Ease Your Way Into Barefoot Running

Disclaimer:  I own more than one pair of Five Fingers and I enjoy them a lot.  I also have a standup workstation.  And the fact that the author has a reference to thinking about walking that engages my fellowship.   I walk a great deal, but have never thought about it, and like running, I might learn something thinking about it.

I haven’t made the transition to barefoot running although I have started and stopped a number of times.  As a long term runner I am convinced that my muscle memory prefers my regular running shoes AND that barefoot running may ease a number of injuries and wear that one sees as well as improve my balance for other foot related activities. Of course I am going to start by running a lot of short distances for a long time to get my legs used to it.  I had to at the beginning of each soccer season when I shifted back into cleats.  The same with flat bottomed skating shoes.

But Mark’s Daily Apple talks about How to Make the Barefoot Transition.  I just learned about the Lacrosse Ball (although I use another type) last year, and it worked as a speaking/performance opener so well that I read his whole article and will get started with these tips as well:

• Buy a Lacrosse Ball
• Strengthen Your Feet
• Think About Your Walking Form
• Use Linear Progression
• Sample New Ground Cautiously
• Swallow Your Pride