How Will Nike Capitilize On THIS?

Back in the late 1960's and early 1970's, athletes began a new type of training session where they lifted weights to increase strength. Now you can't drive from here to there without seeing a gym in most cities.

At one point, yoga was this bizarre new "exercise" that was only for hippies and new age types who would try to read your palm or talk to you about your chakras. Now, Sue from accounting can't make it to happy hour because she is going to a yoga session.

Now one of the new trends peaking out of the sporting world is barefoot running. Anica Wong of the Denver Post followed several runners who swear that letting the glabrous bottoms of your feet touch the ground while running will make you stronger and healthier than wearing shoes.

The style still has plenty of opponents. One podiatrist says that going from wearing shoes to running barefoot can actually be worse for your feet. Since most of us grew up with shoes, only a small percentage of people have feet that can properly adjust to barefoot running.

Proponents of barefoot running say "poppycock!" They say learning to run in a new style is no different than weight lifting in that you just need to ease yourself into it. They say that with proper training, a runner will find the feet relax and the body will change the way it strikes the ground sans shoes.

There are some mystics who will talk about running the way ancient man ran and how you become one with mother earth, ideas which I don't think middle America is ready to discuss, but many of the arguments are made with logic and practical application.

Barefoot running isn't quite sweeping the nation yet, but there have been other trends that are now part of everyday life. Will people begin tossing their Nike's into the trash, or will the shoe giant manage to corner to market on the "barefoot shoe"? Only time will tell.