Barefoot Running

[waxamillionpehhgasus]

I've been running for about three years. With shoes, on concrete. Always getting mildly injured every couple months despite putting a ton of effort into my form. Never getting beyond being able to do 2-3 miles comfortably, at a decent pace, without stopping. Which was crazy, considering how frequently I was running. A couple times per week, very consistently. I should have been improving more.

Last year, I tried barefoot running on the beach. My form naturally became perfect instantly. Whereas with shoes, I would always have to focus on not f*cking up, and when I got tired, my form inevitably degraded. Barefoot, though? Zero injuries or concerns. Perfect form, even when very tired. My feet got so tough that I could literally run on shells, no sand to be found, without issue. Which makes sense. Cavemen were running around in raw nature all of the time. And if you get an infection as a caveman, you're dead. Makes sense we'd evolve to avoid that.

Now I'm planning on making the leap to running barefoot on concrete, because I don't want to drive 25-30 minutes round trip to the beach every single day. Before you say it's impossible, it's apparently not, so long as your form is good and you're light on your feet. Lots of literature to support this along with anecdotal reports from many people who put in serious mileage completely barefoot on concrete. In fact, some evidence points to harder surfaces being *better* to run barefoot on, because you have to have such perfect form.

I'm so, so excited. I think this is going to be big.

Anyone else run barefoot? Any crazy motherf*ckers run barefoot on concrete like I'm planning to? :Party:

[thepainterdoug]

best wishes!!

[waxamillionpehhgasus]

OH MY GOD.

I just ran about a half mile on concrete, barefoot, and I feel zero aches or pains. (It's 2 AM here, LOL. Passed a few groups coming back from a night out.)

This is utterly incredible. So easy, too. I'm effortlessly springing forward. I actually started smiling wide at one point because it was so natural.

Stopped only because I did 2.5 miles earlier today. Also, soles of feet need to toughen up slightly more to make it comfy.

Here's a book describing the form to take: https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedoerklxvmcph7gfewf722rryla744bltpdsgipdk4vhpf2reddxq?filename=Roy%20M.%20Wallack%2C%20Bare foot%20Ken%20Bob%20Saxton%20-%20Barefoot%20Running%20Step%20by%20Step_%20Barefoot%20Ken%20Bob%2C%20the%20Guru%20of%20Shoeless%20R unning%2C%20Shares%20His%20Personal%20Technique%20for%20Running%20with%20More%20Speed%2C%20Less%20Im pact%2C%20Fewer%20I.pdf

Essentially it's the same as running with shoes on, except bend your knees more than you think you need to.

[Sunny-side-up]

hi waxamillionpehhgasus
In this guys vids he has one about the proper way to walk barefoot :)
The Barefoot Sensei Mick Dodge
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=barefoot+sensei&qpvt=barefoot+sensei&FORM=VDRE

[Losus4]

I'd love to try barefoot but it's simply not doable here in inner city UK. Are vibrams a good substitute?

[Bill Ryan]

Do also see this wonderful thread... this is a traditional indigenous group of long-distance barefoot runners:


The Tarahumara people in Mexico: the greatest runners the world has ever seen (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?114306-The-Tarahumara-people-in-Mexico-the-greatest-runners-the-world-has-ever-seen)

[mizo]

When I was younger I was quite regularly barefooted, I remember being and playing at Glastonbury festival spent 5 days without any footwear and no- it wasn't because I lost my sandals in the mud...

I like to occasionally stand barefoot and be grounded in watery sand or in the grass in a park. I wouldn't wish to run or even walk barefoot on some areas of my local beach, far too many bio- hazards with discarded needles and dog poop.

[Bubu]

Keep us posted. Best wishes

[JohanB]

Ever heard of Zola Budd

"In 1984 (unratified) and 1985, she broke the world record in the 5000 metres. She was also a two-time winner at the World Cross Country Championships (1985–1986). Budd's career was unusual in that she mainly trained and raced barefoot."

I assume some will remember this incident:

"Think you know the story of Zola Budd? Think again. Even if you remember how the barefoot prodigy broke world records, became a symbol of South Africa's oppression, and was blamed for Mary Decker's Olympic nightmare, her story has more heartbreak, more hard-fought redemption, and considerably more weirdness than the legend."

https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a21751547/zola-budd-after-the-fall/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HRal7snecw

[waxamillionpehhgasus]

So for the past few days I've been walking almost everywhere barefoot, and have also gone for a few barefoot runs on both concrete and grass. Probably clocked 12ish miles of running and another 15ish walking.

- Walking around barefoot is absolutely essential to building up foot and ankle strength. My feet and ankles were EXTREMELY weak before, despite the fact that I am in better physical shape than almost everyone I see. I realized this especially when I did a tiny bit of tai chi walking the other day. Before, I would constantly lose my balance. Now, I am very stable and secure. If you are reading this and you don't walk barefoot a good portion of the time, you have literally no strength in your feet and ankles. That sucks.

- The barefoot running form described in the book I linked in the second post above is an absolute game changer. Everyone who runs with shoes wants to have good form, but you have no idea if you actually have good form because you have almost no feedback from your feet and you can't watch yourself run. Running has gotten so, so much easier with the technique described in that book. It's not even funny how much easier it is.

- I did a five mile run on grass, which was much easier thanks to my improved form. I've also done about a mile on concrete here and there and felt zero pain or stress anywhere on my body. Except... the bottoms of my feet right now are simply not calloused enough to run on the actual road. They're like the feet of a baby because they've always been trapped inside shoes and coddled. I need to stick to the sidewalks until the callouses build up a bit more. I also need to focus on lifting my feet up rather than pushing them off the ground, which the author of the book I linked stresses quite a bit, and says it's the most difficult old habit to break.

- For the record, I've stepped on sharp rocks and even a bit of glass accidentally and there were no problems. Why? Because your feet are f*cking amazing and they adapt on the fly to anything on the ground without your active input. Your foot will naturally roll around any protrusions from the flat surface. It's insane how smart your feet are. But they're not smart in shoes. You just clomp around. If you're not used to walking barefoot, you don't have this type of agility, and if you step on a rock, it *will* hurt.

- Everyone who is running is literally slamming into the ground because of their shoes. CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP. It's painful to watch. I, on the other hand, am gliding across the earth with extreme grace. It feels AMAZING and I find myself smiling just because of how good it feels and how light on my feet I am. I'm not even listening to music, partially to focus on my form but partially because running is enjoyable enough on its own now. If you have any interest in running at all, for the love of God read the book I linked in the second post above and start running/walking barefoot... TODAY. At least a little bit.

- I did go into Target barefoot (lol) and everything was fine. I think I'm just going to stick to shoes inside of establishments, though.

- I read through the posts everyone made but haven't had a chance to reply individually yet. Someone linked to someone talking about *walking* barefoot, which I also need to learn how to do. I feel less graceful walking barefoot compared to when I'm running barefoot.

[Michel Leclerc]

So for the past few days I've been walking almost everywhere barefoot, and have also gone for a few barefoot runs on both concrete and grass. Probably clocked 12ish miles of running and another 15ish walking.

(...)

Someone linked to someone talking about *walking* barefoot, which I also need to learn how to do. I feel less graceful walking barefoot compared to when I'm running barefoot.

Your chronicle of your experiences has my full attention. I have gone the other way around: walking barefoot as much as possible first. It is not so difficult to do even in cities when the weather is fine: a form of hyper-casual leisure-style foot attire being its Gods-given nudity.

In Brussels I became friends with a young Russian musician who was a lot braver than I and, having lived for more than a year in India, went barefoot all the time. It had become inconceivable for him not to walk barefoot thenceforward. He walked his dog barefoot and said "I walk barefoot just like my dog".

Your feet get dirty at first, as do your shoes. Then after a while you discover that as your shoes do not breathe and live, as you describe so well, actually your feet get less dirty than your shoes. Something else happens: whereas you may refrain from cleansing your shoes from occasional mud accretions you will readily wipe the mud off your feet with your hands: muddy feet then make your hands muddy, but the sum total of the mud on your hands and feet will always be much less than on your shoes alone. Then you develop a knowledge of where the fountains are so that it only takes a few minutes to clean up. Soles become leathery. You watch the feet of men from the Middle East, Muslim countries, black Africa whose soles are extremely flexible, leathery, sturdy and.. clean. Your own soles gradually become like theirs.

In cities most of the time there are no sand shores. But there are parks. Before I ventured out on the sidewalks I had become used to walking barefoot on the grass in parks, first in the “civilised" parks with crewcut lawns, then with increasing ease in the "wilder" parks. I have left densely populated towns now and live in South West France. I notice how my soles practically repel thorns.

What is involved in all this is a kind of miniature trust in the goodness of nature. Barefootness allows nurturing exchange with earth continuously. My garden happens to be highly fertile and so it has hundreds of different small plants in it. Walking in the garden is being fed energetically all the time and my weight does not hurt them.

I am adding this only, waxamillionpehhgasus, because your athletic intent and goal-setting will profit greatly, I think, from turning your "foot lovemaking with earth" into normalcy.

But then, thanks to your enthusing description of meeting with crisp shells I will look for the nearest sandy shore, now (although I will have to drive for 2 hours).

[Michel Leclerc]

One snippet to add. I feel more like one of the great apes now. The feeling is great, fulfilling.