BARE FOOT RUNNING

Yes I tried it, bare foot running that is, well actually I was not completely bare foot I had my socks on and I ran on the treadmill rather than on the road. Let me rewind, after my 8 mile run on Saturday my achilles and calf started to play up after a clear four week run of no problems, so I iced, stretched and massaged and today was my first foray back to running. Instead of running outside I decided to be kind to my body and hit the gym, I also decided to try running in my socks rather than my Asics super-dooper trainers, with dry top weave, rocket boosters and extra cushioning, which cost me an arm a leg and a kidney, to see if this made any difference. I took it easy building up the speed as I went, waiting for any pains, or twinges to tell me I was crazy but they never came and an hour later, I jumped off feeling invigorated and with no ill effects attributed to my new venture.

I thought I would be bored on the treadmill, but with a good selection of music on the ipod and the softness on my legs got me into a zone and it felt brilliant. Would I run barefoot outside, are you crazy? Remember I have an issue with dog mess so that is complete no no, because if I stepped in it, that would be a major problem for me, I have been known to throw shoes away after such an accident but it's not like I can throw a foot away, plus I do not live in a nice leafy suburb, I live in an inner city, grimy, dirty, litter strewn area, which is not conducive to running around like a hippy.

For the foreseeable future I will only run barefoot in the gym on the safety of the tredmille, but I am pleased to report it was a great experience which I will try again tomorrow with some upper body weights my weekly long run will take place outside over the weekend, but for now my calf and achilles are both thanking me for the tarmac break.

Jokes aside there must be something in this barefoot running, as so many people swear by it, and to be honest in all my years of exercise, gym going, dancing professionally years ago, I had never, ever suffered an injury, even when I was dance training 5 hours plus day in day out, we danced all day in bare feet, When I toured day after day performing African dance it was tough very tough on the body but not once did I suffer an injury, honestly not once, there has to be something in it, or something about my running style or my shoes that is causing me to get injured. If I lived somewhere where I could safely run barefoot outside and that would stop me from getting injuries I really would not hesitate to give it honest consideration, I wish such a choice was a viable option but it unfortunately is not.

Happy Running.