First Barefoot Run (since I stopped being barefoot)

Went out Sunday morning for my first barefoot run. My wife recommneded a section of a Blue Mountains trail that is part of the first leg of the North Face 100. This is a 100KM foot race that led me to barefoot running. It was when trainng for this event that I realised that something had gone horribly wrong witht the way I was running. I could get out to about 25KM, then I would get an ache develop in my knees that would rapidly grow to unbearable, and I would be facing a 5-6Km walk home from where ever I was. I have run this section quite a few times, so the familiatity was good.
The trail ran along the top of the cliffline and then drops down into the valley. The longest flat bit of this section of the trail maybe fifteen meters long if your lucky. It is all made up of exposed and eroded sandstone bed rock, so you end up placing your foot at a series of changing angles with each step. This meant you had to stay focussed watch the track and place your foot carefully. No just plonking one foot mindlessly in front of another as you would on the road.
What a rush, I felt as if I was flowing over the rocks, more aware of what was going on around me. As my foot fall was almost silent I could hear the sounds of the forrest, and siddle up to and past hikers up for a day in the woods like the wind.
The "this guy must be crazy" looks were very satisfying.
After about forty minutes at the end of the run I felt aglow. There were all the good feelings of a run and none of the bad, my knees felt energised with no sign pain, I wanted to just keep going. Prudence won out and I knew there would be more to come. On monday, back at work I would be taking it to the road.