The articles continue coming in about the merits or hazards of barefootness. The American Running & Fitness Association, of which I am a lifetime member and happy recipient of its newsletters, has an article in this month’s Running & Fit News: http://static.americanrunning.org/fitnews/ARAfitnews_V28_1/continued2.ht…
It discusses some of the books out there along with some commentary by some of its board of advisors. while it does not address some of the issues technically of importance to runners – like how to start doing so, or even why – it also does not answer the biggest question in my mind: how to run barefoot on city streets and pavements littered with shards of broken glass, nails, and other debris capable of puncturing even the best-calloused foot? Granted, you can thicken the skin by constantly walking barefoot and, having done so in my past as a martial artist, possibly endure by adaptive gait hot asphalt or small non-puncturing debris like stones and pebbles. Running on such surfaces does not offer the opportunity to avoid the many obstacles to safe barefootness. So, when all is said and done, short of running on a manicured lawn or football field or even a treadmill, barefoot running, to me, is highly dangerous and possibly not beneficial, especially for racers. The article, too, agrees. run, but make sure the shoe fits the internal – foot – mechanics and the external – road or off road – environment.