I've been wanting to start going barefoot for a while now, and now I think I'm finally just gonna go for it (main thing stoping me was worries about what friends would think, and also my uber-pale feet, even worse than the rest of my pasty pale skin). I've also been wanting to start going running, so tonight I decided to kill two birds with one stone and go for a barefoot run. as it turns out, not that great of an idea. it felt amazing to be running/walking with nothing on my feet, but after about 15 min I got a blood blister on one of my feet. I attribute this to a combo of wet ground, uncalloused soles, and poor running form. I def want to continue with both running and going barefoot, but probably separately for a while. unfortunately I won't have much of a chance to go anywhere barefoot probably til next semester, outside of going for walks. I'm living off campus for the first time starting this summer, but the only places I really have to go are work, cvs for cigs (no barefoot policy there I believe), and whole foods/publix (same thing).
for sure, once classes start I def will, just gotta wait another 2 1/2 months. just went for a barefoot walk, goddamn is it awesome. feels so liberating, even with the pain of walking on the former blister from last night. I love the feeling of the ground against my feet, and how you can feel the warmth of it. and how each different surface has a unique feel to it.
don't worry Notid, with time and exercise your feet will get as tough as leather and you'll be able to cross gravel, sharp stones, wood chunks, glass splinters, thorns, hot asphalt, ice, broken branches and so on. when i began barefooting my feet got quite swollen for several days, in this case you better give them some rest. don't run too much at the beginning, better marching on natural surfaces like dirt country roads, later you can try a gravel walk. remember that a solitary sharp pebble on the asphalt is more annoying than a mile of gravel...
Even with the infamous sign I have not had rouble with cvs, even with managers watching me so try it.
how long would you say it takes for the soles to thicken up? so far it's a bit painful to walk on certain surfaces, such as rough patches of road or hot asphalt, but tolerably so.
too many variables to say for sure. The more you barefoot the better it feels. The better it feels the more you barefoot. Enjoy the journey.
take it slow dude! everybody wants to walk on fun stuff but you have to "toughen up" over the long haul so you can have fun in the short haul. Hot asphalt can be killer, both ways!
I just inadvertently ended up on like a 2 mile barefoot walk from hell. I headed out intending to meander around for like 15 minutes while smoking a cig, and end up back up to my house. however, previously unbeknownst to me, if you head up the block one over from mine, then try to go back in the direction of my house to cut back down, you can't. in fact, there turns out to be no way to cut back for about half a mile. none of the streets actually let out to the main road.
couple blisters, nothing serious. it def hurt pretty much the whole way though - I was intending to slowly work up to that kind of distance. and instead of a nice relaxing walk in the residential area I live in, I had to walk in mostly tall grass on the side of a busy main road, dodging glass and shit hidden away in there - of course there was no sidewalk.
this may seem like a dumb question, but here goes: what do you do about all the miscellaneus shit that gets stuck on your feet? tiny pebbles, leaves, etc? do you brush them off while walking, wait til later to, or just not really worry about it?
Iv' Been A Fulltime Barefooter For Years, And Apart From Tree Sap, Everything Else Just Falls Off, And If You Walk On Gravel A Lot Like I Do, After A Few Hours The Sap Is Gone Too... Welcome To The Fun Lifestyle Of Barefooting, Take It Slowly Till Your Feet Toughten, And You Will Have Years Of Enjoyment Like I Have, Nowdays I Just Go About My Everyday Life And Rarely Give My Feet A Second Thought.... Cheers Glen.
