If you find a good minimalist shoe for the cold weather, please let me know!!

I can buy the logic and feel energised by the various debates. I am not worried about toughening up or puncture wounds or dog dirt, but I am concerned about the weather. I have a pretty enthusiastic nature, so half-way and using VFFs is not really on my agenda.

I have (I think) poor circulation in my hands and feet. I get painfully cold. I live in UK and for 2-3 months it’s pretty cold! What is the advice for protection from icy weather? I ask here rather than the places like BF Ken as I suspect you might give a more informed response.

Hope you can advise

One of the main things I’m noticing early on is that I’m running more confidently. Its hard to explain and I’m sure its a psychological phenomenon but since I’m feeling the ground like never before, I’m more cognizant of my surface and my focus is concentrated. I used to just run and ‘zone out’ after a while but when I’m BF I have to pay attention to everything. Its also a lot more like trail running since every step is ‘different’ focusing on different strings and structures in the legs. The feet take more of a pounding but the soreness in the legs is non-existent. I think my posture is much better BF. I notice that my back is straight and my chest is out more often.

Its hard to tell right now if the quads, glutes, hammies or calves are getting stronger per se but I think that if they are, I’ll be posting good times next year. I’m looking toward Mar 6 for my first attemp at a barefoot marathon. Its possible that I’ll be up to that level before that but I want to be conservative since this whole thing is so new (to us 20th centurians) and radical (for my previously coffined feet).

I’ll keep you posted. Thanks so much for your interest. Its good to know that there are good doctors out there who listen to their patients more than their ingrained orthodoxies.

All of my concerns about the glass are gone because I’m very comfortable with the puncture resistance of the sole. Wearing these is about as close to barefoot as anything I’ve tried (including Vibram). The initial runs in the shoes were about 1/2 on pavement and 1/2 on grass and about 6-8 miles in length. These runs were much more impactful on the leg structures than even the 20 mile runs I was doing in shoes. However, once I recovered I noticed that everything was becoming stronger. I realize that its still really early in my transition but yesterday, I did a 1/2 marathon with ~11 miles on paved surface and I’m only a *little* sore today.

If I stay on this trajectory, I should be able to complete marathons and short ultra distances by next summer wearing the Niesas. Its going to take a lot more time to toughen up the skin on the soles of my feet before I can go totally BF but so far, the transition has been amazing. I have to say, the best part about it is as my feet get stronger, it takes less effort to run at any given speed. That’s a nice bonus for a “back of the packer” like me.

Further, the scientific community is, in general, slow to embrace new concepts. The brain was considered rigid and unchangeable until very recently when it was discovered to have plasticity. The examples are endless. Perhaps, BF activity will one day be added to that list. What was the moment when you realized barefoot might be better than shod?

All paradigm shifts in Scientific orthodoxy come as the results of “crazy people bucking the trend.”

Examples such as peptic ulcers and bacterial origin of mitochondria should remind us that orthodixies come and go. We’ll look back on the 2nd half of the 20th century as an era of profound ignorance regarding the barefoot running phenomenon.

Then, some sociologist will link it to the greed and excess of the era and here we go….but by then, we’ll be cranking out 100 milers barefoot with no clothes on