I just don’t have the soles to go more than a kilometer or so (walking) on pavement. So after years of wanting to, for my birthday this year I got the V5Fs. I can’t do the long runs you do (haven’t for years) but I can do shorter runs, anything from <100m sprints to about 5k in them. My knee problems have not magically gone away or anything, but they are fun to wander town in. You feel the hot pavement under the sun. You stick on boulders and rocks. You feel the texture of whatever you walk on.
But it is truly a metaphor for the whole thing. If the foot docs recommend expensive shoes for foot problems that are a result of expensive shoes…
We live in a system which haS certain rules, and if you play by these rules, things turn out ok, right? NO! The machine ends up taking a slice out of every transaction, most of which aren't necessary, all without ever solving the initial problem – in fact our stinkin system CREATED the flippin problem.
But I guess that's what FG is about, at least in my own head.
In class I tell students they can't get away with "stupid" and "lazy" as reasons other people do things. That's intellectual laziness and it's unfair as well. But think how often stupid and lazy are used as reasons for something not working.
That guy is 400lbs. He's too stupid and too lazy to get off his ass. Or the food we're feeding him is killing him a day at a time and Oprah's and Jillian's advice only makes it worse.
Those people got kicked out of their house and are living in their car. They're too stupid and lazy to buy a reasonable house and pay their mortgage. Or, they were told that they would be priced out of the market forever, because real estate always goes up, and the bank wouldn't give you a loan they didn't think you could pay back, and Ol Greenspan made sure interests rates are low now!
Back problems, knee problems, pharma problems, financial problems, career problems, education problems…
Shoes make you run and walk un-naturally. Where barefooted you would land on the balls of you feet, that wide spot just aft of your toes, when shod you impact on your heels. A simple experiment trotting around both ways proves this. Needless to say impacting your heels repeatedly is bad for you. Stress fractures, bad knees, hips going out of alignment and spinal problems. Of course one would only have to worry about such problems if one were actually physically active, most Americans won’t be affected.
All those years running and ruckmarching in the Infantry for Uncle Sam took their toll on me and I have many of the effects I outlined. Fortunately riding a bicycle makes for almost no impact at all.
Great post, Tommy. And if you need more evidence that shoes, technology, and modern conveniences don’t have much to do with distance running success, consider the background of every major marathon winner (at least since I’ve been running).
In the Mens category, they’re all guys from Ethiopia or Kenya. I know most of these people now live and train in the US or Europe, but before any of that, they had to distinguish themselves in the field in their own countries of origin. While they may have certain physiologic advantages owing to this particular geographic origin, I’m sure that easy access to expensive footwear and medical specialists aren’t on the list. I think their story is probably a lot more similar to the Tarahumara.
I only learned about foot mechanics about a year ago when I began an intensive search for shoes that support my feet. After surveying close to a hundred brands I came to the conclusion that most shoes aren’t designed to support human feet. They are designed to generate short term revenue. The human foot has FIVE arches. Most shoe brands have ZERO arch support. They often have contours that mimic arch support, but with no ground contact. (example: look at most athletic shoes, they have a foam lump on inside edge of the insole. It is there to make you think it supports the big arch of your foot. But there’s nothing between the bottom of that pad and the ground. Therefore no support.)
Even with brands that are supposed to be really good, the arch support was either minimal or mimicry. Out of all the brands I tried only Birkenstocks and Birkenstock licensed makers had actual support. (Yes, they make shoes as well as sandals). Now that’s all I wear. Though I plan to eventually try the V5Fs.
As voters we have virtually no power since the candidates we can choose from are chosen by powerful economic interests. But as consumers we have relatively more power, because we can choose to purchase smaller less “popular” brands, which turn some of our money away from big corporations and toward little ones. And we can easily influence those around us to make similar choices. So next time you choose, choose differently. Then tell someone about it.
“Tourism is sin, and travel on foot virtue.”
- Werner Herzog
I was a wrestler in high school in the seventies and wore Converse wrestling shoes off the mat. They were black canvas uppers with wafer thin rubber soles. You could really feel the ground beneath you and flex your feet over the contours. The typical athletic shoe these days are like novocaine; it is one more way to insulate oneself from discomfort, like AC.
For me, a day isn’t really complete if I haven’t broken a sweat.
as a player and coach I always got funny looks when I played soccer barefoot. Something about the way your foot feels the ball – almost cradles it and throws it as you kick.
Man we have strayed really really far.
I love this post. I was reading an interview of a professional female soccer player in the paper the other day. This post reminds me of one her quotes. She said she works out and trains (a lot of the time)barefoot because “shoes make your feet stupid.” I get this. I grew up dancing ballet, modern, jazz in which you dance barefoot or have the thinnest film of cloth or leather between your feet and the floor. You know your feet have muscles and it always amazed me growing up how other people could not be aware of their feet and use them like I did everyday. And don’t even get me started about the ridiculousness of women’s business shoes and fashion shoe wear…pure brainwashing that so many women regularly stuff their feet into ill-fitting high heals and other totally inappropriate foot coverings for the sake of fitting in, custom, and fashion. Many of the even do irreparable damage to their bones, toes, arches, and yet we don’t see anything wrong with the shoe industry?! Craziness.
This is really cool to see so many accounts of people passionate about their feet. It’s definitely one of those things I think we generally take for granted.
“Use it or lose it” seems to be an appropriate mantra.
Jayne,
I couldn’t even imagine wearing the types of shoes I see Manhattan women sporting everyday. It seems like pure hellish madness. Ever see pictures of Japanese women who bind their feet? It contorts and twists into the desired shape after several years of abuse.
Virgo,
You’d like the book Born to Run. It talks about a ball game that the Tarahumara play barefoot.
Steve,
Apparently Americans used to dominate marathons in the ’70s back when they were wearing the types of shoes you’re describing. Wafer thin, no arch support. They also had virtually no injuries. Compare that to now where the conventional wisdom states that running related injuries are inevitable and….
Desschain,
Amen. I don’t really believe much in voting but believe very strongly in the power of decision. If you want to punish a company for creating a problem, don’t buy their product. Although I bash marketing all the time, it’s not really the problem. Marketing the wrong thing is the problem. There are producers who actually make things worthwhile in a realistic process. You’re right about the “tell somebody else” method.
TRUE CONFESSIONS:
Marketing and its’ soul sister – fashion – have made footwear a power tool of the ego.
A look into my closet reveals a split personality. Business Girl vs. TrueNature Girl. Or perhaps what I am seeing is Economy Past and Economy Future? Either way, it is not a pretty picture.
Most all of the Biz Girl shoes are high-healed, sandal style, colorful, sexy, cool, and expensive. I do have really nice feet and nearly every pair showcases my asset + perfectly manicured and painted toes. The average heel height is probably 3.75″ – which conveniently adds several more inches to my 5’4″ height (it’s important to look clients in the eye).
How crazy is this…it looks like my Biz shoes provided a form of phantom security (that’s what fashion really is) in the phantom economy which was busy helping me generate my phantom prosperity. No wonder most of these beauties are collecting dust these days!
On the TrueNature Girl side you’ve got the best hiking boots (not the most expensive) money could buy. No compromise here as experience has taught me well and I’ve been through at least 6 pairs in 25 years. As for the rest…lots of color, texture, and only two crazy pairs of heels! Sandals, clogs, Maryjanes, Tevas and Chacos. My slippers are moccasins from a Reservation store in NM. Everything is more practical, simple, and comfortable. I smile when I look them over. Average age per pair = 10 years.
Most important confession of all: My favorite shoes are my bare feet. YOGA gives me a chance to really appreciate my feet – as feet are essential to creating the balance and strength needed for your practice. My feet are especially happy as I NEVER wear shoes in my home (or in any home for that matter). The act/art of removing your shoes is a special practice in and of itself.
Steve Prefontaine (and shame shame shame if you don’t know the name and the runner) made his own superlight shoes. I am wearing flip-flops (rubbah-slippahs in Hawaii) with pukas (holes) worn thru in the heels. Seriously, these are my “work” shoes and any-kine footwear. Kinda like barefoot but not quite….
Thanks for helping me to appreciate one of the upsides of hard-core unemployment: I often go for days without putting on shoes. Or a shirt. Foot + dirt = happy.
http://thatcrashingsound.blogspot.com/
Barry – Your happiness is my happiness! Dirt is an issue for us barefooters so I try to get in an extra washing in every evening while watering the garden. I just give ‘em (feet) a squirt and then use the grass as my scrubber + mat. Fresh and easy.
Learning to think for myself has proven easier said than done; I’m embarrassed to say.
My mother recently told me that when I was an infant she would let me walk around barefoot. She was a ‘hippie child’ and it was 1972 when I started to walk.
“Experts” claim that this can cause ‘fallen arches’ or ‘flatfooted’. My feet are beyond flat. My arch hasn’t just fallen, it’s a DIP! Yes, my ‘duck feet’ look like my arch dips down; I have NO arch.
It was embarrassing to go swimming at the local recreation center when I was young (about
because everyone had normal wet footprints. Not mine as they were oval blobs with 5 dots at the top. I started walking on the blades of my feet when I would get out of the pool so that my wet footprints didn’t look any different.
Naturally I pronate… HARD! This has always been the case even before I became obese. In High School I had friends that were wrestlers and I would wear wrestling shoes, they were so comfortable. Then I bought a pair of “Kung Fu” slippers, made in China. I loved those also.
I’m torn now what is right for me… shoes, or barefoot? The answer would seem simple – go with what feels right. My concern is that if it feels right to walk barefoot or in V5F shoes now, later I might have serious ankle and knee issues?
I like the V5F shoes. I’ve never worn a pair, or even tried them on, but I know from wearing “Ninja Tabi’s” as a teenager (and moccasins) that they would more than likely be very comfortable.
So I’m just looking for thoughts, opinions, etc. If you feel a temptation to tell me “Get off your fat ass and lose some weight!” – I will say Thank You, ahead of time, and that I am making those changes.
Some of the proponents for V5Fs will say that arches can improve with barefootedness, that in fact the support from a shoe allows your arch muscles to be lazy and allow the arch to fall. Don’t know if it’s true, but I am a wee bit flatfooted myself. I can’t wear Birkenstocks, for instance.
Unless you don’t have the money (which I fully understand), then you have nothing to lose by getting a pair and trying them for a month. You could find a way to measure your foot health, or arch strength or something, before and after so you got a sense of whether it’s helping.
In the same vein, you could take your bare feet over to somewhere with a lawn and do a handful of short sprints. Just as starters to start working your feet out a little. Do be gentle though, because if your feet aren’t ready for it, it can hurt (think plantar fascitis).
Hope that helps?
Thanks Michael.
I can’t wear Birks either, although I think it’s more about my foot thickness (think Fred Flintstone) than it is my arch/width.
If/when I get a pair, I’ll post here.
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