I love my feet. Not in any weird fetish sort of way but in a practical and appreciative manner. Far and away my best physical feature, my feet are wide—triple E—and stable and provide me with a great platform to run from. My arches are good and I can’t say I have ever experienced any real foot pain. That is an unusual occurrence for a runner. Generally speaking, most runners I know have had a foot problem at some point in their running lives. It could just be luck or good genetics or even that I am naturally blessed in the mechanics of how I run. Recently, though, I have come to think that my avoidance of foot problems has its roots in my choice of footwear: I avoid running shoes with big heels and have often said that I would run barefoot if I could. In fact, my minimalist doctrine for running shoes has led me to a solution that is as close to barefoot as one can get. They are called the Vibram FiveFingers and they are essentially gloves for you feet. They have a thin, hard rubber bottom—just enough for protection from harmful stuff on the ground—but no humungous heel. And, as it turns out, my desire to run with less on my feet may just be sound biomechanics too.

A new book is has just been published by Knopf called Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall. McDougall, a runner sidelined from his passion by injuries, has written a wonderful book that some are calling the best ever written about running. The book is part memoir: McDougall’s impetus for writing the book was initially an attempt to find a cure for his running injuries, and follows his efforts to do so. It is part adventure tale as McDougall goes deep into the Sierra Madre in Mexico to track down the Tarahumara, the legendary running tribe of Indians who run long distances—sometimes better than 100 miles—wearing just a thin sandal on their feet and seemingly without ever being hurt. And it is part anthropological study as McDougall lays out why human beings are indeed born to run and how they are the best runners of any species on the planet. In addition, McDougall suggests that the modern running shoe is perhaps the cause of many of the issues serious runners face.

That argument is made like this: Run barefoot in some soft grass and you’ll notice that your forefoot strikes the ground first, followed by a light touchdown of the heel. However, in the last thirty years or so, running shoe company after running shoe company has introduced highly engineered footwear with everything from spring-like cushioning on one model to another model that contains a computer chip that regulates how stiff your shoe should be for how hard you are running,, constantly making adjustments. The problems with modern running shoes lie in the fact that most people assume that a big heel is for a big heel strike and, coupled with overstriding, they put much more stress on the foot (and the knees and the hip, they are all connected like the song says) than it is designed for. McDougall even points out that the legendary track coach Bill Bowerman taught his runners to overstride—thinking it made them better runners—and then developed a shoe to deal with the hard impact of the heel. The company Bowerman co-founded to sell his running shoes? Nike.

After reading McDougall’s book I went and got a couple pairs of Vibram FiveFingers. There are several different models. I chose one for just walking around so I could get used to the feel of them, and I chose a model made specifically for running-based activities. Called the Sprint, the running version has an adjustable strap across the top of the foot—sort of like a Mary Jane shoe—and two adjustable straps on either side of the heel. The initial challenge was getting each toe into the correct opening, but after a few minutes and a few tries I was able to get a good fit. I expected the FiveFingers to feel odd at first—after all, have you ever worn gloves on your feet?—but was surprised when I barely noticed the material between my toes. In fact, after a few minutes, I didn’t notice it at all. My foot just felt free and easy and I immediately felt more connected to the ground than in regular footwear.

I wore the non-running pair around the house for a few days and then spent a weekend working the Mountain Jam concert at Hunter Mountain in them. The monkey-feet look of the FiveFingers got a lot of attention from the bands at the concert and Michael Franti—who, incidentally, goes barefoot all the time—made the comment that they looked like gardening gloves for your feet. The real test came when I strapped on the Sprints and took them for a test run. It is advised that you start slowly in your transition from traditional running shoes to the Vibrams, and that was my intention. The more I ran in them, however, the more I liked them. At first, the ground felt truly hard on my feet but in a short time my stride adapted and I began to land on the soft fleshy cushion of my forefoot.

I ran six miles my first day in the FiveFingers and have since gone even longer and recently went off road in them, running some single track trail in the Pine Barrens of Long Island. The terrain there is mild compared to the Catskills: it is hard-pack with the occasion root and no rocks. The run was easy and my footing in the FiveFingers was good. And there was a bonus to the run too: I had a blast. I ran the trails as I did when I was a boy, when my imagination had me as an Indian warrior in soft moccasins, silently chasing down a deer or avoiding capture by unknown and unseen unfriendlys. Indeed, as the run ended I came upon a deer who was startled by my sudden and quiet appearance in its world.

Late last year I expressed my desire to run lightly to my wife and for Christmas she gave me beautiful pair of handmade moccasins. My intention then was to run this month’s Escarpment Trail Run in the soft leather shoes, but quickly deemed them too nice to ruin on the sharp and technical 18-mile trail. The Vibrams now offer me another option for the race and a test run on that trail in them soon is part of my plan. Another option for me is a pair of Huarache sandals, the kind that the Tarahumara wear. A barefoot running enthusiast named Barefoot Ted makes and sells the sandals through his Web site. You simply trace the outline of your feet and e-mail him the file. Two weeks later, you have what looks like a piece of rubber—the Tarahumara have modernized a bit and upgraded from leather to old car tire rubber for soles—and a few long leather laces. I have ordered a pair though they have yet to arrive.

Whether or not I actually progress to running barefoot remains to be seen; for one thing, having something on your feet to protect you against pointy rocks, sharp sticks and glass (on the roads) is a prudent thing to do. Of course, running nearly barefoot in our Catskill winters is another challenge. For now, though, I’m sticking with the monkey-foot look and going as close to natural as I can get.

What is in a Name?
February saw the birth of a son to me and my beautiful wife, Tracy. Nathaniel is his name. Hebrew for “gift from God,” young Nathaniel also owes his name to the great writer Hawthorne and to the namesake of the county we live in: Nathaniel Greene was a Revolutionary War hero who was given the honor of having a county named after him though he never lived here.

And he also had the hero of James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales as inspiration. Nathaniel Bumppo—“Natty” as he is known in the books—was the central character in the five stories Cooper set in and around the Catskills, the Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks (though one book was set in the Great Plains).

When our Natty B. was born I was hard pressed to see a resemblance to my wife or myself; that is, until a nurse showed up with an ink pad and a piece of official-looking paper: When his footprints where taken I saw the same shape of my own beloved feet and knew for sure he was ours.