Barefoot in the street
This was my first barefoot run on pavement. I went only a little over a mile so as not to avoid what I’ve read is the biggest mistake: TMTS, otherwise known as Too Much Too Soon.
Observations from this short run: contrary to what I would have guessed from traversing both kinds of surfaces in shoes, sidewalks are smooth and soft in contrast with paved streets, which are jagged and unforgiving. I also found that in bare feet maybe it is possible to let the heel just barely kiss the pavement while running on one’s forefeet. In padded shoes it really is difficult to tell if the heel of one’s shoe is touching ground without making a positive impact. With the thick heel it’s also difficult, even after years of running and walking in the same shoe, to judge exactly where the heel is and predict the right angle to keep the foot in in order not to land on the heel.
So I can confirm some of the things said about barefoot running. I am now more convinced than ever that typical running shoes enforce running with a heel strike. I say «enforce» rather than «encourage» or «fail to prevent» because with the disparity of the thicknesses of the sole in the heel and the forefoot, it really is difficult to run without landing on the heel.
I can also confirm that, while it takes effort and attention to avoid debris in the path, running even on pavement isn’t that hard even on sensitive feet like my own. I am a little sore even after only slightly more than a mile in places I wouldn’t normally be, but not very much so.
I remain unconvinced that running barefoot is the only way to address the problems caused by our athletic shoe industry, which has done its level best to cripple two generations of runners by convincing us that we could not run without their productsproducts which cause us the injuries that we buy their products to avoid. But I am certain that I will replace my current shoes and that my next pair of running shoes will be not be high-heeled and will have thinner soles than the ones I currently have.
