Hi

Hi Ollie - welcome!

You appear to be starting your transition from a different place than most of us so some of this advice might be a little out of whack.

Just about everyone recommends starting on a less friendly surface than grass as it is very forgiving and will disguise a lot of transgressions. I think you would also find it very beneficial to do much of your early running at a slower speed, and on a harder surface, than you currently are. You may think you are not heel striking now but the road will let you know within 2 or 3 steps if you truly are or not. Be prepared to start out with very short distances barefoot and to increase those distances very gradually over a period of several weeks - your soles will let you know when they have had enough!
The main "trick" seems to be running very lightly over the ground with a high turnover (cadence). Most leg and foot muscles will ache as they adapt to this - my calves and quads were particularly tight when I started several years ago but the discomfort went away after several months. Get used to the idea of walking like an ancient for the first few steps as you get out of a chair - using a foam roller on your legs and a golf ball under your feet will help a lot!

When running barefoot I reckon that if I can here my footfall there is room for improvement in my technique.

Take it (very) easy and you'll be fine.
 
Ollie:

Welcome. I'm glad you've found us. And you certainly have packed a lot into your first post. I can't address it all, but others will certainly jump in to help do so. Here's what I can tell you.

Be very careful on grass; it can conceal a multitude of sins, from sharp objects to the slight changes in contours of the ground underneath, to holes. "Know thy grass" before running on it has been my rule. One of the best things you can do to help make good forefoot/midfoot-running form into muscle memory correctly is run BF on hard surfaces (concrete or tarmac). Doing so will force you to lift and set your feet without skidding on landing or pushing off with your toes or forefoot. If you do it wrong, it hurts; this instant feedback is a great teacher.

The longer you run, particularly when you are new to a forefoot/midfoot landing running style, the sloppier you will get and the more you will fall back into old habits. Perfectly normal, but something to keep your mind very actively aware of as you run longer and/or harder.

Sprinting changes things somewhat from a standard BF run in that you will be extending your stride length more, which can lead more to working the hamstrings. Running distances at pace should primarily work your quads, as you use them to lift and set your feet down gently and accurately. You may also feel a little more pull in your glutes. If you feel calf tightness, you are most likely not relaxing your feet enough or failing to allow your heels to touch down gently after landing on the forefoot/midfoot.

What minimal shoes to use is a good question, but one that I would encourage you to put off until you've spent a few months getting your form molded into muscle memory BF first. Jumping straight to shoes to allow you to go further faster is a recipe for stress fractured metatarsals. I got one early on by going to shoes immediately rather than exercising the patience to learn good form first, and I can't in good conscience recommend it as a desirable learning experience. That said, back to shoes. I like the VFFs (the velcro strap See Ya's are the best current model for me). Lots of our runners like the huarache sandals, but I hate having that single cord between my first and second toes. The five fingers have enough friction with all of the toe pockets to keep my feet from moving around and blistering inside them, unlike any other shoes I've tried. And they offer the widest natural splay distance for my forefoot and toes (I have very wide feet). I used the Bikilas for a long time, but they've stopped making those now; my one beef with the Bikilas was that they were really more shoe than I wanted. Vibram has done well addressing that with the See Ya's, although I don't like the laced version and the heavy lace-through material patch they use on the top of these shoes. It doesn't flex well enough, adds unwanted weight and just does nothing for me.

What podiatrists tend to call overpronation - which is certainly a factor when you're running in large, flat-soled, cushiony shoes - seems to me to be the way our feet naturally fall as part of the shock-absorbing process. Many of us naturally have our feet touch down on the outer edge of the forefoot first, then followed by the rest of the midfoot and then the heel. It's just another impact reduction design process. I can't speak to hallux limitus, as it's outside my experience (that's not bad breath, is it? Wait - that's haliTOSis - they do sound similar), but it certainly could impact your running, as you will certainly be engaging your big toes in the process. It probably depends on the cause of the problem as to how it will behave; it could worsen, it could improve, or it could be irrelevant to your running. Someone with more experience will have to chime in here.

Happy running, and again, welcome to the crew!
 
Welcome, Ollie! :barefoot:
 
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Hi Ollie -welcome.

I've only been doing this myself since the end of August last year, so still consider myself very much a relative newbie. There are other members here that have way more knowledge and miles under their belts than I do, but I'm happy to share what I believe I've learnt so far.

Firstly, I agree completely with the comments already made regarding running surface. I have deliberately stayed off of grass to avoid perhaps lulling myself into a false sense of security, and thereby being tempted to go too far too soon. As has already been said, a hard surface should help you to focus on your form more. Taking it very gradually is good advice too. On a couple of my early outings I know I got over-confident and pushed the distance too quickly (and we're not talking that much actual distance either -started with a 5 minute run, no more, and then tried to stick to the +10% rule each time from there). Going beyond that rule of thumb resulted in strains to calf muscles for me (so I learnt that bit the hard way)!

As far as muscles are concerned the only ones that have caused me any issues were my calves just after I started, as explained above. I now try to include regular leg strength work at the gym (nothing big, just squats & calf raises) and haven't had any more problems with them so far.

Shoes: I too started with the intention of ending up using some sort of minimalist shoe, but I have to confess that I do all my running barefoot. I simply got used to it and enjoy the feedback you get from feeling the ground beneath you when you run. If I'm out and about I'll usually use a pair of vivos with a zero drop (ie completely flat) for shopping, etc..., but running I'm always skin to ground.

Find yourself a reasonable length/route of tarmac, or paving, etc... & aim for gradual but steady progress.

-That's my two penneth... but I'm sure you'll get plenty more detailed and experienced advice from others here (it's a good forum..).

Enjoy.