Sole conditioning at 18 months (photo comparison)

paraganek

paraganek

Barefooters
Jul 5, 2010
810
1,012
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Portland, OR
paraganek.blogspot.com
#1
Sometimes the human body adaptation still amazes me.


I have been running barefoot for 18 months now. Although I started on pavement, last 12 months my runs were primarily on forest trails. I have been experiencing some changes to my feet along the way, mainly spreading of the toes, loosening and flexibility of the toes and a wider, more muscular foot.I thought it would be interesting to do a sole conditioning photo comparison so I went through some old photos I took early after starting running barefoot. I found one I took at about 1 month and tried to shoot a new one from about the same angle. This is a sole conditioning comparison of my foot at 1 month and 18 months of running barefoot. I think it is pretty interesting to see the amazing adaptation capabilities of a human body.

 
#2
I spent decades trying to eat

I spent decades trying to eat the right foods convinced that us humans were so delicate that we had to avoid just about everything the supermarkets and restaurants offered us.

Then I decided that calories in/calories out is all that really mattered, while genetics probably determined the rest.

I sure hope our interior structures can adapt to whatever we throw at them as well as our soles do!

Imagine your cardio vascular system before and after committing to regular exercise.

Currently I'm thinking it don't care nothing 'bout no fast food vs vegan vs paleo.

I'm presently just counting on our bodies responding to exercise in the same adapt-to-anything fashion as our feet have proven to do so.

Time will tell.
 
#4
huge difference. from babies'

huge difference. from babies' bottom to chimp feet. i'd be a little disgusted if i didn't already see your feet in person which look much better than the photos. they also propel you at a high pace and i know you're getting faster. too bad you don't have a comparison from the top where your toe spread is text book and causes me a little jealousy.
 
#5
You are growing some strong,

You are growing some strong, meaty feet, there.



I'm thinking the biggest adaptation was how soft and atrophied they were before.
 
#8
Wow that is amazing!  I can't

Wow that is amazing! I can't believe how much wider they are too!
 
#9
The bottoms of your feet now

The bottoms of your feet now look a lot like Rick's and Ken Bob's, high mileage barefoot runners. I, on the other foot, look like the first photo, and I have been barefoot for over three years solid now.
 
#10
Look how a straight edge can

Look how a straight edge can be held to the side edges of the big toe, ball-of-foot and heel. Compare that to how even minimalist shoes are shaped.
 
#12
Nyah wrote:Look how a

Nyah said:
Look how a straight edge can be held to the side edges of the big toe, ball-of-foot and heel. Compare that to how even minimalist shoes are shaped.
Click to expand...



With the exception of soft stars, all the minimal shoes I bought at the beginning of this experiment (they became my casual shoes/gym workout shoes/bad weather shoes) are getting too narrow and uncomfortable.

At the beginning, I couldn't figure out why people thought the merrells were too narrow. now I know.
 
#13
That is way cool. Also,

That is way cool. Also, notice how your skin there is still flexible and pliable. None of the crappy "icky callus", disgusting horn that all the "experts" say that regularly bare feet "ought" to look like. They would have us believe that going barefoot results in cracked and disgusting soles. How far from the truth that is!
 
#14
I know exactly what you mean,

I know exactly what you mean, Nyah. It's like they think our shoe's foot beds should be shaped like a kidney-shaped swimming pool!
 
#17
Agnesd wrote:Which Soft

Agnesd said:
Which Soft Stars do you have? I had been looking at the Moc3. They look kind of narrow, but the reviews looked good.
Click to expand...



If you're talking to me, I have the runamocs in the brown suede as my winter running shoe. They are warm and wonderful and wide. Now, I'm female, so my feet are generally more narrow in the midfoot, but I have huge bunions and a growing toe array, and the runamocs are way wider than my toe/forefoot area.



I have thought about getting the moc3s, but I don't know what I'd use them for, since they seem like they would be too warm for times when want to run in shoes in warmer weather.
 
#18
I liked the pictures so much

I liked the pictures so much I took pictures of my feet, my husband's and my son's. I've been barefoot a little over a month, my husband a few weeks, and my son even less. I wish I had the idea to photgraph my feet sooner because I have already noticed a difference in appearance. For the better.
 
#19
I'm not much of a photo

I'm not much of a photo memoirist for myself. I do think you have something neat to compare there.

You also gave me cause to bend around and check my soles a little closer. This morning I can hit them with a fork and get a click, click sound and the parts that make regular ground contact have a nice sort of polish from running on asphalt lately. The creases between the toes and the forefoot pad are ugly. I won't look at them again.

Overall, I think they're good feet. They'll do.
 
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