Trek Dirty to Me: 57 days until the first of 5 million steps, and I'm thinking about my feetsies.

While the majority of my physical training these last few weeks has been focused on injury prevention and lightening the load on my knees once my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail begins on April 1, I have not been able to really contemplate what to do with one very valuable (probably the most valuable) weapon in my physical arsenal - my feet.

You see, for the majority of the last five years, I have made an effort to eliminate structured, heavy shoes from my world in favor of barefoot shoes. It began with some articles I read years ago in Outside Magazine (and probably Men’s Health, but Men’s Health is pretty much the same issue reassembled in a different order each month) about indigenous runners in Central America who ran with minimal foot protection.

Obviously, if you are a runner or hip to the fitness trends, barefoot training took off about a half-decade ago (coincidence?). I started with Merrell Vapor Glove shoes and then Nike Free running shoes. I began only walking in shoes with large toe boxes that let my already large and awkwardly proportioned feet to spread out and feel the earth.

I obviously wanted to carry this practice on to the AT because, over the last five years of embracing the barefoot lifestyle, I have completely eliminated foot and ankle problems that have plagued me since I was a kid. Furthermore, I tend to be more mindful of my stride and foot placement while wearing barefoot shoes, and I feel stronger and almost dance (okay, I dance a lot) while I march on.

I bought what I thought would be the perfect solution shoes (I will not name names as it is contrary to the spirit of this website to tear anyone down. And, to be fair, it could have just been a bad match for my difficult feet), but this happened. Twice. Warning: Photo was so gruesome, a highly advanced Facebook algorithm censored the photo as containing graphic content that may not be suitable for small children and some vegetarians.

I got better.

So obviously those dudes had to go. I began doubting my plans to hike barefoot. Folks on the interwebs kept saying that it absolutely could not be done. I have begun compiling a list of all the things people have told me I absolutely cannot do. Note to readers. Telling me I absolutely cannot do something (legal) is a bad idea as it will only embolden me and I will more than likely succeed in doing it.

So I ultimately found an article on The Trek (you can read it by clicking here), and then others, and I was pleased to find other accounts of hikers (albeit very few) who have gone the distance in barefoot shoes. The exact shoes are still up in the air, but I have been doing quite a bit of research on Xero shoes (mentioned at the end of that article), and plan to give them a go during my final month stateside before hitting the trail. Unfortunately, because of time and geographic constraints, the testing period will be short, but my gut tells me this is the way to go. And I trust my gut.

-AJ

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