So I'm convinced...sort of, but pretty confident anyway. I've switched over. I am now running barefoot. People look at me funny now...well, maybe not anymore than usually but now they say something. "What. Barefoot. You nuts." Not if you live in San Diego obviously, but if you live in Eugene and Bend... maybe, cus it's it 30-40 degrees and raining/snowing. I try to think of it like I'm icing my feet during my run...trying to save a little time rather than doing it after. Ok, so I'm not running barefoot all the time, but I think I can substantially benefit from strengthening my feet. I've been running in structure shoes for about 10 years so my feet are little Sally's when it comes to really use them...like in a race say. They're usually sore the next day. So, I'm trying something different and starting out running about 5-10 min a couple days a week barefoot along with doing drills barefoot and stuff. Eventually I'll try to work up to doing about a third of my mileage barefoot. Shouldn't be too hard. I figure I already do a couple workouts a week in flats, light trainers, or spikes. We'll see how it goes. Obviously I'm relegated to grass (cold right now) or turf fields, but...I have a solution to that problem as well. A new pair of "shoes". I'll let you find them on the web. Now I'll be able to run anywhere. I'll let you know how my little experiment works out but so far none of my injuries are any worse and most are better. The inflamed tendon and plantar facitis in my left foot are pretty much gone, the inflamed achilles in my right leg is actually better (although I've been doing some other exercises for that as well so it's hard to put my finger on it). Everything I've read and heard from other people in blogs or shoe reviews say it's like a miracle cure. I don't know about that but there is definitely some advantages to strengthening your feet and lower leg muscles. After all, what'd we do before 1972.