Sweet spot (9th June 2010)

I believe that today I found what Barefoot Ted refers to as the "sweet spot". David and I did a barefoot run through Beckenham and I decided just to let my legs and feet do what they wanted. What happened? My stride lengthened (shock, horror!) and I felt like I was truly running. I asked David to check and apparently my feet were still landing underneath me, so no dreaded heel strike. I've been so concerned with keeping my feet underneath me that my strides were becoming shorter and shorter and I was getting the same "breaking effect" that is associated with heel strike even though I was landing midfoot.

The resulting relaxation also meant that my stride was more even and I was getting more "pick up" at the back. I was also naturally speedier and got out of breath for the first time in a while - it was general fatigue that told me the run was over today rather than the usual foot sensitivity. In fact, my feet were fine and I could've run again the next day.

Sometimes when you're trying too hard, your mind becomes so saturated with endless pointers on technique ("relax your shoulders.....short, quick strides......midfoot landing.....upright....relax.......pick up your feet....alignment....RELAX) that any signals coming from the bottom of your bare feet remain at the back of the "instructions" queue. When I allowed myself more freedom today, I became acutely aware of the difference in power between my right and left calf muscles as I ran up a hill. This is something I've known about for some time but, without realizing it, was no longer feeling. Today I could feel it once again - not that I could do anything about it during the run but having the awareness of an imbalance means that you can plan how to correct it.

The rule is not to try too hard to run barefoot "correctly". You only need to look at the unique styles of other barefooters such as Barefoot Ted, Yanni and Ken Bob to realize that each individual has their own personal style - and that taking your shoes off provides the perfect opportunity to find it.

We had nothing but positive comments today - we had a chat on the move with a couple of guys in their car asking us, "would barefoot running be useful in the pre-season football training?" Of course!