Howdy From Texas

[HobbitFeet]

Been lurking for a bit, thought I should join the fun. I just started running barefoot about 2 weeks ago, still taking it slow and steady, though I'm up to just over a half mile which is cool. Had a funny start, I've been thinking about trying it out for a few months now, but kept thinking that I needed to get those vibrams. Then one day I listened to myself and said "wait a minute. I'm not running barefoot because I haven't bought shoes? that doesn't make any sense at all." So the next day I got up, put on some shorts, and went for a run.



1/4 mile and several blisters later I was hooked, oddly enough. Something about my feet on the ground just makes me feel like a kid again, it's weird. Blisters are mostly healed now, and with a more conscious form and 190 steps/min cadence, I feel like I might be getting the hang of it. My wife and coworkers think I'm crazy, and that suits me just fine.



This morning I got up to run along with my wife, and she was a bit jealous of how quick I was ready to go. I grabbed shorts, and she grabbed: shorts, shirt, socks, shoes, hat, garmin, ipod, headphones, chest strap, etc. I love the simplicity of it all. yay feet!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Yay feet!  Welcome, Hobbit!

Yay feet! Welcome, Hobbit!

 

[JimN]

 Hey Hobbit - What part of

Hey Hobbit - What part of Texas are you running? I'm in Austin.



Jim

 

[HobbitFeet]

Hey Jim, I'm in Houston. 

Hey Jim, I'm in Houston. Love Austin, such a beautiful town. Every time I visit I ask myself why I never moved there.

 

[Jonny00GT]

You ARE crazy!  How dare you

You ARE crazy! How dare you run without blocking out the world with shoes and loud music?!! How can you wollow in the missery if you're enjoying all the sensations...freak'n sicko!! Haha!

Welcome to the party, fellow Texan!!

-Jonny

There is some good info in here that will help you get rid of those blisters. ;o) Then, when you're awesome at it and you still have half a tank(thanks to your more efficient form) when your wife is on empty, you can get her to drink the Koolaid! Bwaaahahaha! (Uh...I'd have her put on a shirt still though...)



-Jonny

 

[Barefoot TJ]

A BRS shirt, no doubt. 

A BRS shirt, no doubt. ;-)

 

[Phil Hart]

Welcome, Frodo.  It is

Welcome, Frodo. It is great. Just don't get too irrationally exuberant and hurt yourself. Take your time, working slowly up to more distance, using the feedback you get from your feet to gauge when to go on and when to go home. Enjoy!

Phil

 

[Jimmy Hart]

I'm late to the welcoming

I'm late to the welcoming party having been out of town recently but welcome HobbitFeet. There's a good group of people running bare/minimal down in Houston.

 

[HobbitFeet]

Ok this is really something

Ok this is really something else. I've gotten up to a full mile now, which feels like a real number, but that isn't the best part. I usually run around an 11 minute mile, 11:30 or so. Well I don't know what happened, but that mile right there was 8 and change! I figured it would be a bit more efficient but damn, I wasn't even winded!



My dogs were a bit roughed up after that though, so I guess I should figure out how to slow down a bit (heh, never had that problem before).

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Are you serious?!  You went

Are you serious?! You went from an 11-11:30 shod to 8:00 bare in just a short amount of time and distance? What?!

EXCELLENT!

 

[Phil Hart]

Welcome to TMTS Lite.  I'd

Welcome to TMTS Lite. I'd say you indulged in a bit of giddy but irrational exuberance. Glad you haven't suffered any serious damage. Congrats on getting your time down that much; but I think if you just ease off a little bit you might still have a significant time gain without damaging your feet.

 

[HobbitFeet]

yeah I might have gotten a

yeah I might have gotten a little carried away. But I'm pretty certain that I wouldn't have even been able to maintain that pace for a whole mile in my old form, reckless or not. So just knowing that it's possible is pretty amazing. But yeah went out and did a slower mile today, I still don't feel as smooth with my form as I want to.



Actually, question for you folks while I'm thinking about it. I don't feel like I pick my feet up very high behind me, just enough to bring them around to the front. When I try to focus on my feet going up higher in the back it makes me feel loose and I tend to drive my feet into the ground rather than placing them. Should I be trying to "butt-kick" or should I just go with what feels comfortable?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Don't try to butt-kick, go

Don't try to butt-kick, go with what feels natural. Think, lift, lift, lift, and be sure to relax.

 

[Jimmy Hart]

at this point in your

at this point in your transition and abilities your tail kick is one of the last things you should be concerned about. to be honest that is something that comes with speed and should really only be thought of by those who are going really fast. now if you were constantly dragging your toes or something like that then yes you would want to address it but there is nothing in the form handbook about having to pick your feet up very high either in front of or behind you.

go with what feels good for now and learn your own individual form. once you haveyour own personal biomechanics figured out then you can start to tweak it but until then you want to go what is natural especially since your natural motion isn't causing you any harm.

 

[HobbitFeet]

"go with what feels natural" 

"go with what feels natural" - it's almost too easy, lol. Years of running makes you want to research the best form, motion, etc. and all you have to do is listen to your feet. it's like cheating!