Barefoot Ted came down to San Diego, and I had the opportunity to attend his barefoot running clinic at Point Loma on Saturday. The clinic was two hours, and he stayed an extra hour to show us pictures from his story in the book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Barefoot Ted was great at connecting and communicating with people, providing background information, stories, and detailed explanations for each of the technical concepts that he was describing. I highly recommend taking his course if you have the chance, to learn the basics and get started on the journey of barefoot running. He took the time to explain each of the concepts in multiple ways, and answered questions from his knowledge and experience.
We met at the parking lot, and walked up, barefoot, over a dirt trail, an asphalt parking lot, and concrete sidewalks to a track nearby. There, we learned the basic technique for barefoot running and practiced running up and down the track. After this intro, we went to a staircase and practiced hopping up the stairs and landing as gently as possible. Then we did the same downhill. Running softly and silently, which you can perceive with both your ears and the forces on your feet, legs, and body, is one of the goals that Barefoot Ted set for us to strive for in barefoot running.
Perception is key to running. That is one aspect about running that I learned both from Barefoot Ted and from the Pose Running Method. Being able to perceive your body position and posture, your breath, your landing, the terrain beneath your feet, your arm position, and more are one key to good running form, which promotes running longevity. Some people have excellent running form from years of practice, and can naturally adapt their running forms so that good form is a subconscious effort.
Barefoot Ted’s philosophy is that barefoot running connects us with nature, and allows us to learn to run better through the use of the sensory information in our feet.
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