[a few weeks later ... ed]

What you don’t need is … cushioning!  Fell runners for decades have been paring down their soles so that they get instant feedback from the terrain beneath their feet.  It enables them to make the almost continuous micro-adjustments in body position and muscle activity necessary to maintain stability whilst running freely and swiftly on uneven ground.  For trail running, you need more grip than road running for sure, but you still need to feel the ground in order to stay upright.  The technique of skilled running keeps impact to a minimum and maintains joint integrity … NOT the cushioning in your chosen foot wardrobe.

There are various ways to maintain traction with the ground, and I’ve tried them all: lugs, cleats, paws … and toes 

Inov8′s Bare-grip 200 gives all the feel with its minimal, zero differential (no height difference between heel and forefoot) outsole, and total security in its substantial, soft rubber lugs.  Wonderful for running in soft, slippery conditions, but not so comfortable if there’s much hard ground to negotiate.  It was a noticeable consistent feature of all my runs in them; the run on-road to reach the muddy adventure playground was fine, but the return leg was much more uncomfortable once you’d gotten used to not feeling the lugs on the softer ground.  My main issue with them is the shape of the toe-box; unanatomical and therefore not comfortable for any length of time for my regularly bare feet.  When Inov8 correct this with their new broad, anatomical toe-box (like the bare-x 200 road shoe), it will be an excellent choice for efficient trail running.

Merrell’s Barefoot Pace Glove (Trail Glove for the boys) is minimal at only 6.5mm thick all the way through the sole, has an excellent deep toe box, a broadness to the front of the shoe that’s very comfortable for a foot used to being unfettered, and an amazing snug fit around the ‘waist’ of the rear foot (arch to heel).  The light mesh fabric upper feels almost non-existent and the soft Vibram-rubber cleated sole offers good grip.  The only downside is if your foot is exceptionally broad, or with a high arch, as then that great ‘waist’ fit makes it a struggle to get your foot in (even if you unlace their clever omni-lacing system).

Vivo Barefoot’s Neo Trail sits beautifully in the middle of the Inov8 and the Merrell offerings.  Whilst the lugs in the minimal, zero differential sole may not be as deep as the Inov8, there are so many of them, spread over a greater surface area as the last is broader, that grip is exceptionally good.  The upper is more muck-resistant than the mesh of the Merrell, but that is of little consequence when running.  The fit is lovely and broad … if you’re narrow-footed, you might find the Merrell a better fit around the heel, but otherwise, it’s great to have room for the foot to expand as it works.  Another surprising bonus is the way the Neo loses the mud … even over distances of a slimy, chalky, mud-fest ultra a day, the Neos were almost clean at the end.  Incredible.

Then there are the Hoka One One Mafates … a maverick on the shelf, but on the foot, a complete joy.  The 100 miler ultra distance runners cite joint benefits from the mega cushioning, and whilst I won’t disagree with their results, I dispute their theory.  We already know from the research that has been repeated many times over, the more cushioning you have underfoot, the harder you land.  It appears our feet are searching for the ground, for stability, so have to land harder to find it if there’s more in the way.  So the mountains of EVA that form the deep, platform-like sole of the bonkers-looking Hokas would surely make everybody run like Robert Downey Jr in his Ironman outfit.  But they don’t.  Why?  It’s fascinating, and interesting enough to test, and so now I have a theory.  When you put them on, the outrageous sole, with 50% more surface area contact with the ground than any other trail running shoe, makes you feel like you’ve got a huge paw for a foot.  Your footing is so sure (when running on rain-soaked tarmac in Hokas you feel like the tread is sucking at the road with every step!), your feet relax … and as we all know from the Barefoot Audio downloads, a relaxed foot is a great running foot, with full power capacity now available from the activity of the buttocks and hamstrings.  Brilliant fun!

And finally, last but never least (although less is invariably better when it comes to footwear!) Vibram Fivefingers.  ”But there’s no grip or cushioning or protection or support …. or anything!” I hear you cry.  I’ve just run 87 miles along the Ridgeway Trail in my KSO Treks (the Treksport has the same sole) and loved it.  My feet weren’t bruised or cold*, and the lightly studded sole coupled with my antenna-like toes feeling and balancing with every stride, gave me all the grip I needed to negotiate mud and muck of the slippery, wet, chalky variety.  Without doubt, my favourite, and all the room in the world for my toes to spread!  Pop them in the washing machine after a quick scrub to get the worst of the Druids Challenge off, and they were good to go again … and again …

* I timed it yesterday – how long my feet took to warm up after being numb with cold in the muck and mud of the Thames Path on a bitterly cold winters late afternoon – 14 minutes – followed by another 61 minutes of fun!

JN

Note from Helen: Joe came in to look at the Vivo Neo off the back of this balanced review he found on YouTube

Chris George

10.11.11

The job of a compression garment when applied to sporting activities, is to optimize venous return (in turn, helping to draw on accumulated metabolic fluid waste – eg. lactic acid – stuck in the tissue spaces), which encourages good working muscle function via blood flow and speeds up recovery. The pressure involved to achieve this is greatest at the extremities and least at the near part of the limb (known as graduated pressure) and is measured in millimetres of mercury, mmHg.  We know it as a ‘working’ compression pressure, because in order for external elastic compression to do its job, it needs to put pressure on working muscles.  The active muscle contracts; the belly of the muscle expands; the tissue space between the muscle edge and the skin (which can’t move away because of the pressure of the garment) decreases; blood and fluids are driven away from the higher pressure created, towards lower pressure, which, in all cases of graduated compression, should be towards the heart.  Don’t go mad here – serious levels of compression (eg 25mmHg+) mean that the muscle group has to work seriously hard against the pressure of the garment which is resisting its movement, and that may be counter-productive.  Heftier compression doesn’t necessarily mean better results.  Equally, ‘feeling nice’ isn’t compression.  It needs to feel firm, but comfortable, and certainly not ‘bite’ behind the knees (a sin in compression garments!).

And the job of kinesio-taping is to lift the skin off the injured muscle group to allow the circulation of metabolic fluid wastes around it, and accelerate healing and recovery.  The taping technique uses specific tape with a specific stretch to create a ‘corrugated cardboard’ lift of the outer layers of skin over the underlying sub-cutaneous tissue.  Metabolic waste fluids are collected by the lymph vessels just 1mm under the skins surface.  If there is significant damage to the tissue, micro-oedemas or swellings occur and the lymph collectors action is inhibited.  Healing slows.  Give them a little more space to work in, and they will fire into action.

So to combine the two almost seems counter-productive.  But interesting enough to test and then understand …

The other job of Kinesio-Tape when we use it, is to form an exoskeletal support system around the injured muscles and joints, which improves biomechanics during motion.  For instance, for knee pain, we tape around the knee-cap to make sure it tracks correctly over the femoral groove, but we also tape the whole of the quadricep and hamstring muscle groups to support the weight above the knee and to improve their function and action around the knee joint.  The taping feels as if the injured area is being ‘hugged’ and pain levels generally decrease swiftly.  Muscle function is improved and recovery and healing is speeded up.

The scientists of the Wacoal Human Science Research Centre in Kyoto, Japan have developed, through 40 years of studying kinesiology (the science of human movement) a way of mimicing the ‘exoskeletal support system’ effect of the kinesio-taping techniques in garments and now have multiple patents to protect their exhaustive research and development.   Their CW-X Support Web technology within the garment provides Targeted Support to the key areas, decreasing muscle oscillation, focusing power to enable the muscles to work more efficiently and protecting joints by improving biomechanical alignment.  The compression element is actually along the lines of the support web and being graduated, still works on facilitating circulation and minimizing lactic acid build-up, therefore reducing muscle soreness.  Wearing the garments feels like being hugged – firmly!

* Extensive testing of over 35000 people and analyzing injuries relative to warm-up and cool-down periods, has enabled these scientists to produce the CW-X Conditioning Wear.  In studies comparing the electrical pulse activity of muscles in unsupported, partially supported and CW-X supported legs during exercise, legs supported by CW-X showed NEGLIGIBLE frequency decrease.  The bare-legged participants as well as those wearing ‘competitors products’ all showed frequency decrease during exercise, indications of fatigue.

* Another study in Monpelier, France, tested the differences in fatigue in runners wearing shorts, regular running tights and CW-X Conditioning tights. VO2 oxygen uptake levels over 15 minutes of running at 80% of maximal effort were measured.  The wearers of CW-X tights showed 26% and 36% lower oxygen usage compared to regular tights and shorts respectively, indicating lower energy expenditure for the same workload when in CW-X tights.

The fabrics they use to produce these clever CW-X tights are also innovative.  New nanotechnologies developed by Ventex have created multifunctional, lightweight, quick-drying fabrics that give 4-way stretch comfort and freedom of movement, strong wicking capabilities, and a UV protection level of 50+.  By incorporating COOLMAX, the fastest drying fabric known to man, you remain cool at even the highest temperatures, and when less energy goes towards cooling the body, more energy is available for performance. Auto-Sensor nanotechnology maintains the next-to-skin temperature of the garment at a constant comfortable level, keeping you cool in warm conditions and warm in cool conditions, and antibacterial properties help keep the garments fresh and odourless.

The CW-X Stabilyx range provides optimum Targeted Support to key areas of the athlete’s body that carry much of the load during intense outdoor activities such as road and trail running, adventure racing, snow-shoeing, skiing and snowboarding (CW-X were the official sponsors of some of the USA and Canadian winter olympic teams!).  CW-X Stabilyx tights are really good all-round tights as they are strong on lower back, knee and abs/core support, and also good in the areas of hip flexor, quad, hamstring, IT band, calf and achilles.

Choose the CW-X Stabilyx range for:

* core stability, supporting the lower abdominals, hips and back and enabling those muscles to be used more effectively

* knee stability, supporting the surrounding quadricep and hamstring muscles and ligaments with the Targeted Support Web, allowing better function of the knee joint and helping to diminish injury-risk

* gentle and continuous support of both medial and lateral  heads of the gastrocnemius calf muscle

The CW-X Pro range focusses its anatomically engineered performance at key muscle groups and joints of the upper legs.  CW-X Pro tights are excellent for lower back, hip flexor, quadricep and hamstring support and good for knee and calf/achilles support.  Choose the CW-X Pro range for:

* pelvis stability, providing lower back and hip flexor support, leading to strong engagment of the gluteus maximus – your engine for forward motion – and helping to reduce fatigue

* continuous hamstring suspension support.  The Support Web follows the main muscle structure of the upper leg intersecting at a key point of the hamstring, effectively reducing workload, especially in the pull phase

* continuous quadricep suspension support, specifically the sartorius muscle.  The Support Web intersects just below the knee, reducing shock and speed at which the knee bends under load.  Increased speed and power at the push phase of the running action result from the additional support and alignment.

Hoka One-One

The mad weather that we witnessed last winter brought an abrupt halt to most runners’ thoughts of venturing outside the safety of bricks and mortar……..shame on you. You missed so much fun and beautiful scenery.

I donned a pair of Hoka One One’s that look more like paddles than trainers but built for grip with a greater surface area of sole and dispersal of weight, really light too!!. They had a further benefit in the ice and snow of being raised off the ground so a little less chilly on the feet.

As a barefoot runner I was still able to midfoot/forefoot run as they have no differential front t o back. Fit could be better, with a shallow toe box you may have to go up a size: I had to play around with the insole to get a comfortable fit  in my arch.

Whatever the weather I had  happy confident feet.

Don’t rule them out!!!

Hoka One-One