5 Reasons to Ditch Your Running Shoes!

Running makes you popular!

That's the message that was seared into my brain when I was a really young kid.

The backstory is huge, but the gist of it is as follows:

For some random reason around the age of 10, I started running laps of the school oval during lunch one day.

My feet began moving, and I just kept going with them.

At first, it was just me and the open air, grass, and my shuffling feet, but after a while, all the other kids had stopped playing and were cheering me on.

I realized in that moment that running was EVERYTHING!

Enter my life as an adult, and something like 10 years ago, I became a sponsored ultra marathon runner!

All that means is I was paid an allowance and given a bunch of cool products to run really long distances.

Accordingly, I ran a LOT of miles, both in training and in competition. In fact, for a period of about 4 years, my entire life was consumed with nothing BUT running.

I had some really cool running shoes, and was kept in a pretty continuous supply of them, however, one of the things I noticed was that I was quite literally always nursing some injury or other, usually related to the impact of running over 100 miles a week.

Eventually, my injuries took their toll and I was unable to run as much as I needed to be running, and I lost my sponsorship. Honestly, this was a really devastating time of my life, because as I mentioned, running was my everything.

After taking a break for a couple of years, one day I decided to go for a walk alone a trail that I used to run in training, only, I decided to do so barefoot.

It felt a little strange at first, like I was feeling the contours of the Earth for the first time, ever!

My feet were tender and didn't know how to deal with the rocks and shale they encountered, and by the end of the walk, I was cut, bruised and tender, but at the same time, I actually felt more ALIVE than I had in a long time.

I started taking some shorter runs wearing nothing on my feet, and the big thing I noticed from doing so was that I felt Free, Raw, Primal.

The connection was off the chain, and from that moment on, I was never able to run in shoes again.

Now, it's important to understand that it took maybe 2 years of being barefoot before I completely adapted to running longer distances, but once I had, I noticed some amazing changes began happening within my body.

1. No More Impact Injuries... EVER!

After a period of adapting to my new way of running, I began noticing that I could run the same distances I used to, with the same frequency, and didn't have any more injuries creeping in.

It was really curious to me, especially accounting for the fact that I was now into my 40's, so I did some digging.

What I discovered is that the thick padding on the sole of running shoes allows for misalignment in the kinetic chain when running, and the body becomes prone to injury. This misalignment cannot happen when you're barefoot, and the body begins changing and correcting any alignment issues.

2. Powerful Connection to Earth

I felt PRIMAL! I felt like a wild animal, running through the wilderness with nothing but by body and the primordial rock beneath my feet.

Honestly, I can't explain the process, however it grounded me, calmed me, enlivened me, and brought me back into Flow with myself and the natural world beyond anything I've ever felt before.

3. Stronger Feet

Obviously, the more your feet move on uneven surfaces, the more all the little tendons, ligaments and muscles in them must strengthen and adapt.

Prior to going barefoot, I was beginning to notice that I had a bunion starting to appear on the knuckle of my big toe. I had witnessed family members going under to surgeon's knife to correct the same issue, and figured that it was inevitable with aging.

After about 6 months of running barefoot, my bunion not only stopped progressing, but actually turned around and disappeared. My feet growing stronger corrected the issue by itself.

4. Better posture & Greater Energy

As my body's alignment improved because of the greater impact from running barefoot, I started noticing that everything from my feet all the way to my neck began straightening.

I was standing more upright, shoulders back, chest out and felt relaxed in strong standing posture. This also led me to be able to spend greater amounts of time on my feet, and pretty soon, I ditched my desk and chair for a standing desk.

Now, I spend my entire day on my feet without feeling tired or fatigued by the end of it.

5. Bada@$ Badge of Honor

This final point is a pure vanity metric at its best, but it's well worth mentioning in this list.

Every time I'm out running on a trail, at the park, even on pavement around the suburbs, I get people smiling, cheering, commenting, high-fiving me... and all because they're astounded to see someone running as the good Lord intended.

Whether it makes me an egotistical monster or not, it feels good to know that my actions might be inspiring someone else to a healthier way of living.

My final point here is that nothing I have mentioned is a substitute for solid medical advice, and I'm definitely not a doctor, foot or otherwise.

As much as I encourage you to get out into the world without the protection of footwear, you will still need to be the one that decides if such a course of action is right for you.