Bare (magazine)

Transcription

[MUSIC PLAYING] I think barefoot running is so intriguing. There's just not much information out there about barefoot running and how it might impact performance. There's thoughts, but there's really no concrete data. Our study is really focusing on running economy between barefoot runners and runners who run in shoes. And you can hop on whenever you're ready. We're matching a barefoot runner to a shod runner and seeing if there are any differences between the two. The other really kind of unique thing is that we're looking at performance. Good job, Caitlin. And so we're going out and having the runners run a 5K race on a track. Great job, 7:38, 39. And we're collecting data while they run that race. We're recruiting subjects all over the state and into Massachusetts and even Maine. They have to be competitive runners. They can be either barefoot runners or shoe runners. What they'll do is they'll come into the lab two times. So this is your speed. Still feel good? They'll get their VO2 max test, where we find out their maximal oxygen consumption. The test starts at an even grade. They stay at the same speed the whole time, and every minute we go up 2% grade. So they keep ramping it up, ramping it up-- Push, push, push, push. --until the subject cannot run any longer. OK. Nice job. And then they'll come back four to seven days later and do their running economy. You comfortable? OK. And we get them right on the treadmill. And what we're doing is having them run at three different speeds, on flat, decline, and on an incline. OK. You can hop off. Hands on the hand rail. Just jump to the side. After that is all said and done-- Great job. --we walk over to the indoor track and have them run their 5K. We try to cheer them on the best that we can because it's like running a race alone. One mile left. You have it. Come on, push it through, push it through. They've really come a long way in the engineering department, I'd say, as far as the masks that the subjects get to wear. A lot of people are really wary about it. They go, what the heck is this thing on my face? But you know what, once they start running, that's the last thing on their mind. And it's actually not that uncomfortable. It's called the COSMED. It's analyzing and recording the data that is coming from your mouth. So your oxygen and CO2 breaths per minute, that all goes into the computer and is analyzed and used for our data. Our two main hypotheses would be that the barefoot runners are more economical than their matched shoe runners and that the barefoot runners will run a faster 5K race than the shoe runners. I run in shoes. So until I finish my research or am convinced that barefoot running is actually more economical, I will stay with my running sneakers. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]