[strait]

Running completely barefoot has changed everything for me. It started several years ago with just intending to walk barefoot across park fields and down short trails. However, I soon had the urge to start running barefoot whenever I could.

This became a lengthy venture of mainly relearning how to run properly, losing extra fat weight, and improving foot strength and reflexes, which seemed to all come without much laborious determination.

Several years later, I'm out running barefoot across all kinds of terrain, except for trails surfaced with sharp gravel, and it feels great! On the rest days, I start out with a few miles in mind, but often end up running twice as far or more, because I just want to keep the fun going.

I realize that most people have trouble relating to this. It's something I would have never really understood until I had gotten rid of my shoes and tried it.

[IceMan0110]

Wow! I've been meaning to transition to bare foot running for quite some time now. How does your running schedule look like?

[strait]

In the evenings, usually every day. However starting out, it was more like every second or third day, until the feet became stronger and I had learned gradually to run with more finesse, exact landing, and less peak impact with each stride.

When I go out to run, there's no set goal or any pressure. I have a route in mind, but the idea is to just take it easy and bounce along at whatever speed I feel like going. It's like when I used to cross-country ski just for fun.

[Fethbita]

I would love to do this but I am scared of glass shards or sharp objects. Have you ever encountered that, what's your solution?

[strait]

The ultimate solution is just to live with it. The little shards are occasionally sticking up at just the right angle to force a minor puncture. It's about the same as stepping on rose or blackberry thorns or on the thin point of a broken mussel shell on the beach. The pain is not severe, more of a sharp twinge. Sometimes it gets stuck and you have to pull it out. It bleeds somewhat, which is a good thing.

Once the foot soles are thickened from use, it really takes a lot to force a puncture and your reflexes evolve toward letting off pressure from the ground as soon as something sharp is felt. A resulting wound is usually thin and tiny, and seals/heals pretty quickly.

I had a glass puncture wound while running just a few weeks ago, but the one before that was sometime last year. This is on asphalt city walkways/bikeways that are very heavily frequented by the public throughout the week. So, I feel like it's pretty rare, even there. Maybe once every 200 to 300 miles of running on city sidewalks or trails.