Holy shit that was amazing, just had to come on here and share.
I've been running for just over a year now and I've built up to 70 miles a week from 3mpw. I started really slow as I wanted to build my base barefoot, I've never ran before and I thought this would be a great way to learn. This was a sacrifice as I had to run a 1km loop on a football field for a good chunk of my runs until I had the thick skin and padding to run more on the roads.
I live in the UK and all the trails near me are old cinder railway tracks so going barefoot is tough on trails, but today I found the best place ever to run barefoot! I was on a run and saw a mustard farm so I ventured inside and found a small trail running along the edge of the farm and it looked like a Kenyan dirt road! Rich light brown soil. It felt amazing under my feet, the football field is good (especially after being cut) but this was like running on heaven. I'm sure most people here have ran barefoot on this type of surface but it was a first for me. It had been raining yesterday but the ground was drying up so it was perfect hard wet packed mud with a layer of soft dusty soil on top I was leaving light imprints of my feet and had new shoes made from dirt.
My city is 100% flat so it was a double gem finding a 200m rolling hill in the middle of the trail! I was like a kid in a candy shop I thought I'd won the lottery or something. I've never ran a hill in my life. The trail is only 800m but perfect for workouts. Running downhill is so fun it felt like I was weightless, like the floor could of been covered in glass but I was hovering over it.
I was meant to be on an easy run but I ended up running 4-5 miles hard on this farm, biggest runners high I've had. I'm going to run this 800m barefoot in loops for 90% of my mileage this summer to get hills nailed and train like a barefoot Kenyan! I know it's only 800m but the joy of running barefoot here makes up for the mental factor. Fresh air too and nobody in sight, will be bringing a bag of carbs and water and running with the shirt off to get that vit D all this summer!
The farmer was cool too he said "where's your shoes did you burn them off"
http://i.imgur.com/U3qpLLR.jpg
That's the place I found if anyone is interested, never thought of seeking out barefoot surfaces on farms.