My foray into the world of barefoot running was not exactly straightforward.
I like to think that I was gifted at running from a early age. I was a tall kid with long legs; a typical ectomorph build. Even though I was glued to my chair playing video games for a large portion of my childhood, I enjoyed giving 100% effort during gym class and the annual Terry Fox runs at school. As I grew older, my cardio was good but didn’t develop much beyond high school basketball and riding my longboard around town to buy snacks and smoke weed with my friends. One year during our annual Terry Fox run at school, our cross country coach saw my potential and recommended me to join the team, but I just wasn’t interested. Little did she know that she would plant a seed that would grow into a passion over time.
I mean I ran after school occasionally. Usually because I felt guilty that I ate too many cookies at lunchtime. It was only after growing out of my adolescence that I started to really have a vision of myself as an athlete. I needed to let go of my stoner identity and pursue what my intuition and heart was pointing me towards. I started running more, and over time I really began enjoying the process of pushing myself farther and faster. In the beginning there was a lot of trial and error. One of the ongoing issues I would experience was that my footwear was too small on one foot and I would get blisters. I was due for a new pair of shoes. Being already familiar with minimal shoes at the time, I was quite interested in giving them a shot. After trying on multiple pairs but failing to find the ‘perfect shoe’, I stumbled across Luna sandals at a running store called Distance Runwear in Vancouver. Wearing them provided a whole new level of freedom and increased sensory input. They began to change my life and running in profound ways.
High Knoll
I would get my first true taste of being barefoot in May 2016. One day I decided I would go for a walk in the woods after eating some psilocybin mushrooms. I packed my essentials in my backpack and I put on my sandals, which I had grown accustomed to, and embarked on what would become a beautiful trip. I slowly made my way to the top of a local hike. Having journeyed here many times before, this area was familiar to me. The sun was shining and I was comfortable, so it just made sense for me to take off my sandals and let my feet reconnect with the earth. The sunlit rocks were warm and inviting, and the varying textures of the ground beneath me provided me with a sense of stimulation I didn’t know I needed. After a brief meditation I was ready to make my way back home, the difference was I decided not to put my sandals back on and proceeded to hike the rest of the way down in my bare feet.
Luna Sandals - Oso Flaco
On my return journey I needed to slow down because the trail was littered with rocks and roots. As I placed each foot one after another with careful precision, I began to form a dialogue with the ground. I was the student, and the pathway of communication between the forest floor and my nervous system became my teacher. Traversing the path became a form of yoga. I was highly focused but at the same time it was as if I had unlocked an innate potential for effortless movement. The sensation of each step imparted me with wisdom; about my own body, about my place in nature, about my place as a human being experiencing the ongoing evolution of the cosmos. There was a sense of truth in going slowly, in letting go of any fear I had. I began to love the forest, and to feel at home. I was present, and that felt familiar and safe.
Following this experience I gained a new confidence in my feet and started running around the block barefoot. Soon my 1 kilometer runs developed into 3 kilometer runs, and then into 5 kilometers and so on. Over the seasons I developed my barefoot running and ‘found my sole’. I can now run over 10 kilometers at a time barefoot without any pain or blisters. I learned so much by just trusting my own body. I make sure that I revisit that trail annually to experience the pure joy and wisdom that I experienced 2 years ago.
So you have made the decision to live a more barefoot lifestyle. Whether that's incorporating some barefoot running, walking to and from your mailbox, or going shoeless at the office. You are starting to notice the benefits; your posture is improving and your feet are getting stronger. However, we can’t be barefoot all the time. Highly technical trails, gravel roads, and even some city streets prove to be quite unforgiving surfaces for the barefoot traveler. Sometimes the temperature can be too extreme, whether it is too hot and the pavement is unbearable, or it is too cold and you start to put your feet at risk of frostbite. There are also cultural requirements that are set in place such as dress codes, e.g. when at work, eating out, and using public transit. If you have ever heard the term ‘no shoes, no shirt, no service’ then you are familiar with the cultural norms that unfortunately discriminate against the shoeless citizen, citing often that these rules are enforced because of ‘safety and sanitation’ reasons. If people washed their shoes as often as they showered I would understand, but it seems to me that shoes end up much dirtier than the average pair of feet. As for safety, the whole point of being barefoot is to walk around with greater control and awareness of your surroundings. Stubbing your toe or dropping a box on your foot whilst wearing sandals hurts just as much as being without them. Currently most public establishments mandate some sort of footwear.
Shoes are indeed useful tools to have at our disposal. So in order to gain maximum benefit from all this time on our feet that isn’t barefoot we can wear shoes that mimic the barefoot experience as closely as possible. Over time all the hours spent being barefoot will cause your feet to change. They will get wider and more voluminous due to their increased muscularity. Footwear will seemingly get smaller as your feet grow bigger. You will become dissatisfied with the traditional selection of shoes at your local shoe store, for this reason I would recommend minimalist footwear.
To fall into the minimalist category, a shoe must adhere to the three commandments.
- Thou shalt remain flat: Your feet do not have an elevated heel. The shoe should be flat so that you can move through your gait naturally and to discourage striking hard on the heel.
- Thou shalt remain wide: Your feet are widest at the toes when you are born. The shoe should be widest at the toes of the foot to allow for maximum toe splay and stability.
- Thou shalt remain thin: Your feet are full of nerves that require sensory input to function correctly. The shoe should be thin to allow to maximum feedback to encourage a light step and accurate proprioception (bodily awareness).
Hence the minimal shoe can be seen as the antithesis to the modern shoe. Instead of adding supposed functions like improving stability or reducing fatigue, minimal shoes are built to mimic being barefoot as closely as possible while still providing the benefits of wearing a shoe. The result is a shoe that has very little in the way of extra features. They can be thought of as the spiritual successors to the shoes of our ancestors. They are unforgiving, they won’t feel like walking on clouds, they won’t magically fix your gait, and they won’t make you faster. They won’t do any of these things because your comfort, biomechanics, and speed is highly dependent on you, the wearer, and your individual fitness level. However, they will protect against cuts and scrapes, offer thermal regulation, and allow you to make a fashion statement whilst adhering to cultural norms.
The general rule of thumb is that minimalist footwear is going to be a better option for letting your feet do their thing when compared to traditional footwear. So ideally you want to incorporate as much barefoot style footwear as possible. Similarly to the wide selection of running shoes and all their gimmicky features, there are many types of minimal footwear. Some are better than others, and some are merely imitators. They call themselves a minimal shoe or a barefoot shoe, but they are truly not. Minimal shoes adhere to the three commandments closely, they do not have a raised heel, a narrow toe box, or come with excess padding underfoot.
There are styles for all occasions including sport, casual and formal wear. The trick is to slowly replace all of your lifestyle and sports shoes with a minimalist alternative so that you can maximize the benefits of going barefoot in any circumstance. We can take a look at some shoes that I have had the pleasure of trying and see how they fare in terms of adherence to the principles of minimalist footwear.
Altra Shoes
Altra offers the widest toe box out of all the shoes listed here, but since they are shoes they just can’t quite mimic the freedom of boundless toe space. They have a flat sole to encourage proper biomechanics. However, they are quite thick (20mm+ sole) so they do not allow for a lot of feedback from the ground. These shoes are good for a beginner shoe to use alongside with truly barefoot training, they will allow your muscles, tendons, and ligaments to rest as you adapt to running barefoot.
Luna Sandals
Luna sandals are epic adventure sandals. No shoe comes close to offering the toe freedom that sandals do. They have a flat sole to encourage a proper bio-mechanics. They are thinner than Altras, and allow for a lot more feedback from the ground. However they are still quite thick (10mm+ sole) and thus will offer a lot more protection from difficult terrain. These sandals are useful over rough trails, longer or harder workouts, and simply walking around town.
Xero Shoes
Xero shoes are wider than the average consumer shoe, but not wide enough to allow for full foot splay. *Their sandal option offers plenty of toe space like other minimalist sandals. They have a flat sole to encourage proper bio-mechanics. They remain very thin (5mm - 10mm sole) whilst still offering adequate protection from varying terrain. Their Xero Genesis huarache style sandal offers the most barefoot like feel out of every shoe mentioned here.
Vivobarefoot
The width of Vivobarefoot shoes vary from model to model. Overall they are wider than the average but not wide enough to allow for full foot splay. *I have yet to try them, but I presume their sandal option offers the same toe freedom as other minimalist sandals. They have a flat sole to encourage proper bio-mechanics. They are extremely thin (3mm - 5mm) but they have multiple models more suited to offering protection from difficult terrain. They are by far the best looking shoes on this list and they offer a wide range of models to choose from depending on your lifestyle.
There are many other models by other minimalist shoe companies that I have not had the chance to try, but I will link to their websites for those who are curious.
Shamma Sandals
Earth Runners
Joe Nimble
Bedrock Sandals
Lems Shoes
Softstar Shoes
Vibram Fivefingers
