Taking it easy is a contradiction for most runners, and that includes me and my esteemed coach, Michael Sandler, barefoot running extraordinaire.
If you're accustomed to running with shoes, then keep doing most of your mileage in shoes at first. Pull your shoes off for the last hundred yards or so. It is essential for the skin on your feet to thicken.
I had no coaching when I started barefoot running, and I had only my addiction to it to go on. (I met Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee a few months later) I felt so free, liberated from my joint aches and plantar fasciitis as I ran pain free like a child on the beach in summer. Then came the big blisters.
I limped for a while once the big blisters showed up; obviously, they took time to heel. I was forced to ease back into it slowly, and in little time, the skin of my feet was like leather, and pebbles on the path were afterthought.
You will likely become addicted to barefoot running once you start because you will feel so good in so many ways, but do give your feet time to adapt. This was the simplest of concepts, and yet it was the hardest for this runner to understand.
More to come on the wonderful sort of barefoot running!
Photo of Vincent by "Barefoot Scott" Jones, Boulder Barefoot Running Club
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