EP 24: The Everyday Athlete’s Guide To Barefoot Running With Julia Chi Taylor

Julia Chi Taylor is a runner, world traveler, coach, author, and blogger who runs and trains all over the world. She is a huge proponent of barefoot running and travels and blogs with her husband as she traverses our globe with her bare feet. She has an incredible story including how she overcame an eating disorder and how she leads a totally barefoot lifestyle.Julia has been running all her life from running barefoot in the grass to competing at top levels and running marathons. She is a mentor, coach, and guide for others as she travels the world. She recently shed all of her possessions and lives a nomadic lifestyle. She shares how and why she has done all of this plus the fun and benefits of having a barefoot lifestyle.Today’s topics include: Julia is in a tiny village in Granada Spain right now. Julia starting walking and running when she was 9 months old. When she was six she knew that she was a runner who wanted to win races. As a teen she won some races and joined an all male except for her running club. How Julia ran for England and loved winning, but also had to temper her desire to win, so she wouldn’t train and push too hard. Julia shares how she tripped in a race and the mistake of not eating made her very weak in a race. She also shares a story about racing with her sister. The importance of keeping going and not getting disappointed when things don’t go your way. Julia feels she is a natural marathoner and her body was built for it. At 58, she is still competing today after a long life of running, racing and running marathons. At one point she got chronic fatigue and a doctor recommended running less. This taught her a lot about coaching and looking after herself. Something changed inside her and she learned not to push herself too hard. She always loved running on the track and 3000 meters and 1500 meter races. The Swansea Bay 10k was also an awesome race. She loves racing people because it is fun. The importance of not spending time with people you don’t want to spend time with. How things have changed in the running world. People compete at a high level. The importance of core strength, balance, and strong feet when running. Losing weight can make people faster, but this can lead to an unhealthy journey and emotional issues. Julia shares her strategies and healing to accept herself to tackle her eating issues. She has also helped others with their eating issues. Know yourself deeply and really accept and live yourself. Julia shares how she was having back issues, and her injury was about letting something go. She tried barefoot running on the beach. Her pain went away and barefoot running didn’t hurt. She then tried running in socks and then gave all of her shoes to a friend. She now doesn't own shoes. Having no shoes makes being a nomad easier. If it is cold she wears socks. Her whole body has changed from barefoot running. It’s like she runs the same way as when she was young. She is in the process of training to run barefoot across Spain. To transition to barefoot running it has to be done slowly. Consistency and slow running is more important Show Your Support: Rate and Review Us!If you enjoyed today's episode, please consider giving us a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your support helps us reach more people and bring you even more quality content. Click the link below to rate and review us now! Rate and Review us on Apple Podcasts FREE DownloadsTo learn more about Strength Matters and our high-performance training system, download your FREE copy of The Strength Matters System of Athletic Development. Get it at - www.strengthmatters.com/system