Christopher McDougall: Are we born to run? | Video on TED.com

Christopher McDougall: Are we born to run? | Video on TED.com
Some good evidence to run barefoot, I remember the amazement when I first ran barefoot, but I do normally wear running shoes. But after watching this I think perhaps I should look a little more into the barefooted possibilities of running.

Barefooting down a Korean mountain

Yesterday I hiked up Baegundae mountain just north of Seoul, South Korea. I went up in my hiking boots (only their second time on a real mountain). Walking up we passed a couple walking down barefoot, carrying their shoes. I was a bit jealous.

The whole ascent was breathtaking and the views at the top were superb. We had a snack of kimbap (rice rolls, like sushi) on the summit rock and I decided to take of my shoes.

We then climbed down the mountain taking a different route to the way up. I was thinking I'd have to re-shoe myself when I got to the first stream. But instead Suyeon decided to take her shoes off as well. So there we both were hiking down this mountain barefoot. Awesome!

Today my feet feel quite different. Not in pain as such, but certainly they feel alive.

Barefoot on the BBC

I've now barefooted myself on the the BBC Hampshire website, being interviewed by the lovely Indy Almroth-Wright who was brave enough to go for a barefoot wonder with me during the interview. Check out the article here:
Nick Bailey - BBC Barefoot Interview

Barefoot fix?

Came across this link:
http://lifehacker.com/383740/fix-your-achy-body-by-walking-barefoot

Asking Out Barefoot

It was not by concious act that I happened to be barefoot when I asked my girlfriend out, thought I was quite pleased to find that it was the case. I was (and still am) quite bearded. Thus, remaining a geek, I can report that the barefoot bearded geek, while not 24/7 any more, is still alive and kicking (and successful in the very thing that many said would be impossible).

Go eccentricity!

More Glass No Cut

Yesterday I noticed some discomfort in my right big toe. On investigation that evening I noticed a small piece of glass lodged in the center. Extraction with my leatherman knife proved painless and revealed that the glass had penetrated but not made a cut.

Skin 1, glass nill.

[I'm still barefooting on the odd days, but not full time anymore. Now just barefooting for fun.]
barefoot

Winter Beard 2008

Bearded Again

beard

United Airlines

I had no problems flying barefoot on a United flight from Washington Dulles to Heathrow. All the staff were friendly. And on the flight out, while I didn't board barefoot, I did potter round in the flight and had a chat with one of the stewards about a CNN documentary about living barefoot. He was all "but what about all the germs", and I'm like "it's my United flight of whatever".

United, United Airlines, flying barefoot

Luna Lovegood Barefoot

I recently watched the latest Harry Potter film - the Order of the Pheonix - and very much enjoyed it. I gave a little gasp of joy when I saw that Luna was out in the woods barefoot - good for her :)

luna lovegood, harry potter, barefoot

Joss Stone for Diana

I just enjoyed watching Joss Stone's performance for the Princess Diana memorial concert in Wembley stadium. I quite like her music, but mostly I enjoyed her being barefoot on stage. Well done Joss :)


Joss Stone, Diana, Wembley Stadium

Nice Barefoot Encounter

There I was this afternoon walking to the student services building on Highfield campus past the library where lots of students were lounging around on the grass outside. Three girls got up in front of me and started walking ahead. I heard one exclaim that she'd forgotten to put her shoes one. As I walked past I mentioned that she'd be just fine without them. As they noticed that I was not wearing shoes either I heard their exclamation, then the girl without shoes called her thanks to me saying that she'd just made a barefoot friend.

I just love how differences break down barriers with strangers.


University of Southampton, barefoot, library

Cold Feet

So it's been a tad chilly this May after a stunningly warm April and over the weekend I was wearing shoes for a but of extra warmth. Then last night in bed I had my traditional cold feet. Shoes simply don't work for insulation.

Flip Flops

Can anyone tell me why it is that men with out shoes on is weird and strange but men with flip flops on is quite acceptable? It just looks girly, get them off and take the ground like a man.


flip flops

Barefoot Again/Still

To all my friends and family who lament at my lack of shoes I'm sad to say that the winter (if you could call it such) never really managed to flip me back to the world of shoes. So with the warm weather back and more reliable I'm again enjoying the feeling of the ground benieth my feet rathen than insulated by my shoes.

Gardening, however, has been a shod exercise of late as I've been weilding a lovely new heavy and quite sharp garden fork - I accidentally placed it on my big toe which hurt and thus I thought shoes would be more sensible. accident prone as I am.

Barefoot Doctor Who

I've just very much enjoyed the start of the of the new Doctor Who series on BBC this evening. The new assistant Martha Jones is rather lovely and I do like David Tennant as the doctor. But what really tickled me pink was seeing the Doctor barefoot! Is my influence spreading that quickly?


doctor who

Barefoot At Jongleurs, Camden Town

Friday 16th March

Were you at Jongleurs in Camden Town last Friday? Well I am that very barefoot Nick. If you weren't then here's the story.

It was Ben and Rachael's birthday this last weekend and as a treat some free tickets to Jongleurs were secured for free, so a night out in London was organised. Ben, Luke and I caught the train up from Southampton in the afternoon and we all convened at the End of the World pub in Camden Town (thought I stopped off at China Town to pick up some wok lids).

We then pottered along to a Miso Soup bar and enjoyed a very lovely noodle meal (though unfortunately no miso soup). Afterwards we then went along to the comedy club, and I was pleased that they let me in without shoes on. Unfortunetly the table thay gave us was right benieth the microphone.

When the compare started he did a very funny introduction which involved picking out some likely candidates for picking on by the upcoming comedians. First there was this guy Bob, who was a little posh. This provided some amusement, but then he looked over, spotted me and found out I was a research student - a great compromise for a start. Then he noticed that I wasn't wearing any shoes, and that was it. What better a comedy subject than a barefoot student. Comedy gold.

So throughout the night I was used as the butt of many jokes. It was truly brilliant, I loved it. I was continually thankful that I am able to laugh at myself and that I wasn't one of those Americans who seem to have had the sarcasm gene removed. After the acts ended I had a number of people come up to me and say hello (the night had been dedicated to me) and get their picture taken with me. All very good fun, and all in a very nice spirit.

This is perhaps the most enjoyable thing about being barefoot, being already different from the crowd it seems to take away some of the unease or fear that people have about talking to strangers. Just brilliant.



jongleurs, comedy club, barefoot, camden town

Running Barefoot Across London

After my night of comedy last Friday I had a little adventure running through the streets of London. I guess I stayed a tad late in the comedy club and it was 11:30 when I made to leave. I had a little walk through Camden Town to the train station and then got onto the Northern line heading south towards Waterloo. Annoyingly I picked up the wrong branch of the Northern (I'm sure it was not totally clear, but the slight inepriation might have had a little to do with it).

I'd heard rumours that the underground stopped at about half twelve but didn't really want to check my phone to see what the time was. I checked the underground map and noted that the Jubilee line connects London Bridge to Waterloo so I got of there and nipped down the escalators to the platform just as a train left. Unfortunately, to my horror, the announcement then came on the tannoy informing us that that was the last westbound train. Mistake!

So I ran back up the escalators - I love running up escalators in bare feet, especially the really long ones leaping up two steps at a time, quite an skill - picked up my bearings outside and then headed for Waterloo running along Southwark Street and then Stamford Street. The distance was about one and a half miles and I reached the station with 15 minutes before the train left (I had only sketchy info regarding the time of the last train back to Southampton being at about 1 am).

This was definitely a good example of the beer scooter as my friend calls it - that uncanny knack to get home when slightly under the influence. I was well surprised to find that it still worked with out shoes on, and what's more my feet survived intact. Though the heals were a little sore the following day, and my calves ached the day after that, but otherwise unscathed. Result.

Walking With My Feet

On the way home from town this afternoon I came across a father and son walking home from school. He was of the age where you walk about 5 meters behind your dad, just experimenting with being a little independent. He was also on a secret mission to shoot lots of things as he went, so as I passed home I was shot and a gruesome death followed.

As I walked on he exclaimed to me about my shoelessness with the rather lovely phrase "your walking with your feet". We chatted a little about this and he told me he thought it was disgusting, but then went on to recall that he did it when he goes on holiday in India.

A lovely little chap. The sort you really pray won't get screwed up and turned into a chav.

Barefoot in the Nation's Capital

My feet own Washington DC. I've come to DC for the Planetary Defence Conference to present my research. While at the conference I've been shod in some rather uncomfortable smart shoes. But come home time I've been loosing the feet prisons and getting some fresh air round my toes. And boy has the air been fresh!

On Tuesday I walked from the GW University in Foggy Bottom to Chinatown. It was a long way and I survived unscathed despite crossing a glass strewn carpark. The temperature significantly dropped that evening and on Wednesday it snowed all day. Sad to say when I went out that evening I did wear my sandals.

But yesrterday I decided to explore Gorgetown with the prospect of finding some shops. And find them I did. On the way there I was able to experiment with snow footing for the first time. Bloody cold! But a few steps afterwards the snow had falled off and my feet regained conciousness. One guy walked past and enquired how long it had taken me to get used to barefoot in the cold. I said I'd only been going 6 months, though this was my first time in the snow.

Then I went into the Patagonia shop and was met with much interest, love and respect for being a little odd. All that I'd heard about Patagoina was right, they rock! Just as I was leaving two guys walked in leotards and definitely trumped my oddity. I then got sent out of the small mall next door for this No Shirt No Shoes No Service bollocks. I then met some homeless guys who offered me their shoes, a guy from a Pensilvania commune that I'd met in Chinatown on Sunday and a nice guy who offered to pray for me (though I was able to reassure him I was already a brother in Christ).

Much coolness. So I'm out again today to enjoy the warm sunshine and let my feet do the walking.

My feet after an evening walking Washington DC in the snow

Washington DC, Snow, Walking Barefoot

Barefooted Retreat

I've spent a glorious barefoot weekend visiting friends and making a pilgrimage to Worth Abbey for a weekend retreat.

The weekend begun at about 2pm on the platform of Southampton Central where I removed my sandals and packed them deep into my rucksack hoping not to remove them again. I boarded the 2:20 train to London (which I just managed to catch despite the horrors of the Southampton bus network trying to thwart me) and got out my MacBook and began working on my conference poster for next week. My battery lasted exactly the whole journey with the 8 minute warning just as we pulled into Victoria.

It was then 5 pm as I strolled barefoot through the station, making an oddly loud noise on the cool paving slabs. It was rush hour and the number of people all around was quite uplifting in an odd sort of way. In fact in exactly the opposite way to the crowds in West Quay. People here seem to flow better, knowing where they are going and actually using their brains (is that to harsh on the general Southampton populace?).

I picked up some supplies in a local supermarket and then caught the underground to South Kensington to take a look in the V&A Museum at the advice of my good friend Hannah Hawksley. It's free and open late on Fridays - bonus - and had a very interesting display of Chinese artefacts, some of which show the most stunningly intricate craft work. The V&A seemed to be barefoot friendly :)

I then took the tube right across central London to Stratford where a friend from my teaching trip in China, Chin Hwa, now lives and works. Chin had made a grand dinner with black bean tofu and a peanut veggie dish which was all very tasty. Another of my good friends from Hong Kong, Queenie, joined. It was simply lovely to catch up as it had been two years since we'd seen each other (actually in Hong Kong). I was also able to fix the odd light bulb and door handle crisis.

Queenie and I then took the tube back and I got off at Victoria. I must say that the underground was also very barefoot friendly. My Prague metro experience was good and London was as good - very little rubbish on the floor to worry about and nice long escalators to run up :)

My train got into Worth Station at about 1 and from there, after a brief key loss panic, I made my way to the abbey. Thankfully the majority of the road surfaces were in good repair, and only the last stretch really hurt. The warm-ish rain helped stave off the cold. When I reached the abbey I found I'd miss heard the accommodation key code and so settled down to sleep on the floor of the main abbey, which is really beautiful at night with only the alter floodlit.

The rest of the weekend retreat was simply beautiful. The monks were as loving as ever and gave good direction for my thoughts and prayers. I made one exploration down to the quite garden through quite a muddy field which was very pleasing. I also managed to finally find time to quieten my inner monologue and actually contemplate things. I also strengthened some good friendships and thoroughly enjoyed the company. I also encouraged a friend who had got her shoes soaked to take off her socks as well and go barefooted - and she loved it, which was quite exciting for me too :)

So a very blessed weekend sharing with old and new friends and with the Lord. Good. Very good.



Worth Abbey, The Monastery, pilgrimage