Running Barefoot

Hippie!

It is true that I do not cut my hair, or shave my beard.

I am vegetarian, more specifically, Vegan – but, I do eat honey, and I’m not so fussy that I won’t cook my veggie burger next to your dead animal carcass.

I don’t drink coffee, beer, or use illegal drugs, and I rarely use over-the-counter pain-medicines. However, I do enjoy chocolate, and occasionally, I drink a little alcohol, and even use caffeine to help me through some of my long runs or races – so you could say I am a “drug” user.

I prefer “Peace, Love, and Understanding” to “Violence, Hatred, and Intolerance”.

If it pleases youto attack me rather than my ideas, you would not be the first to call me a “hippie”.

An Athlete?

Few people I went to school with would have considered me an athlete. When choosing teams for any sport, in school, or with friends, I was usually the last to picked. I did most of my running, alone, on trails, through forests, fields and on beaches.

If I am an athlete, I certainly am not an “elite” athlete, at least not an elite by virtue of being able to run exceptionally fast. Yes, I am well known, and yes, I have won a couple of races – I even won one race while wearing shoes! But, that was a staff-day fun run, with other government employees most of whom walked. So as you may imagine we probably are not the most competitive people in the world.

I also won one small local3-mile  race, this time I was barefoot. The event was the same morning as another local evening race. The evening race had prize money, so no “elite” runners showed up for the smaller morning race.

Education

It is true. I am not a doctor. I have not gone through several years of indoctrination by the medical community. I’m not opposed to doctors, or the entire medical profession. When I need surgery you’ll be the first people I call. But, for running? My bare soles have taught me more about running over tens of thousands of miles, than any doctor I know.

Since it’s establishment in 1997, I have been managing the Running Barefoot website. During this time, I have been, and continue to communicate and consult with other barefoot runners, coaches, doctors, etc., discovering what works and what doesn’t work, for a variety of individuals. I have heard from hundreds of people who have tried Running Barefoot and, in most cases (that I hear about) liked it, and, yes, even a few who didn’t.

I won’t say that I know more than anyone else about Running Barefoot – I would love to meet another person who has corresponded, studied, tested, and evaluated the concepts of running barefoot as much as I have! Until I meet this Running Barefoot expert, it is my duty to share what I have learned, my story and my experiences, for the potential benefit of runners everywhere, and mostly, so that they understand that there are options available to them, when their shoes prevent, rather than help, them run.

You may, or may not find me, or the way I look, the way I talk, where I came from, my education level, or that at age 50 I can not outrun everyone else on this planet. Even if you find all this about me personally offensive, All I’m saying is to be reasonable, and IF you can give your feet a little freedom, and listen to what YOUR feet have always been trying to teach you, then you may find an opportunity to learn something you do not know.

Now, we can spend a lot more time discussing my credentials, like the following:

• Electronic, and computer technician (since 1985) in the College of Engineering at California State University, Long Beach
• 4 and a half years in Quality Assurance testing and calibration – posted in the test lab was one of my favorite sayings, “One test is worth a thousand expert opinions”
• 1 year as a broadcast engineer
• bachelor of arts in Radio, Television, and Film (CSULB)
• associates of science in Electronic Communication (NMC)

My Running Experience

Beyond the limitations of my professional training and experience, I have been testing Running Barefoot (and walking barefoot) for over 50 years, through over 70 marathons, and hundreds of shorter races, and one 50K trail ultra-marathon. During the 10-year period when I kept a running log, I logged over 10,000 miles, barefoot. During my entire life, now over 50 years, I have certainly run and/or walked barefoot tens of thousands of miles, in the real world.

I love to walk and run for miles and miles, but I’m not the type of person who enjoys counting and keeping statistics about my day-to-day activities.  I kept a running log for 10 years because I was frequently asked questions like, “How far do you run barefoot?”, “How fast do you run barefoot?”, “How often do you run barefoot?” There are now several other barefoot runners, many who enjoy keeping running logs, so will I let them answer those questions.

I am more interested in concepts, than details. I present my evidence, on this website, mostly in anecdotal form, because, like running in the real world tells us stories, not numbers, most humans tend to learn better from stories, than from statistics (which can easily mislead to the lay-person anyway).

The information presented here, by me, the results of my continuous testing, and feedback from my body, is no less valid – and arguably, perhaps more valid – than the expert opinion of someone who has isolated individual aspects of running in a laboratory, or speculated that, because so many people in our society wear shoes, that it must be the best (the old, “a million shoppers can’t be wrong” argument), or, while ignoring the purpose of perception and feedback in living systems, stubbornly cling to the belief that Running Barefoot MUST lead to more impact than running in thickly cushioned shoes.