My Decision to Toss the Shoes

This month I made the decision to start walking barefoot as much as possible.  In this blog I will discuss my reasons and adventures in my bare feet.  I do not plan to toss the shoes completely, but will try and limit the time spent in my shoes. 

If my memory serves me right it was in the spring of 2014 I decided to try to start running again.  Every time in the past when I started to run, besides the obvious huffing and puffing I would end up with pains in my legs and would just stop running, it was just not working.  After doing some reading on the new minimalist running fad I thought this might be the thing for me.  I went out and bought myself some minimalist shoes.

Things started out the same.  I would barely make it to the first utility pole before I would have to stop and walk, but eventually I started to run a block, then two and finally a mile.  My feet did feel a bit sore, but from what I had read this was to be expected and would last for a some time. The important part was I didn't get any leg pains.  I believe that the minimalist style running taught me to take shorter strides and in the past I was over striding.   So while my victory was more to running form than the shoes I was hooked.

I began to notice that my minimalist shoes allowed me to feel the texture of the ground and I loved it.  They felt light on my feet, allow more air around my toes, and I could wiggle my toes.  I have wide feet and have always had trouble finding shoes that fit, so this new style was a blessing. 

I eventually did a few 5K races in my minimalist or Five Finger shoes.  And then I wanted to feel the ground a little better so I started to walk barefoot once in a while.  On the way home from work, or just out in my own little yard, to eventually doing most of the maintenance on my home barefooted. 

In the beginning of the fall of 2015 I began to take long barefooted walks around the block after the sun set.  I was very self conscious of being barefoot, so I figured after dark the street lights would help me see enough to avoid glass and other hazards and it would be harder for people to notice my lack of footwear.

In February 2016 I found the Society for Barefoot Living at www.barefooters.org where they discussed all the barefoot myths and had all kinds of facts about going barefoot.  It was then in the middle of winter I decided to join the ranks of barefoot people.