Barefoot Running Shoes are you ready for the switch?

If you’re a runner, you should seriously consider dropping your expensive hi-tech running shoes and switching to barefoot running sandals.

I know that “barefoot running sandals” sounds somewhat oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp.

I mean if you’re running barefoot, then you can’t, by definition, be wearing sandals. Right?

Okay, let me explain.

Barefoot running is increasingly popular. Since Chris McDougall’s book, Born to Run, about the Tarahumara Indians who ran (and won) ultra-marathons either barefoot or wearing huaraches — simple running sandals they often created from old tires and twine, increasingly more people are interested in barefoot running. People, myself included, were transfixed by the storied of Caballo Blanco (the “white horse”) and Barefoot Ted, who tossed off their regular running shoes and went barefoot or in running sandals instead.

In the book, Chris talks about how he had been plagued with injuries until he went barefoot.

There were articles in almost every major newspaper about running without shoes, with arguments about whether this is useful for you or not — the “pro” camp saying that it’s more natural and will not only reduce running injuries but heal old ones, and the ‘con’ camp saying that could be stressful on your feet and calves.

Mind you, my experience is that invest the it easy at first and avoid, it’s not dangerous at all — certainly not more than running in shoes. And, I also had some long-term calf injuries that, after a month of running barefoot, are totally gone.

But, anyway… here’s the deal.

Running barefoot is great. It’s many fun, it changes the method that you run to a more efficient style, it feels good to not be involved with socks and shoes… and it can mess you up pretty bad if you accidentally step on something (which, furthermore, happens WAY less often than you might imagine… in fact, less often than how often I would trip on something when running in my racing shoes).

Or, sometimes you need to run on a surface that, well, just doesn’t seem conducive to being without shoes.

Which brings us back to huaraches, the running sandals of the Tarahumara.

Huaraches running sandals provde the benefits of barefoot (or as close as you can get) with the protection that can keep you from getting cut up by stepping on something by accident.

Barefoot running sandals are really pretty simple: some sort of sole, and something to tie that sole to your foot.

For soles, I’ve seen leather, cardboard wrapped in duct tape, carpeting, even your basic beach flip-flop bottom. One really good choice, if you’re able to find it, is Vibram 4mm “Cherry” material. It’s really flexible but provides great protection.

For the strapping, you should utilize leather lace, hemp, nylon/polypropylene or anything else that’s strong but flexible. There are a couple of different tying styles: one looks like it goes with a toga, the other is less, oh, odd-looking and lets you slip-on and slip-off your huaraches.

Another barefoot-ish option — not quite a sandal, but worth mentioning — is called Vibram Five Finger shoes (yes, the same Vibram from the soles I mentioned earlier). These are like gloves for your feet, with separate places for each toe.

I like the VFFs, but they don’t feel as free as huaraches. They also don’t fit my feet quite well, and the soles are much thicker and more structured than the huarache sandals.

Barefoot running shoes are the closest thing there is to barefoot, other than somehow painting a flexible but impervious layer of something-or-other directly onto your foot.

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