Here are some notes and observations
- My feet have been encased in shoes for 40 years. They are very soft and weak.
- If I tried to run my usual pace and distance in bare feet, it would be like trying to drive my car on I-40 with wheels of cheese. So I am taking this very slowly
- The goal is to strengthen my feet and change my stride so I can transition to some thin and flexible shoes
- My very first barefoot run was a painful half mile, which I chronicled here.
- Since then I have been supplementing my regular shod miles with some very short barefoot runs, totaling about 30 miles.
- All have been on pavement, except for a 5K at the track.
Obviously I can't draw any conclusions from this tiny amount, but here are some initial observations.
The Good
1. It just feels good.
Put aside all the claimed benefits of barefoot running for a moment. Exposing all those nerve endings on the bottom of my feet to actually feel something for the first time is a revelatory experience. The rough texture of a cement sidewalk is an amazing sensation. It hurts, but in a good way. Like spicy food, or a really good massage, or a back scratch.
2. Birthday shoes fit perfectly
Finally I can spread my toes out. And there is no big lump of foam and plastic under my arch. And no thick wad of cushioning wobbling underneath. It feels right.
3. The ground is not hard
I did a 17 mile run in shoes recently, and at the end my legs we shot. My knees and feet were aching.
I took off my shoes and ran the last mile bare, at about the same pace. I swear, my legs felt so much better.
The change in my stride was immediate. It seems like instead of landing on my foot, I am placing my foot on gently the ground. The result is that I feel very light, and there is no impact at all.
I guess the idea is that the tactile feedback from the feet allows my legs to make the small adjustments necessary for a light contact with the ground.
The Bad
4. Blisters.
While impact is not an issue, friction becomes a huge problem. Mostly I get blisters or "hot spots" on my toes if I try to go too far or too fast. I am told the problem is that I am pushing off from my toes, and I need to lift and not push. BFJ says blisters are teachers... really angry, mean ones. I have learned to run with my toes pointed straight up so they don't touch the ground.
5. Steep hills.
How one ascends a steep hill without pushing off from the toes is a mystery to me. Descending without landing on the heel is another.
6. Gravel Roads.
Walking on gravel is almost impossible. Running? Are you freaking kidding me?
7. The Sun
Call me Captain Obvious, but Holy fuck, pavement can get hot.
8. Glass?
Got a tiny sliver of something stuck in my foot that Shannon had to dig out.
9. Tiny rocks
I keep getting little rocks stuck to my feet, and I have to stop and brush them off.
This seems to be happening less, so maybe my soles are getting more like leather and less like cookie dough.
The Ugly
10. Tar HeelsI ran over a poorly mixed asphalt patch job on the green way by my house. The sticky tar wasn't easy to scrub off.
1. Blisters are also from twisting.
ReplyDelete2. Try "pushing off" with the hips up the hills. Stay vertical, don't look down, quick turnover. Downhill, imagine how you would do it if you were running on your (I mean yore) hands.
3. Gravel... I got nuthin. Still working on it. Although I experience the most success when I just go for it.
4. Sun, glass, pebbles: your I mean yore feet will get conditioned, and the skin will get thicker. The heat won't hurt (as much), the glass won't puncture (as often), and the pebbles won't stick.
5. Tar hates Charlie's Soap. And use a scrubby dishwashing sponge.
Maybe we should meet up sometime and have Barefoot Day. We could run around, play in a drum circle, chew on hemp seeds, kick the hackysack, then finish it off with a little capoeira. A day in the life, as it were.
I dunno, sounds pretty stupid if you ask me...
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting to kick something really hard barefoot. I just know it's going to happen, and I know something will break. Good luck. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteViper: yeah, that's probably my biggest fear too. So I think I'll keep the shoes for any trail races
ReplyDeleteYou're not going to kick anything on the run. You're going to kick the toilet in the bathroom by accident (why would you do that on purpose?), get a nasty bruise that won't affect your running, enter a race, and everyone will look at your bruised foot and say, "wow, that's why I wear shoes." And you'll be left sputtering, "but... it was the toilet! I swear!"
ReplyDeleteWell, that's my prediction anyway.
Could be. I often blame the toilet for things...
ReplyDeleteYou need not look far to find something to kick. My two memorable toe-jams (does that work?) happened when I had stopped for a moment for a brief rest (brief because I am a man's man and never give into fatigue) and when I started up again I brought a lazy foot forward jamming it into the sidewalk (almost cried like a little girl's girl).
ReplyDeleteBlood both times but I kept running because...well, you get it.
Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but if you're passing someone on the track, the sound of a barefoot runner is pretty unmistakable, so they know you're coming :-P (and yes, I know you're not supposed to make any noise, but I haven't figured out how to be that light yet...)
ReplyDelete...and my hobbit feet (Vibram 5-fingers) help with the little pebbles and hot pavement - may be a good intermediate step on longer runs as you toughen your feets up on shorter ones :)