Last May I reported on reaching the 4,000th mile of barefoot hiking and running since starting the practice almost five years ago. Last week, the finish line of the Knob Hills Trail Race marked mile 5,000.
When I started, barefoot was primarily an experiment, to see if the practice would improve my form and reduce the risk of injury. However, there was also in the back of my mind the idea that for an aging athlete it might not be a bad idea to embrace shorter distances and a slower pace, as would necessarily be the case without shoes.
The surprise was how much fun it’s been to run and hike without shoes. I found that the barefoot practice taught me better agility and balance and a lighter step and turned every hike or run into an adventure. Because barefoot’s more fun, I no longer train in shoes unless there’s snow or ice or too much gravel for me to handle, although I still wear shoes at work and other places where they’re expected….
The Long Brown Path 