When I run, I run barefoot. This makes me more efficient than a version of me that wears shoes. I attribute my lack of injuries, better recovery, less tiredness to running barefoot. If you are a serious runner, look into it. It was one of the smartest things I did. Running shoes have a lot of spiel about “correcting pronation” and stuff like that. But that’s how you run naturally and shoes by correcting your stride often end up causing a lot of injuries. Shin splints, for example, are one of the most common ones. But a more generic issue that shoes cause is not giving you feedback when you are running poorly. All the padding, especially in the heels (why do you need so much heel padding if heel striking is taboo?), doesn’t tell you “Hey idiot! You keep landing on your heels”. Instead, this pain manifests in knee pain, shin splints etc. If you run barefoot and land on your heels, you know immediately. And you have no option but to run in a more efficient manner. But as I keep repeating, what worked for me need not work for you.
