Running Bare Foot?

Bare foot running is not a new idea, but it has gained some publicity and a stronger following lately. My initial interest in the topic was stemmed from this article in ADVANCE magazine for physical therapy & rehab medicine.

The author mentions the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, which is now on my summer reading list!

I have not done a ton of research on it, but enough to realize that it is a controversial topic. There have not been many extensive studies completed on it but if you are the researching type Harvard has a great informational site here.

I really enjoyed this article published by Science Daily. Even MSN has seen the trend and published short blip about it.

With my back injury I was completely willing to try it. I have only gone for two runs without shoes now, but my back has felt better after those runs than in has after exercise in awhile.

I love running and do not want to have to give it up just because of injury. I hope this is an answer, if not that at least a better option than running with shoes!