How to start barefoot training

Over the past few weeks I've read/watched a number of web postings, print articles and sections from books on the topic. They really all say the same thing. Don't decide to run barefoot and bin your good old runners. That approach will just destroy your feet and you will not be running at all. This is not something you can switch to overnight. It takes some time to build up your foot to handle the lack of padding under the sole. In fact the sole of your foot slowly builds up some padding of its own. You also use the your foot differently while running barefoot thus your feet need sometime to adjust to their new application. During this adjustment period care must be taken not to run too much barefoot or you'll only hurt your feet.

Due to these reasons a targeted training program should be followed. I found the DCU developed 3 step program available on the BAREFOOT Ireland web-site the most straight forward and understandable. Everyone's different so don't take my word on it, please read around and see what works well for you. I've started following a personalized version of this 3 step approach, with 5 steps (I know very Life of Brian) which integrates a few other concepts and transition more slowly. Working my way through week 2 now. I will take the transition slowly just to reduce the effect on my distance running plans. Now I'm running barefoot for 5 to 8 minutes max on a grass pitch before or after a normal 5-8km run in running shoes. If you plan to run on grass make sure your path is glass and other sharp object free. I'll post my full approach to moving to barefoot in the coming weeks.

What can greatly help the transition to barefoot style running is using specific shoes with ultra light soles. One of the big names in this field is Vibram. Vibram has developed a glove type shoe for your foot called FiveFingers. It basically protects our foot from cuts but doesn't stop free range of motion. I'm in the process of deciding which version of their product to purchase. I'll post a review after a few weeks of use.