I just need to vent

Sometimes I just have to laugh when people tell me how much I am going to regret running barefoot in the coming years (trust me, I get it a lot). I try to just laugh because my initial reaction is to immediately attack them to try and show them how wrong they are, but that usually doesn't end well, thus laughing is the safer alternative. Barefoot/minimalist running to me is common sense. If you take the time to learn about your feet, you will quickly learn that your foot was built to move.

• Why have an arch if it was"meant" to be held stationary and not allowed to move? 

• Doesn't it make sense that if you run barefoot, you are going to run lighter on your feet. It's not like just because you put shoes on, now all of the sudden you are walking on pillows and your knees and legs take no impact and your feet work better. 

• Why do you think God gave you a nice thick padded spot on the ball of your foot? Do you think it was so you could put a fat sole under it with a raised heel and run on your heels? Obviously not.

• Why do you think we have 5 toes on each foot that all move separately? So we could cover them and hold them together tight and not allow them to feel the ground and help propel you forward?

I am not trying to say that running in any shoe is bad. In fact, I have a lot of minimalist running shoes that I use often. What I am saying, is that if you actually take the time to learn about barefoot/minimalist running, you will learn that there is a lot more to it than taking off your shoes and going for a jog. It teaches you the correct way to run. It allows your feet to be strengthened and the muscles to grow and work to help you run more efficiently. With that being said, I don't support conventional running shoes and will never wear them again in my life.

So to all those that tell me I am going to regret running barefoot in a few years, this is what I have to say to you.

NO I WON'T

Oh, and I will make you a promise right now. In a few years, I will still be running barefoot and loving it.

And in ten years, I will still be running barefoot and loving it. Injury-free.

Get it?

Runners Connect barefoot running research

I found this article today and thought it was "share-worthy". It discusses whether barefoot running/minimalist running will strengthen the muscles in your foot and provides some research that I found quite interesting about how it will effect both the intrinsic and extrinsic muscles in your feet. Take a look and let me know what you think.

http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/will-barefoot-running-strengthen-your-feet/

Fun Foot Facts!

Here are some interesting facts about feet I bet you didn't know!

• Did you know that your feet account for almost 25% of the bones in your body? Each foot is an intricate structure containing 26 bones. Thirty-three joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles, and tendons hold the structure together and allow it to move in a variety of ways. This is significant because it really shows you how important the health and proper functioning of your foot is to the rest of your body. 
• There are over 250,000 sweat glands in your foot. Are you sure you want to cover them up with shoes and socks? Imagine how good it would feel to have those feet free and uncovered while running!
• The average foot should get about 2 sizes bigger when a person stands up. So if we are wearing shoes that restrict our feet from shifting and flexing, doesn't that seem a little wrong?

Blistering News!

So I learned something from the blisters on my toes. I was reading that if you develop blisters on the tops of your toes that it may be due to bad form. Obviously we all know my form is not great still, as I am still learning and barely starting out on this journey, but here is what I learned. If you have blisters on the tops of your toes, it is probably because you are pushing off of the ground while running. Ideally, you should be running and letting your feet lightly "kiss" the ground. Instead of pushing off and leaping for the next step, you should lift your feet after each step, and try not to bounce and hop as much, as this wastes a lot of energy. Toe landing will result in a lot of calf pain and toe blisters. So this is what I was doing wrong. I guess I was pushing off of the ground more than I should have been, I wasn't "lifting" feet and allowing them to smoothly glide across the ground. Look at this picture here that easily shows the good form we should be working towards.