Granted, it was on a treadmill - living in MA doesnt really promote running barefoot in January. But anyway, I have been lurking here a bit and read through some articles on other sites and have decided to give it a try. So I went down in my basement the other night and decided to put in just one mile barefoot on the treadmill. I didnt take it too fast, setting the treadmill about 1mph slower than my normal easy pace, since I didnt really know what to expect. What I did expect was to feel my heel pounding against the treadmill with each step and to be hurting by the time I was done. Luckily that didnt happen. I didnt feel like I modified my stride (at least not much), though I did find myself thinking about it more than I normally would on a run. It felt pretty good, though my feet did ache a bit the next day - mostly the muscles that seemed to be on the top of my foot. All in all I was happy with the experience, but I must say my bigger fear will be when I head outside later in the spring because I just think it's going to kill when I hit a rock or twig or something. On a funnier side note, my wife came downstairs halfway through this mile because she knew I was running and was sure that I would want to eat a Starburst in the middle of my run. But hey, it was cherry flavored so I ate it.

I've had two tries at this so far, both on the treadmill. The first one went fine, only half a mile. My feet felt like they were getting warm at the end, but no soreness. The second time I tried 3/4 mile, and my feet definitely felt hot. I now think they weren't actually hot but almost forming blisters. I wore socks when I ran on the treadmill. Would I be better off without the socks, in terms of friction and blisters?

I think the heat is from the belt, when I run outside on the sidewalk it feels nice and cool (I'm in central Cal so it's been in the 40s - 50s here when I run). Which makes me think: come summer and 90s-100s what do people do? That pavement can get hot. Go for the FFs? Arla

I've had two tries at this so far, both on the treadmill. The first one went fine, only half a mile. My feet felt like they were getting warm at the end, but no soreness. The second time I tried 3/4 mile, and my feet definitely felt hot. I now think they weren't actually hot but almost forming blisters. I wore socks when I ran on the treadmill. Would I be better off without the socks, in terms of friction and blisters?

Based on my experience, on a treadmill, barefeet is better than socks.

in tne summer, early morning is teh answer. during the hot day with burning sun, the concrete on the side of the house, which is in shade is quite cool, so I do BF skipping drills there - jogging nearly on the spot

Often family &etc. have me running when it's in the high 90s here. You get used to it. Maybe the feet will, too. Jeff how were the feet muscles the next day? Arla

They were a bit achey - mostly the tops and some muscles that I didnt really know were there. I am guessing they are the stabilizing muscles that my feet dont use because of what the shoes do.

I ran barefoot all last summer and never really hit the limit of the pavement being too hot. I'm much more limited by cold than hot.