It seems to me that if I am going to crack this barefoot running thing, then really I ought not ever wear spongy soled trainers. This theory works well in most cases, I play badminton in my barefoot shoes and it’s great – in fact if anything it feels like a great work-out for my feet; I also try to do leisure walks in minimal shoes and the gym is no problem at all.
But last week I decided to do a spinning class (the first in about two years) and alas the pedal was a bit painful on the sole of my foot . Of course it’s obvious really and actually spongy soled shoes are no good either – what you need is a solid cycle shoe sole so that you don’t waste any of that precious energy you are expending.
It was a great workout though and a good complement to my Merrell Barefoot app training. I was really feeling the need to do something energetic because even though I am nearing the end of stage two (of four) I am still only walking, with just a 30 second run each session.
I am enjoying the app training plan though. For one thing it’s a lot easier to haul yourself out of bed when all you all to do is a 30 minute walk, but also because I am being introduced to new stretching and strengthening exercises. My only gripe though is that I do not always know what the exercise is – sometimes there is video, but sometimes not, and I am not always entirely sure what the exercise is. In these cases I usually give it a miss and substitute for one of the exercises that I did understand.
