There are various good write-up on barefoot running if you were to google and read, so I wont dwell much on its benefit save except for my personal experience. Finding the right shoe is as important as finding the right spouse except you have the liberty to test drive any shoes but not with any potential spouse. After a good run on Nike Free, I went a step further and test driven the Vibram Five Fingers and needless to say... It was akin of love at first sight!
Somehow, I find wearing a highly padded shoe causes the small muscles in my feet to weaken and the tendons, ligaments and natural arches had stopped doing their job which in turn, had led to my knee problem. All the supportive shoe inserts, orthotics and extra cushioning creates a poor foot biomechanics. They're deceiving the body. Here's an explanation, based on our body's proprioceptive abilities.. that is, the way it can communicate up and down all pathways. When we run barefoot, the body precisely engages our vision, our brain, the soles of our feet, and all the muscles, bones, tendons, and supporting structures of our feet and legs... sort of using all of our body senses. They leap to red alert, and give us a high degree of protection from the varied pressures and forces of running.
