Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Barefoot Running

OK. I consider myself quite rational and think of myself as a slow-to-act-on-impulse guy. I'm even slower to act on inspiration.

Nevertheless, I ran barefoot yesterday, in the basement, on the treadmill. Just one mile.

While running, it felt great. As the day passed on, the pads of my feet grew more and more raw feeling. I say raw feeling because I would check them often, and they really aren't raw. They just feel raw.

This all comes from "Born to Run." And since I've been reading it for about a month, I've been thinking about running barefoot for about a month.

Where to go with it now? Well, I'll keep running barefoot on the treadmill for now.

The good folks at Vibram responded to my email and informed me that they do not make a Vibram for people like me with webbed toes, but that I could buy a pair for $80 a crack and modify them by cutting two toe pockets and stitching them together and thereby void any and all warranties for them. It was very generous.

So, I'll look for a cheap pair of racing flats. Remember those from high school track?

For now, check out this great interview with Christopher McDougall.

2 comments:

SteveQ said...

Depending on where the webbing is, perhaps you could try the Tarahumara sandal thing.

Unknown said...

Good idea.
I'll look into it.