Dale Stubbart

Running Barefoot - Grass to Gravel

How to run barefoot on almost anything from grass to gravel

In my younger days, I could run barefoot on anything from grass to gravel. Thistles were a little painful. And I never graduated, nor cared to graduate to glass, nails, or hot coals. This was about getting somewhere quickly, not about proving how holy I was. Still, it did involve some mind over matter.
Note: I now rarely go outside barefoot, unless I&';m at the beach. Almost everyone uses herbicides on their lawns and litter is much more prevalent than when I was a teenager.

There are tricks to being able to run on gravel. I suggest that if you want to do this, you start out running on nice soft grass. Once you get that down, you can go on to really tall grass or rougher grass. Next, to start toughening up your feet, try running on cement, then blacktop. The next thing to try is a nice cinder track and then gravel.
But, before you get to those last two, there are a couple of tricks that will make things easier. The first will also allow you to run on the sand faster. It&';s called running flat-footed. Don&';t arch you foot so much. Land with your foot more flat, rolling from heel to toe. Keep your body lower to the ground. Don&';t bounce into the air with each step. Rather, go for distance. This type of running can cause shin splints - charlie horses in your lower leg. So, take it easy and massage your lower legs after each run. For gravel, running more flat footed allows you to press your foot more lightly on the gravel.
Yes. But how was I able to run on gravel? That must have been painful. Yes. It wasn&';t easy at first. But there were places I need to get to quickly. And it was quicker to run across the gravel than to run around it. It helps if the gravel is round or rather squarish. There is some gravel which has so many edges that it&';s painful no matter what you do. It also helps to have about a 1/2 inch of callus on your foot from running on cement and blacktop.
It also helps to define pain differently. The gravel isn&';t trying to hurt you. It&';s trying to communicate to you what it&';s like. Every point can become just a sensation. I learned to accept the pain as something other than pain. I also watched out for glass so that I didn&';t injure myself. No sense being foolish about this. This was a lesson in getting to know the gravel. And by the time I could run across it at a decent speed, I had gotten to know it very well.