So like the title said I'm 3 months into my transition from shoes and injuries to barefooting.
So far so good, I love it! I'm up to 4 mile runs now, with a 2 day on, 1 day off schedule of running. All running miles have been stricly barefoot. My achilles no longer hurt when I run.
I read Ken Bob's book (twice) I've said it, but I'll say it again, if you are a beginner READ THIS BOOK! I also loosely followed the Jason Robillard beginner program, lots of walking, a little running, working up to 1.5 miles.
I think what has helped me is just running barefoot and not worrying about the surface. I can handle about 1.5 miles on class 5 gravel roads, the town I live in has all chip seal streets (except for the 2 block new street in front of the church, new asphalt is like running on a pillow), farm trucks leave lots of little rocks and gravel covering the chip seal.....If my form is not good, it hurts, so far my form is very good IMO. The rougher the surface, the better it is to learn good form.
I made sure I started slow, my first run was about 1 block, its taken me 3 months to work up to the 4 miles. I found I have a natural 180 bpm cadence when barefoot, I don't even have to think about it (although sometimes I find myself singing "turning Japanese" in my head.
So in conclusion for the newbies
1. Read Ken Bob
2. Take off the shoes
3. Don't worry about the surface
4. Start slow
So far so good, I love it! I'm up to 4 mile runs now, with a 2 day on, 1 day off schedule of running. All running miles have been stricly barefoot. My achilles no longer hurt when I run.
I read Ken Bob's book (twice) I've said it, but I'll say it again, if you are a beginner READ THIS BOOK! I also loosely followed the Jason Robillard beginner program, lots of walking, a little running, working up to 1.5 miles.
I think what has helped me is just running barefoot and not worrying about the surface. I can handle about 1.5 miles on class 5 gravel roads, the town I live in has all chip seal streets (except for the 2 block new street in front of the church, new asphalt is like running on a pillow), farm trucks leave lots of little rocks and gravel covering the chip seal.....If my form is not good, it hurts, so far my form is very good IMO. The rougher the surface, the better it is to learn good form.
I made sure I started slow, my first run was about 1 block, its taken me 3 months to work up to the 4 miles. I found I have a natural 180 bpm cadence when barefoot, I don't even have to think about it (although sometimes I find myself singing "turning Japanese" in my head.
So in conclusion for the newbies
1. Read Ken Bob
2. Take off the shoes
3. Don't worry about the surface
4. Start slow
