Today's attempt at completely barefoot was more of an attempt than an actual occurrence. After walking on the hot pavement for less than 5 minutes (and crossing a particularly rocky bit of sidewalk), I donned my KSOs. The combination of the heat and rocks was too much for my pansy feet today. I'm not giving up yet, though, there are future attempts in me still.
My spouse, however, is a barefoot superstar! He walked the entire distance in bare feet (we were out for a little over 30 minutes). He didn't even bring shoes to put on 'just in case'! He walked on hot pavement, sharp rocks, glass, poplar stickies, and barely missed a smoldering cigarette, all while holding the leashes of our two pulling puppies. He's amazing (I'm not biased in the least ;) ) and he has much tougher fee than I have.
In response to Ryan's comment from my last attempt, "You should try running a few steps next time".... I'm not quite ready for running yet. I'm recovering from complications from a herniated disc in my low back. It's been a slow recovery but it's coming along. From completely bedridden for a month, I can now walk over an hour (as long as it's in VFFs and not regular shoes) and today I walked up a nearby hill (my town is famous for its hills).
I've noticed since starting walking again that regular shoes aggravate my back pain. But, as long as I'm in VFFs, I don't seem to have any pain. In fact, on more painful days, I find that a walk around the neighbourhood in my VFFs makes me feel a whole lot better. So, I'm going to barefoot my way back to health.
Although there are no races for me this season, running or triathlon, I'm going to run again. And hopefully soon. I can't wait, though, to start running in my VFFs again. My feet are itching to get back at it. There may even be some completely barefoot running attempts.
