Into (actual) Barefoot Running

A cool rusty windmill on the trail

Last Friday I was on a trail run and suddenly noticed my left heel and achilles tendon felt tight. Actually, it felt like it was rubbing against the heel of the VFF shoe I was wearing. I've logged about 700 miles in VFF, but over 2 different pairs: a black pair which has the bulk of road running, 600+ miles, and a red pair I bought for summer trail running (i.e., more tread and less wear). Both are the Treksport style. I was a little suspicious of the shoes, given that they were the newer red pair, and I've sensed that I've been breaking them in on my runs by comparison to the older shoes. My first thought was to take off my shoes, and yep - the tendon was pretty sore. Like an idiot I said to myself, "I'm in the middle of my run - so I'll just finish these last 8 miles." Hah! My heel did NOT like this, and though I made it through to the end (of 11 miles total), I was limping slightly at the end.

I gave my heel a good massage and applied some ice and compression, and it was feeling good enough to put on the VFF on Saturday afternoon. It had been a stressful day, so I decided that since my foot felt pretty good, I would give it a go and try the same trail route again, this time with my broken-in, trusted pair of black VFF. Well, immediately on leaving the car and walking a bit just to try things out, my heel felt tight. I knew it was either cancel the run or - wait for it - just take off those nearly barefoot shoes, and become an actually barefoot runner.

Which I did immediately, because there was no way I was going to give up my Saturday run. There were a lot of bikers on the trails during afternoon, and even a few runners too (yeah!), but you get a few really strange looks because as you crossing each other's path they know something's missing, but can't place exactly what it is...

This was my first time running barefoot, with the exception of on grass, the beach, all generally 'foot safe' places to run. The first thing I noticed was that my feet were tougher than I thought. They held up quite well to the new slapping sounds I was making, and there was not much difference agility-wise between running with or without VFF - you just don't want to step on rocks or jagged roots. But I found myself obsessively checking my footing, and it was a good thing too - I found half a dozen shards of broken glass on the trail, which I often ran narrowly close to. In the end I did step on a few mean roots, acutely stopping my progress momentarily. Here are a few shots taken after the second bang-up. Notice the amount of mud packed on there - it wasn't even wet, but somehow your feet find the mud.

I did end up bruising my foot just under my right little toe, but I didn't  discover this until the next day. My feet felt alive, and my achilles tendon was magically healed by this earthing moment. I loved the childish playful nature of not having shoes on, though I did spend a few minutes fantasizing about slicing my foot up on some glass, having to do a makeshift tourniquet and hobble miles back to my car. I'm convinced that the VFF running has conditioned my feet perfectly for this actual barefoot adventure, assessed by the fact that I didn't tear them up over those 11 miles.

Will I do it again? Well, I think, there's always Barefoot Ted, who runners have all met in Born to Run. I've been feeling I need to get a pair of non-VFF shoes as I move into longer distances. I keep reading about ultrarunners changing shoes and continuing with a great fresh feeling (yeah right, it's an ultra)... I'm searching for a nice pair of minimal shoes (I tried on some at Dick's Sporting Goods today), but reminding myself of Barefoot Ted gets me thinking about huaraches, now accessible in their commercially transformed Luna Sandal state. This week I've been comfortable settling back into the familiar VFF runs, and have yet to attempt a barefoot road run - although I know people do these (I've seen videos!), and even run marathons or longer barefoot. While I do like the craziness and the au naturel feel, I'm not quite sure how dedicated I want to be to a shoeless sport that might leave me, well, runless.