Day 3

Yes, day 1 and 2 were combined in the other post. I probably spent about 75% of the day unshodden today (not sure if that is a word or not, but it sounds good). Even spent 11 minutes running barefoot up through my office area. If the people I work with had any thoughts that I might not be right in the head prior to this, I'm pretty sure I erased any doubt about it. The flooring is a paper thin berber over concrete, so it is pretty good at helping one learn how to "run soft." It is really remarkable how good that felt. It seems when you get that form right it really feels good. Mind you, I am going MUCH slower than I would run otherwise, but I figure that I need to learn how to land before I can run fast. I think they alluded to this in Born to Run when Caballo Blanco said something like, "First you learn to run easy, then light, then make is smooth, then fast." I'm sure I messed that up a bit, but you kind of get the point.

What I noticed today is that my feet ache a bit, but not in the same way they hurt from a chronic injury. It is more that they ache from not being used. Standing on hard tile or marble floors all day is not particularly comfortable, and part of the experiment is to see if that becomes more comfortable with time. I noticed that my metatarsals are a little sensitive on both feet. This has been a problem on the right foot for a while and, in fact, is one of the reasons I decided to do this crazy experiment after all. Interestingly, my right foot (metatarsal heads) seems to be getting better despite walking on all these hard surfaces. Also, the outside of my 5th metatarsal heads on both sides (which have been a problem for 7 months) don't seem to hurt when I go barefoot and are, in fact, feeling better. Weird.

I am holding my breath anticipating the day when I say "I really screwed up my feet with ___ injury from going barefoot." But, I'm really hoping that if I do this in a smart, controlled, reasonable manner that nothing like that will happen. Unfortunately, those words don't usually apply to my running habits.