Barefoot Newbie Chronicles

As can be seen in the picture, the massive blood blisters have now been scraped off by the road and trail. It still hurts of course, but not as much. Sure wish my soles could grow about 4-5 mm of callous. While my barefoot running milage still hasn't increased (1.5 mile runs, I let my pain level dictate my milage), my pace has. I have started reading Ken Bob's Book and I am currently looking for the Anatomy of Runners. My weekly training currently consists of one barefoot 1.5 mile run on pavement with a second 3 mile run in classic Vibram Five Fingers to maintain at least some of my lost conditioning. In addition I also do one barefoot trail hike of at least 2 miles. This latest picture was taken today after a 9.5 mile hike of which 3 miles was barefoot before I had to break out the Vibrams.

What I have learned so far:
Barefoot Running is not as easy as just ditching the shoes. There is definitely a very complex technique to it. I-Did-It (Steve) put it best when he advised me on bending the knees as more to "sitting down". Thinking of a sitting down has really helped me to exaggerate the bending of the knees which helps in softening the footfall. I would say on very gnarly rocky terrain like we have here in Arizona it is more like a duck walk without the long strides. It really works your quads in ways they are not accustomed to in contrast to shod running where it's mostly hamstrings, calves and glutes. I will be adding some high rep deep bend squats with pauses at 90•degrees to help strengthen the quads as well as doing the drills Ken Bob illustrates in his book.

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Comments

Glad things are working out better for than last time! Keep it up and go slow ;)
 
Hi Newbie,
That is a familiar look that I remember well from my first year of running barefoot. You are correct in that technique is everything. Many out there say "just take off your shoes and run and it will come naturally", I don't believe that philosophy. Barefoot running has to be learned like any other sport. I constantly harp on about Pose method as that was the first book I read that formalised the steps I needed to take to change my running form and I still recommend it to people. It's not a case of toughening your feet up as my feet feel no different from years ago it's just that I land in a more gentle manner when I run.

Neil
 

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