Who needs shoes?

[Panzerfaust]

Ive been trying to eek every possible benefit out of being obsessed with this movie... im using it as an excuse to be more religious (Lets face it, divine intervention is about the only way i'll ever be seeing Pandora), and im using it as excuse to excercise so i can outrun those predators and not look too lame in my loincloth...

So, ive been doing sit-ups and running on the treadmill in our basement. Im normally utterly sedentary, so running at all is a fairly big transition. (i took 2 days off in between my first and second day of running because my legs were so sore)
First day running on treadmill: i manage 10 minutes, barely
2nd day, i manage 13 and decide thats a good number.
3rd day, 13 again
4th day, 13 again
on the 5th day, i decide that for laughs il try running without shoes, Na'vi-style. This time i run for 30 minutes and feel less tired than i did doing 13 for the previous days. Perhaps we would really be better of if we conditioned ourselves to not wear shoes!

My dad, the family runner, was impressed by my 30 minutes and actually suggested i tone it down to 20. I told him my secret (no shoes) and he warned me that would hurt my feet and give me tendon damage and such... oh well (he is a doctor). He asked to see my feet, and i then discovered they were jet-black with treadmill residue. I washed them off... and they are pretty beat up. My toes are badly scratched and running without shoes made my old problematic left ankle flare up again.

So, judging by the damage my feet sustained, and my sore ankle, shoes might be a good thing... but the fact remains. I went from running 13 minutes and feeling about ready to colapse to running for 30 and feeling like i could have gone more in one day.

I pretty much did this so id have a reason to say this... here it goes.

My feet are getting tougher, i can run farther every day 

[Toruk Makto]

Tam tam tsmukan. Don't try to do too much too fast. What you are doing is fantastic (I am running again too), so pace yourself so you can sustain the pace.  And best of luck!

[Rain]

Running is indeed better without shoes, but I'd take your dad's advice and take little steps. They've been doing some studies and find that shoeless running is better PROVIDING that you take it easy to begin with. If you really want info, I'd suggest going to a podiatrist (foot-doctor) before making shoeless running a habit. And if you must, I find it easier AND MORE COMFORTABLE to run on soft ground, like in grass or dirt.

[MOUNTAINBANSHEE]

personally i would do the same if i wasen't in a ingered state!

[TorukMakto!]

You just need to find the right shoes for you. Or altenatively if you really wantto proceed running barefoot , run on a sand (you have a beach close by?) or on a grass or something. Maybe this time you ran more barefoot, but with time your feet will hurt and have blisters all over that you won't be able to run.
If you just started, take it easy, step by step, don't go hard right away, most importantly have fun in your activity!

[Rolyu]

And remember.  Wearing shoes over a long period of time (especially with arch support) makes the muscles in your feet and ankles very weak.  If you start out running around barefoot like a little "savage" (like I did)  Then even after you grow up and wear shoes mostly, barefoot running is still much more comfortable.

I would start out by walking barefoot.  You will be surprised how much of a workout that can be for someone if they grew up wearing shoes.

[MaTe]

don't run barefoot over hard surfaces, like concrete or asphalt. even if your feet have enough extra skin, you do damage your knees. dirt roads are way better (even if you do run in shoes).

[Rolyu]

Moss is amazing to run on barefoot.  It's almost orgasmic.

[MOUNTAINBANSHEE]

My sister has a friend who HATES SHOES and she now can run barefoot over asphalt. though it is good that 1 two weeks ago i was in hospital and 2 that i know that it is possible

['Itan Atxur]

I think I'm gonna start "wearing" my feet in a bit so I can run w/o shoes.

[Ayfa'liyä omumyu]

Modern footwear inhibits the natural gait and makes walking properly difficult if not impossible. The ball of the foot should contact the ground first, not, as is almost exclusively the case among the show-wearing world, the heel. I was actually thinking about this the other day as Quaritch is so clearly shown heel-striking his way down the aisle during the security brief in his combat boots. This being in stark contrast to the careful treading of the Na'vi. Blatant symbolism here? Could be!

Anyway, if you're interested in going about barefoot but don't want to sacrifice your toes and soles, I recommend checking out Vibram Fivefingers. I have a pair of KSO's on the way.

[Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn]

Moss is amazing to run on barefoot.  It's almost orgasmic.

hehehe, creepy.

[magne]

Moss is amazing to run on barefoot.  It's almost orgasmic.

Problem is that most moss is in moors. One moor once ate one of my shoes, I was running and it become more swampy and one of my shoes got stuck, I avoided falling so then I turned around I was unable to find it.
But dry moss is very nice, I have joked about cower my lawn in moss, it's softer than grass, would require less water and no require no trimming. 

[Txontaw]

If you know how to run properly, running barefoot is way better. Shoes are a bad habit, and I only wear them for school.

You have to run toe to heel, not heel to toe. There's a video explaining this posted somewhere else in the forum.

[MOUNTAINBANSHEE]

I can't wait to run barefoot again

['Itan Atxur]

http://forum.learnnavi.org/navi-tribe/parkour/

I've been practicing this for about 2 weeks (just the absolute basics) with shoes. It seems to work different muscles so my feet are getting quite a work out.

[Roiki]

When running barefoot you should always know the ground you're running on, as a kid i liked it a lot to go outside and around forests and the local neighbourhood barefooted. I can't even count the times i've had something either cut or pierce into my feet. When a shard of stone(or anything hard) gets stuck between an ashphalt and your feet, you can guess which is the one to give way.
As many have said, i don't really recommend running on hard surfaces(at first at least) beach or some dirt trails are my favourite spots, you can see where you're stepping on. Running on grass is also nice but a bit risky.

I have a pair of vibram KSO's and i can recommend them, running on gravel is no problem and even asphalt feels comfortable to run at, i tend to use them all the time during summer. They're not puncture proof though so you should still check where you run, i once had to dig a 5cm pice of glass out of my foot. 

[TorukMakto!]

When running barefoot you should always know the ground you're running on, as a kid i liked it a lot to go outside and around forests and the local neighbourhood barefooted. I can't even count the times i've had something either cut or pierce into my feet. When a shard of stone(or anything hard) gets stuck between an ashphalt and your feet, you can guess which is the one to give way.
As many have said, i don't really recommend running on hard surfaces(at first at least) beach or some dirt trails are my favourite spots, you can see where you're stepping on. Running on grass is also nice but a bit risky.

I have a pair of vibram KSO's and i can recommend them, running on gravel is no problem and even asphalt feels comfortable to run at, i tend to use them all the time during summer. They're not puncture proof though so you should still check where you run, i once had to dig a 5cm pice of glass out of my foot. 

Did you try to run with those on track?

[Roiki]

Did you try to run with those on track?

No, we don't have a track within a reasonable distance so i haven't seen the point to go there. I prefer trails anyway since they're more challenging, keep the mind active and all that.

[Hiyìk]

This sounds intresting  gonna try it sometime