Comments on: Is Barefoot Running Better?

By: Tracey

Tracey — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:37:59 +0000

CityFun, thanks for that great insight. What a thoughtful response! I appreciate the historical background. And you’re right about the germ part: When you consider what we touch today, the ground is one of the cleaner areas!

By: CityFun

CityFun — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:54:21 +0000

What does all this mean? It means that the last generation or two, those who grew up in our shoe-obsessed society from 1980s till today, appear to not know about the relatively recent past, or even how a particular part of their bodies works.
1) Kids went barefoot all summer long in most places in the US, during the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, regardless of poverty level. They knew that gradually taking longer barefoot walks in the spring made their feet tough enough to be able to go barefoot on the sharpest objects and hottest pavement. It was no big deal, and most kids could not wait for school to end so they could spend an entire summer barefoot. And that often included going into stores and most everywhere else. It was the opposite peer pressure than it is today. Those kids who were not tough enough to go barefoot and always wore shoes were looked at as odd, and wimpy. Today’s shallow-valued peer pressure is all about showing off your expensive sneakers. Which in reality, make your feet weaker, and prevent proper development.
2) Though it was not socially appropriate for adults to go barefoot in general, most had fond childhood memories of doing so. But during the late 1960s, a segment of the young adult population began to go barefoot, the hippies. Because of their perceived lack of patriotism by being against the Vietnam war, combined with their unusual and radical for the time, way of dressing and hairstyles, many establishments did not want them coming in, and the ‘no bare feet’ and ’shirts and shoes required’ sign was born, to hopefully keep hippies out without actually admitting to discrimination. (There are no actual laws regarding this.)
3) By the early 1970s, all this hit the mainstream population of young people, and many ordinary and well-to-do young people in their teens and twenties were going barefoot everywhere. It was quite the fad during the early 1970s, all over college campuses and in most places in the “US, and that includes New York City. Please read the New York Times article from Sept 1, 1970, entitled “Shoelessness on the Rise” , describing how it was not all that uncommon to see young women walking barefoot downtown and shopping in expensive stores, and to see barefoot couples waiting in line at broadway theaters. And that was the dangerous, dirty NY, not the ‘clean’, ‘disneyfied’ NY of today. And the world did not end, the sky did not fall.

So you can run barefoot as well. It’s like lifting heavy weights – you gradually get used to it, do not over do it at first, and before you know it, you can lift twice as much as you could without hurting yourself. And as far as dirt and germs are concerned? Soap and water works well. What you touch with your hands on a daily basis is amazing – door knobs, money, any surface other touched. You wash your hands and move on. Same with going barefoot. Don’t put closed shoes on until you have washed your feet thoroughly. Same as when you work on your car or do gardening and get your hands all dirty.

By: Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice)

Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:28:40 +0000

I love barefoot running when playing catch w/ my niece and nephews in the back yard….but other than that? Um….not so much. But then again…I’m not so much a fan of running with shoes either! HA!

By: Tracey

Tracey — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:21:39 +0000

Gelareh, that reminds me of my neighborhood. Lots of dogs. Hmm, I’m not sure I’d want to run barefoot in their bathroom.

By: Gelareh @ Nutritious Foodie

Gelareh @ Nutritious Foodie — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:57:36 +0000

I am not so sure how crazy about running barefoot… maybe on the beach but no where in my neighborhood.. They are still building and god only knows whats on the ground… Great post though!

By: Ameena

Ameena — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:59:41 +0000

I can’t imagine running barefoot unless I was at the beach! Way too hard on my feet and scary to think what I might step on!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:01:25 +0000

I have been hearing about this for a while now. I can make a case (like you) both ways. But to be honest, I don’t see myself giving up my shoes anytime soon!

By: Tracey

Tracey — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:54:23 +0000

Nicole, beach running is probably the best barefoot running–soft with lots of resistance from the sand. Thanks for stopping by the blog!

By: Nicole, RD

Nicole, RD — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:13:42 +0000

Not unless I’m on the beach!

New to your blog — love it! : ) I want to be a writer sooooo badly!!

By: Tracey

Tracey — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:50:00 +0000

Joy: Yeah, barefooting it on the streets of Philadelphia may land you tetanus.