Running Barefoot

Comment from Neil Donaldson
Time 2009 November 9 Mon at 3:44 am

G’day Ken,
What would you think is the maximum temperature you could run on for any distance without causing yourself injury.
Here is Adelaide it gets very hot.
Just this week alone the temperatures are up in the high 30’s Centigrade, over the summer period it will get up into the mid 40’s.
I managed to burn my feet the other day while walking barefoot to the shops when the temp was about 35C.
I did some measurements later and found the pavement (brick) can get up to over 50C (122F in old language).
I think I will have to stick with my Vibrams under these conditions.

Regards

neil

Comment from Barefoot Ken Bob
Time 2009 November 9 Mon at 9:13 am

Neil,

There are many factors in determining maximum temperature – as you said, pavement does get hotter than air temperature. Fact is, while running, our feet don’t spend as much time in contact with the pavement, as with walking. And standing we spend even more time on the pavement than while walking.

So, how fast we are moving our feet is a HUGE factor, in how much surface heat we can stand.

Other concerns, include, but are not limited to, your own tolerance (how much, and how recently, an individual has practiced running, walking, standing, on hot pavement), humidity, color of the surface, texture of the surface (rough surfaces touch less of our soles, and are actually more comfortable – heat wise – on hot days).

As the records indicate, Barefoot Jon has completed a full marathon 26.2 miles, at 94F (34.4), and this is, of course, air temperature, not pavement temperature. Of course, that is also the high for the day, so it likely wasn’t as hot at the beginning of the event in the morning.

Likewise, I have completed a marathon, while barefoot (along with 3 other barefooters) at 93F (nearly 34C) degrees (air temperature)

I was once asked by, of all people, some students from Kuwait, about running barefoot on hot surfaces, and just as I started answering, one of the students remembered that, as children, in Kuwait, they often played football (soccer), barefoot, in the desert, at 120F (near 49C air temperature!), without any problems.

What’s really cool (literally) is that our feet have 250,000 sweat glands, working to keep our feet cool (literally)! Which is why the temperature inside your shoes is about 9F (5C) hotter than the air temperature. Sweat glands don’t cool well, unless there is air to evaporate the sweat! Air moving across the sweaty foot (or the foot moving through the air) is even cooler! Which is why, when I ran the Los Angele Marathon, in 93F temperatures, My feet were more comfortable (actually, very comfortable), while I was running. During walk breaks, the heat of the pavement was nearly unbearable – or, un-”BARE”-able

We have little control over the weather, and the surface temperature, other than choosing to go out, or not… however, there are a few factors we do have control over:

1 – short term, we can lift our feet more quickly, and spend less time in contact with the surface, as we would while running.

2 – look for the lighter colored surfaces to run on. Lighter colored surfaces tend to be less hot, at mid-day, than dark/black surfaces.

3 – long term, we can practice going barefoot on hot surfaces, for short times at first, increasing time on the surface, gradually, as our soles get used to it (without blistering) – likewise, we can also practice lifting the feet more quickly, which should also improve our running technique.

Comment from Neil Donaldson
Time 2009 November 9 Mon at 12:06 pm

Hi Ken,
Thanks for that very comprehensive answer. It is good to know that it is possible to handle those extreme conditions.
We seem to be getting hotter summers these days with many days over 40C.
I think my tolerance is building up slowly.
Australia has some pretty unfriendly surfaces, even the grass dries off and is full of plants with spiky thorns so is not that pleasant to run on.
That said, I was up in Arnham Land (near Darwin) in August and was watching some of the local Aboriginies playing Aussie football, most had no shoes and were running around in 40C temp and on ground that was full of sharp grasses and thorns and they didn’t seem to notice. So, it can be done.
Regards
Neil