Barefoot but for my shoe

Today's run (street) 2.6 miles

I was reading the blog of a runner who I follow on Twitter who is just beginning to run in the Hattori's. Like me, he prefers to run in socks but he found that running sock-less really improved his experience. I had considered doing a sock-less run in the Hattori's but I didn't in fear of abrasions and blisters. Inspired by this blog post, I put on the Hattori's this morning without socks and got ready to head out for my run.

Before I reached the door I realized that the counter of the shoe on my right foot was pressing uncomfortably against my upper heel. I quickly slapped on a bandaid and headed outside. The Hattori lacks a removable insole but the material that's there is soft and porous and contains no scratchy stitching. My feet felt okay and the fit was better than with socks. I did miss having another layer between my foot and the shoe but it wasn't a problem.

As I ran, the notion of socks became less of an issue. I ran neither better nor worse. Around the mile mark I began to notice that my foot was sweating and sticking to my foot while slipping slightly in the shoe. It was slight but it was there. By mile two I felt a hot spot on my left instep that I hoped wouldn't turn out to be a friction burn. With a short run like today's I headed off blisters but my instep, after the run, had a red mark the size of a pencil eraser.

It was a better run than yesterday's and I ran the last half mile fairly quickly. I'm glad that others have had good experience running sock-less in their Trail Gloves, Minimus, Green Silence and Hattori's. I'm sticking with socks. It's more comfortable and, with sweating, far better for the shoe.