Is It Really Just Us?

[sherrhod]

A couple of guys at my office

A couple of guys at my office are giving bf running a try based hearing me talk about it. I am doing the 100 mile challenge to raise money for breast cancer, and one of them picked it up from seeing my emails. He did tmts, though, and is still recovering. Another is up to 1.5 miles bf, but still runs with shoes to get in additional mileage.



Sherri

 

[Jimmy Hart]

 Of the 14,000 or so at the

Of the 14,000 or so at the Disneyland Half I saw two other vff runners and know of one guy who finished barefoot. I know another guy started barefoot but don't know if he finished or not. I overheard a couple people say they were gonna take their shoes off, conventional shoes, just before the finish so they could finish barefoot and asked me if that counted. I politely said not for much other than saying you crossed the finish line without shoes but that didn't mean you ran a race barefoot. They did however ask a lot of questions and said they were going to try it.

I've never been approached by so many people before, during, and after a race. So many curious people, so many questions, and so little knowledge in the general running public. so many people seemed shocked when I talked about their first barefoot runs would be a half mile at most. The best question of the day was "Really, I'll need to run that little even though I've been wearing Newtons? Don't those make it like running barefoot?" Poor people just don't know.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

That is sad.  We are so

That is sad. We are so brainwashed, we think Nike Frees and Newtons are like being barefoot or the next best thing to it.

 

[Abide]

That's what happens when they

That's what happens when they throw around "barefoot shoes" terminology.

It's kind of fun when people come talk to you, as long as your not racing. If you are racing how do you keep people from talking to you? Run faster?

 

[Norm Deplume]

 I'm contributing to the

I'm contributing to the confusion I fear. I don't run barefoot as much as I'd like (between weather and crappy roads and acorns and stuff), so people see me wearing things on my feet while I'm running around town sometimes. They know I'm a "barefoot runner" then they see me running shoes, so they assume that it still counts as barefoot. Sorry folks. uzzled:

 

[nature runner]

  When I was running on the

When I was running on the gravel trail today, I ran across a couple of shod folks. They were like doesn't that slow you down or hurt. I was like no it's the most comfortable feeling there is to run without shoes. It doesn't slow me down at all, it makes running more enjoyable! They were like yea we have heard about it but you are the first we have ever saw doing it. Why aren't there more people doing it? If there were it would not seem so strange and abnormal.

 

[Jimmy Hart]

 There are not more people

There are not more people doing it because it is different and away from the norm. The human race is very slow to change and adapt so it's gonna take some time. Back in the 60's running was considered a men's only freak sport and look at it now 50 years later and women make up three fourths of the race runners and millions of people run everyday. It took 50 years to get to this point in running so ya gotta give it some time.

as for people talking to me when racing I don't really mind and honestly don't think there is anything that can be done. I know of at least five or six people that seemed to speed up to get by so they could ask how I liked running in vffs. After a couple of sentences back and forth they said I was awesome and disappeared backwards never to be seen again. So if people are going to purposely speed up just for a few seconds of questioning I'm not sure we can avoid it. I don't want to avoid it because it means I have a chance to inform people and that is good. Plus it's fun to hear people I'm leaving behind say things like "Aww man the barefoot guy is gonna beat me"

Norm you do your thing the way you want to do it. That's what we are all about here at the BRS. We love running and runners. If you want to use barefoot running part time then do it! As long as you can enjoy a life with running in it then I think you are doing exactly as you should be.

 

[BrunoRuns]

 Whats weird for me is that

Whats weird for me is that since Jan, I have run 6 races Barefoot (up to 13.1) and participated with maybe 15,000 total in all races and never seen or heard of another BF in the pack. I also travel for a living and have run in about 20 states (30 cities) at this point on my normal weekly runs and still never seen, heard of, or met another BF runner.

But then again, I am not in any groups or clubs, don't have any real running friends because all my friends are musicians or despise running, so I guess I am not the one to judge how many people are taking up the practice.

All I know is that I love being on the road free of any footwear and have had some interesting trials and errors in picking routes to run when I don't even know where I am when I wake up to run. I've seen my fair share of VFF's and get asked about my own daily, but so far I'm alone in my physical world as a barefooter.

I'd like to run with some of you if the chance ever came up!

 

[nature runner]

  Same here, alot of vffers

Same here, alot of vffers around here, but no barefooters? I have saw 1 on the Creeper trail in Va, but that's it. I guess people are too chicken lol! When I was doing my usual gravel trail run yesterday, I had two people stare me down and looked at me like I escaped from a looney bin lol. I got my run done and walked the gravel, now this was all barefoot btw. The old man said you must have tough feet? The other on down the trail turned his head and would not even look. There are alot of people out there with backwards mentalities, not open to anything different, my workplace is full of them, it's a shame!

 

[hmduey]

I consider myself a

I consider myself a "transitioning barefoot runner" (although I don't really consider myself "a runner" - but that's a different story!). I'm only up to about 3.5m but I do about 1.2 of it completely BF. The rest are in VFFs. I used to run 5+m/day shod until I got an injury...

I'd do the whole run BF if my feet could take it, but they're just not ready yet. I'm hoping to get good enough to do a full 5k completely BF by the end of the year though! Is that pushing it too much?

Happy running!

Heather

 

[Longboard]

If you're running 1.2

If you're running 1.2 barefoot already and 3.5 mixed, you will be ready by the end of the year to run a barefoot 5K for sure.

Try to go barefoot as much as possible when not running, and you will probably hit the 3.1 mile barefoot running goal before Halloween!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

You can definitely run a 5K

You can definitely run a 5K by the end of the year, especially since you've already built up a good base at 1.2 barefoot miles.

Welcome, Heather! BTW, if you are putting one foot in front of the other at a pace at least slightly faster than walking, YOU ARE are runner.

 

[Shacky]

Remember the nervous feeling

Remember the nervous feeling you had when you first went outside sans shoes and felt as if the entire world was staring at you? I believe this is the reason why most people will not run barefoot.

I have talked to a few people who are interested in losing their shoes but will not do it alone. That is why groups such as this are such a good thing. If barefoot running groups start popping up everywhere, then interested parties will have others to divert the attention they feel is upon themselves.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

That is so key, Shacky.  It

That is so key, Shacky. It was so important to me to be able to not only talk about barefoot running with others but to run barefoot with others, that my first intention with the BRS was to be able to offer others the opportunity to network and connect with others in their area to do just that.

When we run barefoot alone, we are thought of as freaks; when we run barefoot together, we are thought of as interesting/intriguing. The minds of the audience shift.

 

[nature runner]

Barefoot TJ wrote:That is so

That is so key, Shacky. It was so important to me to be able to not only talk about barefoot running with others but to run barefoot with others, that my first intention with the BRS was to be able to offer others the opportunity to network and connect with others in their area to do just that.

When we run barefoot alone, we are thought of as freaks; when we run barefoot together, we are thought of as interesting/intriguing. The minds of the audience shift.

I guess I am thought of as a freak, I have no one to run bf with. I get the craziest looks like I just walked off a spaceship from another planet. Had an old lady tell me she would buy me a pair of shoes if I was too poor to buy them lol. I like BRS for moral support, wich I would do it anyway because I was already a barefooter before I found you all, just saying. It really would be nice to have a bfr buddy. Maybe then people would quit looking at me like I am completely wrong or something lol!

 

[hmduey]

Thanks TJ,  It's nice to be

Thanks TJ, It's nice to be here! I've never seen another BF runner, or even someone running in VFFs, although a lot of people wear them around here.

I jokingly say "I run, but I'm not a runner" because of my low mileage, inability to give real advice on it, and the fact that I don't do it professionally. When I've run a marathon, I might consider myself a runner but until then I'm happy with saying I run. But compared to the general population, yeah, I'm a runner. ;-)

 

[Tender Toes Mark]

Barefoot TJ wrote:When we

Barefoot TJ wrote:

When we run barefoot alone, we are thought of as freaks; when we run barefoot together, we are thought of as interesting/intriguing.



Ha! The other day when my new friend and I ran together, we passed a couple boys - about 12 yrs old - who asked, "Are you guys gay?" That was a new one for me. I almost laughed out loud. Instead we just said, "Nope!"

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Now that brought a smile to

Now that brought a smile to my face.