At first, I thought these people were lunatics.  Whether I was driving to work, or running around Phoenix, I kept seeing runners with weird looking things on their feet.  Sometimes, their feet were completely naked.  “What in the world would posses someone to kick their shoes off to go run on asphalt,” I thought to myself.  When i finally stopped someone to ask them if they were being punished, I would never have thought that their answer would lead me to trying it out for myself.

Long story short, the guy I talked to told me to do some research.  I have been battling bad knees and a bad back from my football days, and it had only been getting worse with every stride I took.  After researching barefoot running, I found that my pains might be from running the wrong way.  Maybe running shoes were actually encouraging my poor form by enabling the heel strike (plagues 75% of runners.)  Maybe running shoes, in the end, were the things that didn’t make sense, not running barefoot.

Those decades of research are actually more like decades of market research. There are no studies which show that running in shoes reduces the risk of injury despite specific inquiries for them. – by Rob from Shodless.com

After 3 weeks of running barefoot, my knee problems and back pains have gone away.  It took some building up to do, but it’s like the fun is back in running.  Running on the hot Phoenix asphalt wasn’t fun at first, but it didn’t take long to adjust.  Now that I have a feel for it, I’m moving to the trails around Belara Apartments when I buy a pair of minimalistic shoes like Vibram FiveFingers.

If you’re interested in running barefoot, check out some of the resources below.  This is something you must build up, or you will injure yourself.  The switch has helped my stride, which will be beneficial if I ever go back to normal running shoes.

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