Barefoot running

Running barefoot on fresh snow actually helped my achilles tendinitis.

However, running barefoot on cold, cold, cold 'crete actually stung my feet. Try running on the sidewalk when it's below freezing during Fall.

pond scum wrote:

Running barefoot on fresh snow actually helped my achilles tendinitis.

However, running barefoot on cold, cold, cold 'crete actually stung my feet. Try running on the sidewalk when it's below freezing during Fall.

I feel it toughening up and strengthening those week muscles on my feet. I don't ever plan on running on concrete barefoot.

My college coach has us do cool downs after workouts barefoot on the turf to help with the recover from the stress of a workout, and we also do barefoot strides on the turf after training runs to help build ankle strenght. Both are great!

I’ve been doing my easy easy days barefoot all summer and I’m sold. This amounts to three x one hour runs each week where I do barefoot laps on a track infield or around a soccer field complex. Honestly, these are the runs I like the best in my week.

I live in a frigid winter climate, so the only realistic barefoot option in the winter would be the treadmill. That doesn’t appeal to me.

great question. in winter i love my sandals w injinji socks. 5 fingers good too. also the roads often get warm from sun so even in a state like West VA you can do some barefoot running. The video i made from a few yrs ago shows the biomechanics of barefoot running. accessed from this page. http://naturalrunningcenter.com/. over 1M views with lots of comments on the learning process. enjoy!

I only run barefoot on large grass fields. Great for recovery runs but I don’t think I’ve attempted faster than 6 min pace barefoot, I think it would over stress the tendons in your feet unless you are Zola Budd

Sand Dunes wrote:

When winter time comes, would it be a bad ideal to run barefoot when there's snow/frost on the ground? What should I do during the winter months to continue this? Would my feet just toughen up after a while? I plan on doing most of my easy runs from now on on a grassy field.

Sand Dunes wrote:

I am not advocating that you should do all of your running barefoot. But I would suggest you do at least some of your runs on a grassy field or a sandy beach barefoot. I just ran on a grassy field today for the first time in months barefoot. It felt great, I need to do more of my running on a grassy field barefoot. When winter time comes, would it be a bad ideal to run barefoot when there's snow/frost on the ground? What should I do during the winter months to continue this? Would my feet just toughen up after a while? I plan on doing most of my easy runs from now on on a grassy field.

Given the idiocy of your posts, why would anyone do what you suggest or advocate?

Look into Zero shoes/scandals et al. Very close to running barefoot, but with some protection. Just don't go overboard with the barefoot running concept.

@Sand for brains wrote:

Sand Dunes wrote:

I am not advocating that you should do all of your running barefoot. But I would suggest you do at least some of your runs on a grassy field or a sandy beach barefoot. I just ran on a grassy field today for the first time in months barefoot. It felt great, I need to do more of my running on a grassy field barefoot. When winter time comes, would it be a bad ideal to run barefoot when there's snow/frost on the ground? What should I do during the winter months to continue this? Would my feet just toughen up after a while? I plan on doing most of my easy runs from now on on a grassy field.

Given the idiocy of your posts, why would anyone do what you suggest or advocate?

Well I guess you have to use your own judgement and critical thinking skills. If you can't tell the difference between when I'm joking/trolling vs give/discussing legitimate training advice I feel sorry for you.

Sand Dunes wrote:

@Sand for brains wrote:

Given the idiocy of your posts, why would anyone do what you suggest or advocate?

Well I guess you have to use your own judgement and critical thinking skills. If you can't tell the difference between when I'm joking/trolling vs give/discussing legitimate training advice I feel sorry for you.

In this case I assume you are actually giving training advice. It isn't legitimate though, because the only legitimate thing you are is an idiot.

Sandy is a legitimate idiot wrote:

Sand Dunes wrote:

Well I guess you have to use your own judgement and critical thinking skills. If you can't tell the difference between when I'm joking/trolling vs give/discussing legitimate training advice I feel sorry for you.

In this case I assume you are actually giving training advice. It isn't legitimate though, because the only legitimate thing you are is an idiot.

Ad hominem, not a argument. Can you explain how I am a imbecile?

Uncle Rico wrote:

Look into Zero shoes/scandals et al. Very close to running barefoot, but with some protection. Just don't go overboard with the barefoot running concept.

I agree! You never know what you might step on, like rocks, sticks, used IV needles, etc.

Sand Dunes wrote:

Sandy is a legitimate idiot wrote:

In this case I assume you are actually giving training advice. It isn't legitimate though, because the only legitimate thing you are is an idiot.

Ad hominem, not a argument. Can you explain how I am a imbecile?

you spend your limited time on this earth trolling as a flat earther.....only an imbecile would waste their time doing that.

only a bigger imbecile would be actually believe in flat earth

either way......

I remember a few years ago this almost barefoot running became all the rage amongst what appeared to be hobby joggers. I say hobby joggers because I didn't see any serious runners with fast times wearing these minimal shoes that were extremely light and had digits for each toe. I can't imagine going out and doing even 50 miles a week in them. It lasted about two years or so and now you never see them. The shoes to me seemed best for water sports as they were light and offered some protection on river or lake bottoms.

Briar batch wrote:

Sand Dunes wrote:

Ad hominem, not a argument. Can you explain how I am a imbecile?

you spend your limited time on this earth trolling as a flat earther.....only an imbecile would waste their time doing that.

only a bigger imbecile would be actually believe in flat earth

either way......

Actually I do legitimately believe the earth is flat.

It's nothing new, quote:

There had been another innovation in the Hill running strategy in 1962: barefoot running. Following Percy Cerutty’s back-to-nature approach in Australia, which included a lot of barefoot running on sand dunes, several top English runners had begun to train and compete barefoot. Bruce Tulloh, Frank Salvat and Jim Hogan were the first ones. Then Ron Hill began to race barefoot: “I had started barefoot racing probably for two reasons. Firstly it fitted the image of the sort of athlete I wanted to be, a hard man, able to run without shoes, and secondly it was much easier to run, provided the ground was not slippery, because of reduced or no weight on the feet.” (1:132) For a few years, Hill raced regularly in bare feet on cinder tracks. He even ran some cross-country races barefoot.

http://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=183

I often have my athletes do strides, cooldowns, and a mile at the end of their easy runs barefoot and on grass. It’s amazing how much better their form looks with the shoes off—but then it gets bad again when they put the shoes back on. I do see it help over time—though it can be hard to quantify.

I've been incorporating running barefoot over the past 10 years now as a tool for improving my running form, to great effect. I doubt the barefoot strides thing does anything other than feel good, same with running on soft grass. I think the benefits come from running on harder surfaces and getting feedback about inefficiencies in footfall. And I'm not the fastest runner around, but all my PRs from the 5k (14:51) up to the 10 mile are barefoot and on roads, so it's not like you can't run fast without shoes.

For me, it's not about being a barefoot runner, it's about being fast, so I'm not dogmatic about running everywhere barefoot. I do about 25% of my running (all speedwork and some easy runs) barefoot. But it would be too taxing to do it all without some cushioning, so I use 0 drop for the rest. Same with winter. It'd be a waste for me to ruin my feet on ice or salt just for the sake of being tough. That said, I live in Vermont and do occasionally run barefoot through the winter. Luckily I have access to an indoor track so my track work can still be without shoes.

I also wouldn't recommend running in Bedrock, Xero, etc. sandals initially. Those just mask the feedback from the ground and so your form doesn't adjust and you'll wind up with bone bruises, tendinitis (TOFP) or another injury. Go slow with the transition and have fun. Hope that helps.