Okay so I was watching the Bryant Gumbel HBO sports show, and they had this story about running barefoot. These guys had been studying indigenous Mexican tribes that could run at top speeds for these HUGE distances having lived their whole lives without shoes. Another group was studying those tribes in African that seem to produce the worlds top Olympic runners, and this group too saw barefoot as a contributing factor to the amazing performance.
When you run barefoot, they noticed that the front ball of the foot actually touches down first, as opposed to with shoes where you're foot hits the ground at the heel. By landing on the front first you actually cause less shock to your legs. You always hear about how careful you have to be and how it can tear you up, but this theory suggests that running is natural thing we were built to do. To be true, there is still a lot of controversy about this. Some people don't have the ideal foot structure and need that shoe support.
If you do want to try a more natural running style, I would suggest the Vibram Five Finger. They're pretty cool little deals. You get as close to the barefoot experience without risking stepping on glass or tiny rocks or any of the other inconveniences of the ground. I would not recommend wearing these into the weight room, though. It always hurts to drop a weight on your foot, but the protection of a real shoe helps.
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