First Barefoot Walk

So I went on my first barefoot walk the other day. It was eye-opening and toe-wiggling fun. I highly recommend it!
I felt like a three year old just playing around. Ahh my virgin feet! Cooped up in shoes too long- they revolt and take to the streets!

I was walking all over the place just to stand on different textures and see what they felt like. Who knew pavement came in that many flavors? (Don't lick pavement- you don't know where it's been)

This was an awesome feeling. The springy grass and the smooth cobbles. I stood there for a while just scooting my feet back and forth.

The super slick cobbles are by far the best so far! I wish there was a path around me that was all cobbled so I could walk forever. Had to watch out for little pieces of glass in the space between the pavers, but it wasn't too bad.

Now this was painful. These rocks were eroded and sharp as hell. Felt like walking on shards of glass- I know this texture will help my form- but honestly, it sucked! I imagined myself in some tribal community performing a right of passage- instead of hot coals- I get old cheap sidewalk.

This grassy area was the first thing I went to after the Walk Of Glass. I stood there for about ten minutes just wiggling my toes around. It was the best feeling- springy coolness on a hot July day.

I love this pic. It felt even better than it looks. There is moss that grows between my house and my neighbor's. I've always like the look of it- but the feel of it is so much better than I had imagined.

It was like standing on a cool moist sponge of natur-ey goodness. Ice cream for the feet.

Ahh, the post walk pic- look at those sexy Used-For-What-They-Were-Intended-For feet!

When I started researching running I came across a lot of information about pronation, supination, stride and shoes. LOTS about shoes. All kinds of them- stabilizers, grippers, track, distance, cross-trainers...

Something inside me rebelled at the thought that something was inherently wrong with how God made me. We were given feet- powerful and beautiful feet. So why was I looking at them like they were the bastard child of my body? I don't wear gloves to 'correct' my finger grip or rotation of the wrist do I?

So what made feet different?

That kind of thinking lead me to barefooting. I started minimalist and am transitioning into barefooting. I found that I wasn't the only one, even 'real' athletes agree, who thought that nothing was inherently wrong with my feet- just that I wasn't using them correctly. I had babied them, thinking they were 'weak' and couldn't be trusted outside of a pair of 150 dollar shoes.

Turns out, those shoes are why my feet are so weak in the first place.

It's been about a week of walking minimal/barefoot and my ankles are stronger than I ever thought they would be. I've always had weak ankles and I thought that I had to shore them up with braces and the like. Turns out they're weak because I never used them.

Common sense. Where have you been all my life?