Tips from Lee Firman of feetus.co.uk

I got in touch with Lee Firman from feetus.co.uk, a specialist shop in barefoot and minimalist footwear. I've been asking people to give me a top tip on barefoot running. Here's what Lee had to say:

"Make a conscious effort to listen to how your feet make contact with the ground. You may notice that initially you sound like you thump the ground with every step. Running barefoot requires us to shorten our stride and increase cadence, but while you do this, pay extra attention to focus on landing softer on the ground. I found that focusing more on raising my foot off the ground (as opposed to placing my foot on the ground) was the key in achieving good running form. "

This is a great tip, one I've not heard before - the idea of focusing on the foot raise rather than the landing. It'll definitely be giving that a go, along with listening.

And, as an enthusiast no doubt, Lee couldn't help but offer a couple of other bits of advice:

"Find a route you are comfortable running now (Your local Parkrun, your favourite 5mi circuit, a 1mi stretch) and time yourself. Perhaps every 4 - 6 weeks do this route again to see how your transition has affected your performance. You may notice certain milestones along the way where you once felt fatigued, you now feel strong. You may find you have so much extra power coming in to the final 100m. 

Regularly moisturise and massage your feet. Don't underestimate the value of this.  

Because you'll be significantly reducing your running mileage, you may get a little twitchy and want to run more. Instead, go out cycling - it's a great way to stretch out the calf muscles and will maintain your fitness and satisfy your appetite for training. And who knows, you may just develop a taste for duathlon / triathlon as a result! "

I have to say, I hadn't thought about moisurising. I think I know someone at home who will help me with that.

It's great when you get people talking about something they're interested in. Lee gave me a full and quick reply, very keen to help. People who are into barefoot running seem to be pretty passionate about it. I haven't even started yet and I'm catching the bug. A friend emailed me today to ask a couple of questions and I was preaching about it before I knew it.