Running barefoot kicks up mixed emotions

There's no way I could ever run barefoot.  My feet are way too sensitive.  If I step on a pebble, I limp for 10 minutes. 

Here's an article about running barefoot.  Even though I'll never do it, I do love to read about those are passionate about it.

The pavement begins to warm under the summer Colorado sun as Michael Sandler jogs up Flagstaff Road near Boulder. Normally, this shouldn't concern a runner. Sandler, however, is jogging barefoot.

"When you are barefoot, you are forced to run the way ancient man ran, which is a soft dance," Sandler said. "Even my upper body got stronger."

He claims he can run farther and with less chance of injury now that he has left his running shoes in the closet. He's far from the only runner who believes so. The number of barefoot runners appears to be a growing niche among the running community. Those who run barefoot maintain it helps them keep a stride that delivers less shock to the foot, helping prevent injuries.

But experts caution that only a small percentage of runners can successfully train sans shoes.

"Your muscles, tendons and bones are balanced if your shoe is properly fit and your foot is properly supported," said Eugene Rosenthal, a local podiatrist, who said he would never recommend running barefoot.

The concept of running without shoes can be hard to wrap your mind around, mainly because so few people in this country have ever tried it.

"I would say 98 percent of the U.S. do not grow up barefoot, walking barefoot, going to school barefoot," said Mark Plaats, a physical therapist and owner of Boulder Running Company. "If you do not grow up barefoot, it is a really difficult thing to do."

But Ehiopian  Abebe Bikila did grow up running barefoot, and he won the 1960 Olympic marathon in  Rome unshod.

The beauty of running barefoot, say its true believers, is that your feet will adapt naturally to almost any surface.

Here's the rest of the article