Blogs seem like a lot of responsibility. It's been almost two months since my first and only post. Blogs are weird . . . with no followers (yet...ever?) this will be like a journaling journal thingy. But I have benefited a lot from reading some barefooting blogs in the last weeks, so I feel obligated to add the enormous wisdom I've gained in my three weeks of barefoot hiking/trail running.
In no particular order:
The soles of my feet feel a lot more alive these days. They sort of tingle, pulse, vibrate . . . maybe that's a little too melodramatic, but they definitely radiate some kind of sensation even while I'm sitting at my desk at work or doing other non-trail stuff.
Each time I go out hiking/jogging barefoot, my feet feel more comfortable on the trail. My eyes are getting better at unconsciously picking a rock-free route—although on a really washed-out trail, it's almost impossible not to step on an evil grimace of a sharp pebble now and then. The recent rains have washed away the silky dust and left firm under-clay covered in a scattering of marshmallow-sized (but not marshmallow-soft) rocks. So sometimes all I can do is slow down and tiptoe through the non-tulips.
It's still better than wearing shoes. My feet feel alive, both during and after the run, and all times in between. On the drive home, they feel all glow-y. Which is good, because out running in the cold they sometimes feel numb-y.
My feet are reluctant to wear work shoes now. (Yes, my feet are becoming a little demanding these days. These dogs don't bark, but they somehow know how to get their point across.)
So I did a lot of online researching last week, and ended up on the Soft Star web site, ordering a shoe from a bunch of elves in Corvallis, OR. http://www.softstarshoes.com/ A couple of days later, my chocolate Grippy Suede Roos appeared in a box atop my mail box. I love them! A little bedroom-slipperish, in the suede, but I was going to buy a pair of Minnetonka moccasins from Zappos.com for $40, and my Soft Stars should last longer, with their special non-leather sole. I need a pair in smooth black leather, though, for those fancy occasions.
They are lined with a bit of sheepskin, but the ground feels fairly unobstructed. No padding or stiffening in the sole. Won't be heel-strikin' in these elf shoes.
Speaking of heel striking—when I'm out hiking, and the ground turns to sand for however long or short of a patch, my gait immediately goes back to heels first. And it feels really good and soft. Back to the hard-baked clay/rocks, and I'm back to the “normal” mid-foot/ball-of-foot landing.
Yes, walking barefoot makes one hyper-conscious of how the foot is landing at all times. That can get a little old, but it's becoming more automatic. At different times in a hike, though, the feeling will come back of “how am I supposed to be foot-striking again?” Then I relax at the hips and try to glide more (if I'm walking). Jogging seems to be more natural...as long as I remember to lift my foot and not push off. And to keep the cadence up. And to imagine I'm riding a bicycle in terms of uprightness and foot-lift (which tip I got from one of the blogs I read).
So far I've been out 14 times (yep. I'm counting) in mud and streams and dust and sand and lots of rocks. It's all challenging fun. Gravel does get old fastest. Mud is squishy cool. Aged piles of horse poop are like golden-bleached pillows. Leaping good times.
It's kind of bothersome to run into people on the trail. Sometimes I don't (like yesterday at Irvine Park, running the Horseshoe Loop. No one.). But when I do, either they stare at my feet and say something, or stare and don't say anything. I can't decide which is better/worse.
