Update, More On Barefoot Running, And Common Leg Injuries

Update, More on Barefoot Running, and Common Leg Injuries

Tuesday: Another lap on the Elk Creek, D2, Zoom loop. Same time as last time, 1:08 for 12K and 1,400'

Wednesday: 15K up Creekside, Leland, Fools Creek and back down Flume. 1:21 - lots of snow and ice on the trail from the storm the previous night. A little tricky running on the ice, but fun, cold, and quiet.

Thursday: 12K up Zoom and then along the secret trail. Followed it for a ways, then dropped onto an old road and took that back to Leland, then down Sunken. The beginning of the secret trail is hard to find as they logged the first 200 feet or so, but the rest of the trail is solid and fun. Ran past Jack's Zig Zag and some other cool trail features. 1:11 at a casual pace.

Some new studies were just published. Both are meta studies, and don't really offer any new data or conclusions. The first looked for evidence of a forefoot strike pattern among barefoot runners. After a meta search they found that there is just not enough scientific evidence on barefoot running at this point to make any conclusions. However, they did find that there are data lending support to the argument that runners should use a forefoot strike pattern in lieu of a heel strike pattern to reduce ground reaction forces, ground contact time, and step length.

The second study looked at common running injuries in the legs of long-distance runners (anything over 3,000m).  They found that leg pain due to bone, musculotendinous, and vascular causes are common among long-distance runners, and that tibial stress fractures and medial tibial stress syndrome can sometimes be prevented and/or treated by correcting biomechanical abnormalities. On the other hand, exertional compartment syndrome and popliteal artery entrapment syndrome are caused by anatomic abnormalities and are much more difficult to treat without surgical correction.