Barefoot Running OR How Not to Injure Yourself

About 10 days before I ran the marathon in Vegas in December of 2009, I went for a 16km mid-week taper run with a friend.  During this run I had a nagging pain in my right ankle that got progressively worse and continued to plague me during my last training runs before the race.
You would think that if one has pain in their ankle that is not resolving, that one should stop running.
At this point in my training, discontinuing training was NOT an option.
So, instead, I employed anyone - including chiropractors, physiotherapists and a psychic (not really, but I did consult my magic 8 ball...) to 'fix' me so that I COULD run 42.2 km.
Smart, right?
But short of physically dying or a broken leg, I was going to cross the finish line.
Unfortunately, this injury was not a minor one and the act of running the marathon actually gave me a rather severe stress fracture.
During the race I was doped up on 10 ultra-mega-just-about-enough-to-kill-you pain killers, and even that wasn't enough to mask the pain so that I could utilize my buggered ankle to run the f*&$ing race.
I found a package of Advil on the ground during the race and proceeded to take the wonderful caplets of relief at around mile 20, or in Canadian distance, 30km.
This is a true story.
I promise you this, as I had two witnesses to this act.
You may be thinking to yourself, "why would someone take unknown drugs off the road in a place like Las Vegas?".
Let me tell you why.
Because your ankle is SCREAMING and BEGGING and CRYING for you to stop because it's broken.
Yep.
Not sprained, or strained or uncomfortable, but broken.  As in, a little piece of my bone was obliterated.  And that bone happened to be an anchor for a rather important ligament.
Ahhhhhhhh, so THAT'S why it took months and months to heal!!!
MRI's, X-ray's and bone scans would eventually bring me to an orthopedic surgeon who would tell me that I'm anatomically not built to run.
Well, DUH?!?!?!  Tell me something I DON'T know and then fix me so I may continue to run...
What eventually came from this catastrophe (at least, for a runner it was a catastrophe), was that my physiotherapist introduced me to barefoot running.
She did a gait analysis for me, and explained to me that a heel strike is a runner's nemesis and the reason for many running injuries.
Try running on your toes, she said.
So I did.  And I can tell you that after my first run, my calves were on FIRE!
BUT, to this day I continue to run this way and have run injury free.  I run lighter and easier than I used to in my heavily padded shoes and with a heel strike.
I've included two resources including some videos about how to run barefoot, which is also known as natural running or Chi running.
They're very similar in that they allow your body to be in a relaxed and natural position so that running is not strenuous or hard on your bones and joints.

I won't pretend to be an expert on barefoot running, however I myself AM a barefoot runner and so I can tell you that thus far, I have not incurred another injury.
I've watched the videos and read about barefoot running and from the second resource, there are 5 principles of Chi running.
Number two is my favorite and is actually quite similar to the way I live my entire life!
EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT!  So the same principles applied to different people will produce different results and that's just fine!
DISCLAIMER: I don't actually run in my bare feet.  It's a technique I use while wearing minimalist shoes.  There are, however, people who run in bare feet.

I'm including a really great quote that I know all runners will relate to.
And also a picture of lil E.
I sure hope my girls love running the way their Mama does!  ;)

I believe this whole-heartedly.

http://naturalrunningcenter.com/2012/03/06/video-the-principles-natural-running/

             http://www.active.com/women/Articles/5-Elements-of-Chi-Running.htm

Here's Vitamin E tucked in at 3:50am.
I love her to bits even then!