About once a week I get a call or an email from someone who asks, “Can you run in Invisible Shoes for long runs?”

I usually point out to them that the Tarahumara are known for running ultra-marathons in huaraches, so, Yes.

But some people respond, “Sure, but I’m not a Tarahumara Indian.”

True (but not necessarily relevant).

So, how bout a hometown boy who just ran in his Invisible Shoes huaraches… for SIXTY-EIGHT MILES!

Here’s a picture from Barefoot Jason Robillard after his run:

Read the rest of the thread about his run at the Runners World Barefoot Running forum

About once or twice a week, someone emails me and asks:

Doesn’t the string between your toes hurt or cause blisters?

After crafting a number of long-winded answers, I finally realized the simplest one:

Remember, the Tarahumara Indians run in huaraches for hours and hours… sometimes for DAYS at a time.

Clearly, you couldn’t spend hours, or days,  in barefoot running sandals if they caused damage to your feet.

That said, it doesn’t mean you can just put on some Invisible Shoes and go for a 24 hour run without a problem.

In the same way that you wouldn’t wear a new pair of running shoes for the first time on a 20 mile run, you don’t want to wear your huaraches too much until you know you’ve adjusted to them.

And “adjusting to them” means:

• Finding the right tension in the lacing
• Adjusting your stride since you can’t land hard on your heel
• Remembering that wearing huaraches is a LOT like being barefoot, but with a surface that’s really comfortable

What allows the Tarahumara (or anyone who is comfortable in huaraches) to go for a long time without any issues is a combination of factors. Since I’m in the mood for a list, let me list them:

1. With proper barefoot running form, you don’t put a lot of horizontal force on the ground. You don’t “pull” with your feet the way you can do with running shoes, or even with something like flip-flops. So, you don’t create the kind of force that leads to friction and abrasion.
2. Since huaraches don’t offer the kind of padding that shoes or flip-flops or other sandals do, you’re less likely to overstride (whether you’re walking or running) and, again, you have less horizontal/abrasion-causing force. Oh, and you’re less likely to do it, because overstriding HURTS… so you quickly get the hint to CHANGE SOMETHING!

I’m sure I left something off the list… suffice it to say, there’s nothing inherent in huaraches that should cause you any pain. Like most things in life, the problems arise when we overdo it, don’t listen to the signals from our body, or choose to argue with reality instead of adjusting to it.

Okay, so the big question is, “WHY use huarache, the Tarahumara running sandals?”

The answer is pretty obvious, but there are some important-yet-surprising pieces to the puzzle.

The obvious answer about huarache is: It’s the closest thing there is to barefoot running, without some of the hazards of barefoot running. Namely, you’re adding a layer of protection to your feet that bare skin simply can’t give you, no matter how well conditioned your feet are.

Especially with the 4mm Vibram Cherry sole material we use in our huarache kits and custom huaraches, you get what I like to call “better-than-barefoot.” The soles are so flexible it’s like having nothing on, so light, you barely notice them… except it’s blissfully clear that you’re not getting scraped up, cut up, scratched up and dirty like you would if it was just your tootsies on the ground.

That said, I’m not going to say “Don’t run barefoot and run with huarache running sandals instead!”

Why not?

Well, because running barefoot gives you more feedback than running with ANYTHING on your feet.

If you want to know how efficient your form is, go barefoot and you’ll know (that is, if it hurts, you need to change something!).

If you want to know if you could be running lighter or easier, go barefoot and you’ll find out (did I mention: if it hurts, you need to change something?).

Conversely, putting ANYTHING on your feet, including huarache sandals, can mask some improper technique, give you the illusion that you’re better than you are and, possibly, lead to overtraining. Especially at first.

That said, since it takes awhile to develop that new barefoot running technique, and since it takes a while for your feet to get conditioned (btw, they do NOT get calloused), I recommend a mix of barefoot and huarache running.

In fact, what I often do is carry my huaraches with me when I go out barefooting. And if my feet start to get a bit sore, and I’m still a ways away from home, I’ll slip on my huaraches for the 2nd half of the run.

Or, I’ll warm up in my huaraches, and then slip ‘em off (using the method of how to tie huarache sandals here), and take off from there.

Oh, if I’m on serious trails — and by serious, I mean a lot of rocks, twigs, etc. — then it’s all huarache, all the time.