These are the surfaces in my neighborhood

When you’re walking in shoes, the ground is the ground is the ground. Unless it’s a mud puddle. Or a pile of dogshit.

But beyond that, most of us don’t pay too much attention to what we walk on.

But hen you walk/run barefoot, every surface feels different. When I go for barefoot walks or runs, I don’t choose the shortest route, I often choose the wmost varied one. Just to keep it interesting for my feet.

This is just a little list of all the surfaces in my neighborhood. They all feel different, and more importantly, they are all different temperatures. Experience with barefoot running makes you become cognizant of how different surfaces retain heat!

When you are walking tomorrow, take notice of the different surfaces in YOUR neighborhood! Better yet, take off your shoes and try them out!

This is what you find on most sidewalks. Temperature stays “tepid.” You can run all day on this (although it gets a bit boring).

My feet squee when I encounter this kind of surface. It’s literally like a massage for my feet. Cement and smooth rocks.

Another variation of the smooth rocks and cement

This picture shows the intersection of three different surfaces. In lower left, chipseal. This is part asphalt, and mostly rock chips. Usually jaggy ones. Not very comfortable, and VERY HOT. In the upper right, asphalt (or a smoother chipseal). Not quite so hot, but still warm. (Note: at night, asphalt is blissful to run on). I’m pointing out the white line in this picture, because if you happen to find yourself stuck running on chipseal or asphalt and it’s too hot, hop over to the white line and it’s a lot more tolerable.