whats your favorite surface to walk/run bf?

There was an intersection nearby where the asphalt was old and worn smooth and it felt like porcelain in comparison to the roads leading into it. What a dream. Last fall they did the chip seal thing--lay down liquid tar and covered it with coarse sand. I'm hoping the harsh winter, with all the plowing, has smoothed it out a bit. On the plus side, a quarter mile section further down the road was fully repaved, for some reason--I don't remember it being in disrepair--and it turned out very nice, unlike another nearby road they totally dug up and repaved a few years ago which turned out tolerable but very coarse.
Another nice surface was some brick sidewalks in Salem, Ma, and I'm sure I've run on cobblestone somewhere, which was very nice.
 
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gravel?? seriously gravel??????????????? but thats so painfull

When I first started going barefoot it was painful to walk out to our mailbox on a chip seal street. It was painful to walk next door to my shop on gravel. Everything around here has some amount of chip seal and/or gravel, so I figured I would have to build up my feet and get tough. Later I read Ken Bob Saxton's book "Barefoot Running Step by Step" and he talks about relaxing your feet, faster cadence so you aren't letting gravity have as much time to accelerate you, bending your knees, lifting your foot before it touches the ground, and even not saying "Foot strike" or "Jogging" because of the striking and pounding connotations. I figured there was a way to come to terms with gravel and I believed it might help me with my very bad pounding habits too. Starting running at 46 or 47 and overstriding and pounding is a great way to hurt yourself, but I figured if I did the gravel thing it might train me to run lightly. It is doing that very well. Thank you Ken Bob! So, even though gravel can hurt, it doesn't always hurt, even the same patch that hurt yesterday. Then tomorrow it hurts and tells me "look at your form". It is a great teacher and way less expensive than any of the coaches out there. You can even run "fast" (for an old fart) on gravel if you practice and figure out the form issues. That feels really empowering!

All the best,
Scott
 
If it is shorter than 5kms any surface for the different challenges, I am not aiming for specific times at this moment in workouts. However, the moisture of the surface is key over 5kms for my baby feet. We are in the rainy season and I did a 5kms+ workout on very wet craggly old asphalt & it tore the skin up lie hamburger. :( DRY surfaces are now my favorite after that newbie mistake. However, running on fresh goat droppings are like heaven for the feet.
 
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Dry and smooth asphalt is my greatest pleasure for barefoot running.

For walking, I also very much enjoy chances to walk on old walkway stones that have been weathered down to a delicious smoothness. It's also a great pleasure when you can walk in some warm mud. Golf courses tend to be great places to walk barefoot and it's fun to read the greens with bare feet.
 
my favourite is stone, sand is tiring and also a little bit boring for me, also u have to go to the beach and most cities dont have beaches

grass is cool, however the only place i get hurt was in the considered safe grass, i stepped in a stick tiny that pierce through my sole, that was so painful

never have any problem in normal streets, i dont like gravel thou, too imcorfortable and little bit painful
My favorites would have to be grass, concrete, leaves, mud, sand, and water.
 
Wow! I thought I was the only one who paid attention to ashpalt. I was/am even planning on starting a 'photo library' of the different types of ashpalts. :) My absolute favorite is the fresh, black, soft smooth stuff of smaller parking lots and bike trails. It is like velvet! My next favorite would be a toss-up between smooth concrete and smooth-ish asphalt. Next would be dirt and or grass. Next in line would be chip-n-seal asphalt. The stones are sharp. My least favorite would be gravel roads. I'm in Indiana, so I have no experience running on sand.
 
Old thread but I guess I haven't contributed yet so I'll say my most favorite surface to run on by far is a smooth dirt forest trail covered in a deep layer of pine needles. And besides touch, it stimulates the smell receptors too - so wonderful. :happy:
It's extremely rare to find though, especially devoid of rocks and roots.
I'm fine with just plain on asphalt of the rail trails though, since they don't see auto traffic they stay in pretty good shape usually.
 
I prefer a natural surface. I ran gravel roads for years barefeet, never got used to it, but found out how soft my feet became from running strictly asphalt for a year after moving into town!! Wet gravel is nice, best is trail running although one has to be careful not to stub toes on roots!! Seal coat is evil, more so than gravel as gravel will move under your feet. I avoid grass as I hate not knowing, being able to see what's in it.