[0xbadcafebee]

I trained muay thai before the hysteria, so I was already used to being on my forefoot a lot. It seemed like you had to use your forefoot or you wouldn't be agile enough to avoid injury. So it was kind of odd when other people discovered this.

I also found "barefoot" shoes weird. I used to trail run through rocky forests in leather mid-height hiking boots. As long as the sole is flexible, you can still forefoot/midfoot strike. More specialized shoes are nice, but not necessary.

Looking back, it was the quintessential "secret ancient knowledge that the advanced city-folk forgot"-meme. We didn't forget... plenty of people who needed to run for a living knew about it. It's just that "running" wasn't a thing any normal person did until the 70's.