Barefoot running really took the scene for the majority of us when we walked our first steps, fell, then attempted to run. Most of us were under two when we discovered we could start running without shoes. Most of us, continued to fall down time and time again well into adulthood. Hello ultra running!

In the late 2000s, Christopher Mcdougall’s book, Born to run, tells the story of the local group called the Rarámuri who run ultra distances in minimal support sandals. These runners competed against a make shift squad of American runners in Mexico and the story inspired an explosion of barefoot running across the USA leading to shoe companies created a minimal shoe type.

From this movement, many runners began embracing running barefoot or using minimal support shoes. It led to technique improvement for some, injuries for others, and a missed opportunity for discovery for yours truly. People professed how it changed their running gait in miraculous ways and let to healthier and faster performance.

Over 15 years later from the book release, I decided to do a little experiment to see how my legs would feel adding in some barefoot running. My barefoot background outside of running as a child included doing some strides in a college practice here and there after a workout and nothing since then.

Goal: Run for two weeks 2-3 miles a day and avoid injury.

Beginning: I started with walking barefoot to first build strength and calluses up in my feet. The focus was on one to two miles at a time for about a week before attempting to run. My feet typically did not see the sun so I am sure I blinded a pedestrian or two with the world class paleness.

As my first week came to a close, I was happy to report that I only had one injury. A small splinter that dug itself into one of my toes. I probably had more splinters but the calluses on my feet prevented me from feeling them. Other than the splinter, my feet held up fine and the lack of being in a shoe reduced their typical stinky smell by 63%. This is a self reported number that may or may not be accurate.

Pros, it was cool to feel the ground underneath my feet! It was nice to feel the sun on my feet too and that tied to the con of needing extra sunscreen for my pale nuggets. I began walking lighter on my toes and was more conscious about how my foot hit the ground. I became extremely conscious about avoiding dog poop which is abundant in Austin, Texas.

Running Barefoot – Time to begin!

The first day ended up being pretty fun! Immediately my form changed within the first few steps. I began landing towards the front of my foot and each footstep was much lighter of a landing than with shoes. Pretty quickly I determined that grass was going to have to be where I ran. The concrete felt hard on the legs and shins plus the danger of glass could be around. At the end of the first day, I felt myself running lighter and I put two miles in around the grassy area around our apartment complex. Biggest win was not stepping in any dog poop!

Over the next couple of days, my calluses started to form up and I continued finding myself running lighter. When I put on a pair of shoes, I felt myself land heavier on the ground which makes sense. Without shoes, feet tend to absorb all the impact unconsciously pushing runners to a lighter stride. The cushioning of shoes takes the impact letting us unconsciously pound the ground harder each step.

As the next couple days led into the first week, my ankle strength began to build up as well as my awareness for avoiding all the unique offerings that the litterers of Austin offered the sidewalk. Highlights included a disposable coffee cup, a toy snake that freaked me out, and a robot vacuum cleaner! (That one I just found by an apartment dumpster, it didn’t end up working unfortunately).

I put in about 12 miles of running in the grassy areas around my apartment complex which was mostly grass, dirt, and Texas chiggers. The wealthy neighborhood nearby was kind enough to offer its local park for my barefoot running experiment. At least I assume the residents would have wanted me to do so.

Week 2 – Pit pat – pit pat!

The second week mimicked the tail end of the first. I felt my form continue to change from the sloucher I was born as to using a straighter back and a lighter landing for my feet. I did feel a little irritation on my shins, particularly after one day of running 3 miles barefoot. The grass underneath the feet felt fantastic! Although Texas doesn’t have the darkest and softest soil out there, certain grassier areas were more comfortable. I ran about another 12 miles for the week and substituted one run with tennis shoes rather than barefoot. During this run, I could feel myself go between my old form and my newly understood lightness. It took mental effort to retain the barefoot knowledge and apply it throughout the run.

I managed to stay injury free from splinters, snake bites, and dog poop. I did see one crazy creature on the run. Mr. Armadillo saw me and luckily he was too busy snacking to give me trouble. It was fun we both were able to run away from each other without shoes! Although he ran over sticks and rocks with more grace than I could.

Biggest takeaways from Barefoot Running

• Picking up Trash
  • I become more mindful of the state of the sidewalks and parks and I made an effort to clean up a whole lot more. Generally on my runs, I try to pick up a piece of trash if I see one and toss it. With barefoot running, I tended to grab a plastic bag to fill up the garbage to keep the parks looking as clean as they were meant to be.
• Constant Presence to the Trail
  • This one could be seen as both a pro and a con. When embracing the barefoot run, you need to constantly pay attention to the ground if your feet are relatively new to handling the pounding of the terrain. Sharper rocks, trash, scorpions, and many other features that nature provides causes a constant attention to where one steps. The con is a higher increase to a foot injury by one of those features that nature may provide. It definitely is not a time to get distracted rocking out to Pink Pony Club, unless it’s the Kidz Bop addition.
• Improvement to form
  • Landing barefoot forced a light footstep for sure. I felt more connected to the trail and enjoyed the quicker stride too. As for the whole landing on your heel vs the front of your foot, I will leave that to the sports scientists to determine if form should change a certain way. Landing softly worked for me and was something I could carry onto shoe wear.

Overall. the goal was reached!

No injury led to a success on that end of the spectrum. I was also able to run for a couple weeks and got in about 25 miles of barefoot running. Goal number 2 achieved!

I would recommend giving barefoot running a chance! I’d stick to grassy surfaces for the attempt and slowly build up. Sticking with shoes in between the runs will help build some tolerance and strength underfoot. You may see your form improve or you may not but sometimes it’s worth trying to find out!