If you have the patience to read the first entry in this blog, my RVRR newsletter article about going barefoot, you can see that one of the things that led me to barefoot running was my ankle twisting. I twisted my ankles regularly and extremely. My left foot could roll over all the way onto its top surface. It hurt like hell, and I would yell loud curses whenever it happened. I amassed a large array of ankle supports and icing devices. Until I realized I was twisting my ankle from falling off of my shoe soles. I have purged my running shoe inventory of shoes with a heels higher than toes. At this point all I want to train in is racing flats. Anyway, here is an article exerpt I just ran into confirming what I had to learn the long, hard, painful way!
Barefoot Running: "Ankle sprains are the most common acute injury suffered by athletes. Runners who frequent trails or uneven surfaces may be especially vulnerable to this type of injury. Since nearly all ankle sprains are inversion injuries, it behooves athletes to find ways to improve their lateral stability. The best lateral stability, with mostly reduced inversion, is found in the barefoot condition. This is because a shoe’s sole increases the lever arm thus escalating torque around the subtalar joint during a stumble.19,20 Also, imperfect proprioception can cause the foot to be placed in an awkward position. Compared to being barefoot, foot position awareness has been shown to be 107.5% worse when wearing athletic footwear. The authors of this study believe, 'The inescapable conclusion is that footwear use is ultimately responsible for ankle injury.'"
Running various amounts of my mileage barefoot since July 2004. Now that it's mainstream, I am no longer crazy, but maybe I was among the visionaries.
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