Katherine Harmon highlights new research contradicting the conventional wisdom about "habitually barefoot runners," those who "grew up running sans footwear":
"The Daasanach people grow up without shoes and continue to spend most of their lives barefoot," Kevin Hatala, a graduate research in Hominid Paleobiology at George Washington University and co-author on the new paper, said in a prepared statement. Nevertheless, these people, it seems, land farther back on the foot when they run. "We were surprised to see that the majority of Daasanach people ran by landing on their heels first," Hatala noted. "This contradicts the hypothesis that a forefoot strike characterizes the ‘typical’ running gait of habitually barefoot people."
Not everyone is jumping on the barefoot bandwagon. After a recently diagnosed stress fracture in his foot, The Running Moron is giving up minimalist shoes:
It goes against the hype I know, but I've come to the belief there is just a certain type of foot and/or body that should not forego the protection of a well cushioned shoe and I'm wondering if my feet and/or body belongs in that group. Maybe it's our natural disposition to walk around barefoot like our caveman ancestors, but back then not only did a caveman die from simple viruses that are rendered relatively harmless now with antibiotics, but there was no way to correct any problems cavemen experienced with age.
The Dish 