A journey from the start.

prestonparkbarefootwalksurface-copysmall.jpg
Here I am at the start of my journey into barefoot running. I've read up quite a lot. I been injured a lot in the past (shod running). I don't want to suffer major injuries again. So, I'm planning to take it easy and not let the endorphins get me carried away (again).

As I'm at the start there's nothing too exciting for anyone to read yet but there's a certain "tingle" in it for me.

Day 1-7 in brief:
[*](8th November) just padded about the house in my socks.[*](9th) same as yesterday![*](10th) socks in the house, Evo II minimal shoes for walking about out of the house (collecting my kids etc.).[*](11th) same as yesterday again. Barefoot playing with the kids on a wobble board.[*](12th) I have some odd pains in 1 foot (I think from the wobble board) so I'm having a day off (back in heelies).[*](13th) thin socks in, Evos out.[*](14th) I have a thick head from too much :beer: celebrating last night (birthday today) so stay in all day (barefoot).
Today is day 8 (15th November). I am barefoot in the house. I decided to go for a barefoot walk in the park. I wore my Evos to get there (not far) noting a little broken glass & other things that on barefoot I'd want to avoid. I think I was thinking that I'd be able to walk as easily on this surface from the park all the way home...

I got to the park, almost everyone there was a dog walker and I suspect half of them leave the dog eggs behind so I didn't fancy walking on the grass. A bit of a shame really as I think that would have been the place to go for a first effort. Anyway, I walk to the cafe and, outside, I take off my shoes & thin socks...

Now the first "shocker" was the feeling of cold on my feet when I put them on the pavement. It is probably about 5 degrees centigrade (about 41F). From reading other peoples comments about the cold I think this is considered fine (or even "warm"). The second "shocker" is how quickly the cold on my feet is no longer an issue. The initial discomfort goes quickly. Nice one...

Time to start walking. I'm carrying my shoes in my hands and I think that in future I'll put these in my back pack (because if some little **** grabs one & runs off with it for a "laugh" there's no way I'll be able to get it back at the moment). You can see what the surface I walked on looks like around this park in my photo, (look at the surface near the bottom of the photo - I'm not sure how big the photo will be when you see it). It's sort of like tarmac with lots of small stones in it, some are embedded and some are laying on top. It's also wet and there are a few twigs & leaves...

To start off with it's not too bad but as I keep going some of the tiny stones stick to my feet & don't fall off. I try gently wiping the foot on the ground but it does not help much. A couple of old ladies go silent as we pass in opposite directions! I've probably done about 20 meters/60 feet now. Not too bad but I am so glad I did not come here expecting to run on it (yet)...

I keep going and I've now done about 200 meters. Things are really getting quite uncomfortable. I keep going...

About 250 meters now and someone has sprayed a day glow line across the path from some old event, it is about 5 meters away. The feeling on my feet is now really unpleasant. The sharpness off some little stones is not good. I aim for the day glow line & put my shoes back on there. I'm not sure if the cold made the sharp little stones feel worse, if it was just the cold or just the stones... Back in shoes and the contrast at the moment: Relief. Surprise at what I'd experienced (mostly in a good, learning kind of way).

Thinking about it on the way home I am not put off at only getting about 250 meters. I feel OK about it. I get home, wash my feet - [make mental note to take wet wipes or something for my next attempt]. Dry my feet - [hmmm, a towel may be handy too]. I leave the shoes & socks off now but I will put them back on for kiddie collection later.

I think my experience would put some people off but I have the benefit of having managed to run about barefoot as a kid during the summer on a flint/dirt track to get to the beach when I was about 4. The following year I wanted to do the same thing and I remember it was really uncomforable but, at 5, I some how remembered that it was like this the last year and that I'd quickly got use to it. That was about 41 years ago. I really hope I get use to it again.

Any advice / suggestions welcome.

Take it easy.

Comments

I really like the way your going about your transition. I think you'll save yourself a lot of blisters and freakishly sore feet this way (when i first started i pushed my feet to hard and i could barely walk for a few hours after a run). Also, cold weather makes those rough surfaces feel worse, which seems to be a good thing in your case, as it will stall tmts. In regards to the surface, if you walk on it every other day for the first 2 weeks or so, and then as often as you can when you feel relatively comfortable, it will help your feet adjust. This is mainly because by stressing them in this manner you are forcing them to be dynamic in their response, just don't push yourself to hard or your feet will be pissed. Using this surface as walking training is good as well because when you start to run, other surfaces will feel like nothing in comparison. Finally, Just go barefoot as much as your feet will allow and you'll be pumping out marathons before you know it.



P.S. Ive heard of peoples bones fusing together in their forefoot from a life time of shoes. If thats happened to you ive also read that they will separate into their original state. Im gunna assume it kinda hurts when that happens. so if any persistent pain is occurring in your forefoot that might be the cause. In which case just slow it down a bit. I hope to read more on your successful transition!
 
Thanks for your comments Stomper.

I really like the idea of being able add just 15 meters a day to hit 5K in a year.

Having said this I am going to try & avoid signing up for some event to use it as a goal (which is what I did in the past). This time I want to wait until I'm already ready so there's no pressure to push it too fast. Not that I think 15m/day will be too much, just that I'm (sometimes) going to record what I did rather that say what I am going to do!

Like you say, keep listening to your body.
 
Thanks for your comments Barefoot Kean.

Yes, I hear that the cold can make things different! It's frosty today but the sun is out & I think by mid-day the ground should have warmed up enough to have a quick pad about with less melted frost sticking to my feet. Today I think I'm going to try a different surface. There's a grass cricket ground nearby which should be interesting to try.

I don't feel that my bones are fused. I have a couple of aches in 2 toes from jumping in a pool back in August & assuming I was in the deep end when I kicked off but that's about it, (daft pool had the deep "end" in the middle). As I'm a few weeks away from trying to run barefoot (rather than walk) still I think there's plenty of time to monitor my toes for any negative changes.

As you say, I can just slow it down a bit if necessary.
 

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