Trust Me I'm A Doctor

Tonight's episode considered the problems of wearing high heals. Gabriel Weston used some mocap wizardry to observe people walking in shoes and then without. The comparison was made that being barefoot puts your centre of gravity through the knees correctly, while with heals this is off centre. She then came up with a bunch of suggestions as to how to improve your feet but failed completely to suggest that people walk around barefoot.

Close, but no cigar.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b063jzxq/trust-me-im-a-doctor-series-3-episode-2


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www.nickbailey.co.uk

Warm this weekend? Why not head out without your shoes...

The MetOffice are forecasting a first* taste of spring this coming weekend. Finally, after a fairly lengthy winter we are going to be rewarded with some warmth. I'm looking forward to it and getting out in the sunshine.

But what is more glorious than simply being outside in that first warmth of the year - that day when you wear only a t-shirt and yet still feel warm? Doing it without your shoes. Yes, there is little nicer than letting your feet loose outside, especially if they've been cooped up indoors and/or shod all winter. Get them out, on the grass and in the puddles or mud. Stretch your toes and enjoy spring at last.

Enjoy the day and may you put your best bare foot forward!


* after that crazy warmth right back at the beginning of January.

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www.nickbailey.co.uk

Hobbits Bare Feet

I watched the new Hobbit film last night and was pleased to see some rather good barefoot action from the hobbits. I guess this is to be expected considering their penchant for going barefoot (probably due to the oversized nature of them). However, even still there was running and jumping on jagged rocks and across icy surfaces. Well done to Martin Freeman and the rest for the hours of makeup they must have put in to get their feet on.

Good barefoot action in The Hobbit - Battle of The Five Armies

Prague Barefoot

Not recently, admittedly, but I was reminded last night of my barefoot adventure round Prague back in 2008. The streets were lovely and clean and the joy of smooth round cobbles was something else. I arrived with only my suit and no shoes, my luggage having been lost in the airport. Thankfully a couple of days later I did have a new change of clothes and could wonder round looking a little less weird.

Barefoot Heather Run

I was walking with my family in the Peak District this summer with heather of such a astonishing purple colour that photographs don't quite do it justice. The weather was also so glorious and the grass soft that I took off my boots and skipped down the hill back to the car. Glorious. Reminded me of my first barefoot mountain experience in Wales up Sugarloaf.

http://www.nickbailey.co.uk

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 fix?

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

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.

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.