Minimalist to Barefoot Convert Needs Advice

[Agnesd]

I've never been a runner, but have always liked the idea of just walking out the front door and going for a run. Due to ankle or knee pain while running, I always quit after a few runs thinking I was just torturing myself trying to make it enjoyable. After reading Born to Run and doing some research online, I started out a few months ago running in VFF's - I just didn't think the barefoot thing was for me. I had a little adjustment period to the toe part of the shoes, but otherwise had a pain free start. Then I started running on trails (which I truly love), and started trying out different minimalist shoes. I've loved it and remained pain free, but have not really found comfortable shoes. Meanwhile I've been reading up on barefoot running and lurking around this forum. (Husband looking over shoulder: "Are you going to run BAREFOOT now?" Me: "Oh no, I'm just reading about the minimalist part.")

My last attempt at footwear was invisible shoes, and while the material under my foot was fine, the string between my toes drove me nuts no matter how I adjusted the tying, and I ended up turning around and going back home after just a quarter mile. Walking back home, the string irritated me even more so I just took off the shoes. What a relief! Walking without them was such a relief, so I tried running! Oh my gosh! What have I been wearing shoes for? Barefoot is the best! No shoes shifting on my feet, no ties, laces or straps to drive me nuts, and I could truly feel how my feet were hitting the pavement. I'm a total convert.

Now for the conversion. How does everyone start out? On pavement? On trails? I have my first 5 mile race on trails the end of February, and I'm pretty sure I can't make that in bare feet by then, can I? Someone please tell me I could get up to that, because I REALLY want to. (but don't blow smoke up my a**, I still want to be realistic). I was up to that in my VFFs, but I know I've got to work up to that barefoot now. It's pretty cold and rainy here (our first snowstorm is just melting off), and the trail for the race is partly everything - rocky, muddy, downed branches, leaves hiding terrain underneath. Is it better to start out on pavement? On trails? Should I just plan on wearing shoes for the race? I'm just so stoked about running barefoot, I know I need to hold myself back so I don't over do it. :bigsmile:

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Lomad]

Anything's possible, but...I

Anything's possible, but...I don't know if your feet would be up for trails by late february. I can only speak to my own experience, but I had been running barefoot for a couple months and got owned by my first trail 5k. I had the legs and lungs, but my soles were not ready. Also, you mention leaf covered trails; things that hide pointy bits can get you hurt. You can't avoid what you can't see (sometimes you can't avoid what you can see...) and you could set yourself back.

If the weather isn't conducive to maintaining feeling in your feet so that you can listen to your body's signals (cold and wet impairs that, in my experience) you may be best served to do your race in minimals, run barefoot as the weather allows and know that once spring arrives you'll be chomping at the bit to run barefoot. Then, you just have to listen to your body and build up. it's easier then to balance minimally shod and barefoot running, since you can take off/put on shoes as you need during a run.

Hope this helps, and happy running!

 

[migangelo]

be conservative. i did the

be conservative. i did the exact same thing you did except ran in my huaraches on the trail. didn't work so i went bf and had a blast. instant runners high. i was sprinting around everywhere. probably the fastest i have ever run including all the races i've done. i paid the price. even though i was able to run the same distance in vff, bare is different. there's that much more mobility so it puts a little more stretch n stress on your bones, muscles, and tendons.

i couldn't walk without pain for two weeks, sore tendons. so be cautious and you will quickly be to where you are and soon surpass it.

 

[NickW]

I am not a fan of Invisible

I am not a fan of Invisible Shoes laces because they irritate my skin pretty badly. You may try to see if you can find some leather or hemp laces and see if those work better for you. As far as trying to run the trail 5 miles barefoot, maybe but I wouldn't count on it. You may want to bring your min shoes with you just in case and throw them on when you start to hurt. On that note, train barefoot all you can on surfaces similar to what you'll be racing on. It will help you at least get over the mental aspect of "ouch ouch ouch these rocks hurt" and build up your soles faster prior to the race so that you can just enjoy yourself more. Mike made fun of me on our last trail run, I'm normally a road runner, and I complained half the time because I'm a wuss and not used to running on that surface. :bigsmile: Better to prepare yourself before hand and to know what you're getting into.

 

[Freerunner]

Well I'd build up the miles

Well I'd build up the miles first BF. Not sure the longest distance you've run BF but it sounds like you experienced what we all have when we first took off our shoes and went natural. But along the way of building up that mileage I'd encounter blood blisters, tender feet, and sore calf muscles. I remember seeing one fellow runner who after saw me running barefoot decided to join me running bf thinking he could do the same thing and after 2 miles he was hurting.

Nothing wrong with aiming for a trail race but unless you've build up your feet for them I wouldn't recommend it for someone starting out. Like Lomad said there are a lot of unknown things on a trail like roots, rocks, and ointy things. My recommendation would wear your shoes for this trail race and aim for a 5k thats a little more BF friendly as a starting point.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I think setting a goal for a

I think setting a goal for a short month away is asking for a too much too soon injury. You need to set this race aside for now. There will be lots of races, trail and road, you can take part in later. I totally understand your excitement, but that enthusiasm is going to get you hurt.

The best way to learn how to run with a proper form for you is to run on a hard, flat surface free of debris, not trails. Here's some advice I give to other newcomers, just some general advice about various surfaces:

Running on soft surfaces such as sand and grass do not teach someone how to run with proper form, since these surfaces are unpredictable and uneven. You need a solid surface such as asphalt or concrete, which will allow you to learn through repetition where to place your feet, how to place your feet, and how and where to distribute your weight. You cannot learn a lesson where the answer changes with each footfall, AND you can't learn how to run gently on something that is perceived to be gentle. You WILL learn how to run gently on a harder surface. (Remember when you were a child, and you trotted through a section of gravel barefoot? You immediately bent your knees to ease and lighten your step; the same goes for running on harder surfaces.) Also, with grass, there could be hidden debris you could step on or a hole you could turn your ankle in. Do not RELEARN how to run on soft surfaces. Save the soft surfaces for later, after you have learned to run gently with proper form.

Welcome! Glad to have you here.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

And, about the lacing

And, about the lacing huaraches, you can do a criss-cross method that goes over the top of your foot and avoid threading through the toes completely that is quite comfortable. Not as good as barefoot, IMO, but doable when needed.

 

[Agnesd]

Thanks for all the input, you

Thanks for all the input, you guys are all awesome. Did you mean when you said "set this race aside" that I shouldn't do it at all? Or not barefoot? After all the comments I was going to do it in some minimalist footwear, and continue slowly train barefoot on the side.

As far as the huaraches, I was going to try a different tying method, but I have to drill more holes. We just moved and it may take me a while to find the drill. :~

 

[Lomad]

if you can run the same

if you can run the same terrain as the race in your minshoes with no problem over the same distance, then I'd say race in the minshoes and focus the barefoot training on smooth surfaces as TJ suggests. It may be to your benefit to hold off on jumping to barefoot if the race is erally important to you, as transitioning can reduce your mileage. What's another 3-4 weeks out of a lifetime of happy running?

 

[Jonny00GT]

I don't know...I side  with

I don't know...I side with caution, BUT I also believe we don't give our bodies the credit they deserve. SO, I recomend bucket training and starting slow, cause it worked for me.

You can search bucket training on here for more info than you'd probably care to know, but the short version is this, get a flat square or rectangle shaped bucket, big enough for you to stand in, put in 2-3in depth of small rocks(Wal-Mart has a selection, but don't use fish bowl rocks unless you want blue feet!LOL) and start marching. I do this in front of the TV. Drives my wife nuts cause it's a bit loud. When all that does is scratch your itch for feed back, upgrade to bigger rocks. That will toughen up your skin.

Now for starting slow, I'd say go hit a trail you know well or a stretch of concrete, barefoot but with shoes in hand. At about 1/8 mile, stop. If you feel a buzzing or burning in your feet, put your shoes on. If not, go another 1/8.

As most of us recomend, wait till you're not sore any more to repeat these processes, but this helped me run a barefoot half marathon in 5mo and a 2nd half at my wife's slower pace (over 3hrs) a month later in 40deg rain on mostly chip seal.

Welcome to the addiction!

-Jonny

 

[Agnesd]

Well, I'm not very fast to

Well, I'm not very fast to begin with, so it's not like I'm hoping to win the 5 mile race. I'm just doing it for fun - it's one of my favorite parks for trail running, and I signed up with a friend.

I'll do the race in minishoes and continue to work on running barefoot. What TJ said about learning to run on pavement made perfect sense, so I'll keep going with that. But if I find a good stretch on the trail that looks not-too-painful, I can't promise I'll keep the shoes on.

 

[NickW]

Hey does anyone remember

Hey does anyone remember correctly, I seem to think Ken Bob says to start on gravel, which is opposite than what TJ is saying? I started on roads and I have a hard time on gravel trails, but some gravel on a road is fine and a cake walk for me. I think maybe it depends on the person. I've heard that you get better feedback on gravel about your form than you do on man made surfaces because you can still run barefoot with bad form on man made surfaces. Anyone know if this is true? Or have a different take? I'm really curious to hear the opinions on this.

 

[Blind Boy]

My opinion is that you should

My opinion is that you should always start on the nastiest and most painful surface you can tolerate. Reasonably, asphalt is a good compromise for most but gravel is even better in my book. The worse the surface feels to walk on the clearer it gets when you get it right. That being said you don't want to start on a surface that's so painful that you'll give up right away which is again why asphalt is a good compromise. Rough enough to take out the worst flaws and smooth enough to allow you to get your miles in.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I'll be talking to Ken Bob on

I'll be talking to Ken Bob on the phone in a few minutes, as we have some stuff to go over (he is our Senior Board Advisor), and I will ask him that very question because he has always said that running on a flat, hard, smooth surface free of debris is the ideal condition for learning to run with proper form. I have found this to be true with my years of barefoot running as well. Lately, he has added that running on gravel is a great tool for learning proper form as well. Gravel can teach you a lot about your form and running gently, bending the knees, lifting, etc., but you won't learn through repeition as each foot fall will be different.

What I am saying, Agnes, is that if your goals are to become a barefoot runner, then it is best to ditch all racing goals and all shoes and get down to the business of being a barefoot runner and getting that proper form down first. Shoes will only cloud your progress and slow you down. We find that those who are able to transition to barefoot while incorporating minshoes risk injury more often than those who go cold turkey and run bare. We also find that going back and forth from shoes to skin causes the process to take a lot longer than it should. They get there, but it's either a long road or a long road plaqued with injuries. The best way to learn how to run barefoot is to run...barefoot.

 

[jldeleon]

I started running barefoot on

I started running barefoot on concrete, then asphalt, then I when I felt my feet were "tough enough" I did some short runs on "good" gravel. Never do anything that is painful.

 

[JosephTree]

Agnes, you are doing a good

Agnes, you are doing a good thing by checking in here, I think. You will benefit from the mistakes of many others.

I'm a happy BF runner for the last 22 and a little months. At this point in my running career I can run 10 miles BF on pavement without worries. However, I won't risk my feet and my entrance fee by trying to do a real trail race BF. I love my VFF Bikilas for that kind of thing, and feel no shame to admit it. The BF runners who can step onto a trail and run a 5 mile race are much rarer than those who can run 5 miles on easier terrain.

Take it easy on yourself in the way of expectations, but feel free, in my opinion, to run with your friend on your favourite trail in a race in a few weeks in your VFF's or other Min shoes. Have fun and enjoy a long and injury free transition.

 

[Agnesd]

Thanks for the input. I'm

Thanks for the input. I'm very excited to run barefoot, but I'm in no rush to log a ton of miles. I started from scratch, meaning I was not a runner with bad habits and a push to get back up to a certain number of miles. I've paid a lot of attention to form and think that barefoot will only assist me further in doing things right. Until I find out how far and on what terrain I can go barefoot, I'm going to run that race and enjoy every minute.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Ken Bob said the best surface

Ken Bob said the best surface to learn how to run barefoot on is...several. He feels gravel is the best to teach you how to run gently. He said it wouldn't be a bad idea to have people (through instruction) run on gravel for several minutes, then hit a hard/rough asphalt or concrete path to finish up the run, always keeping it within their limitations and slowly building up.

I would personally keep the gravel running to no more than 10 minutes, so as not to run anyone off. Some people won't like the feel of the gravel at all and might just give up on barefoot running right then. I think once they get onto a hard, flat surface, they will experience an Ahhhhh moment, like when you slip into a hot, soapy bathtub.

 

[NickW]

TJ, I know that ahhh moment

TJ, I know that ahhh moment very well. I think Mike laughed at me when I did that after our last rocky trail run. :bigsmile: It felt so good to get off my beat up feet when we were done. I can run 10 miles barefoot on pavement with no pain, but get me on a gravel trail and I start sniveling like a little baby in the first two feet.

 

[rickwhitelaw]

Barefoot TJ wrote:What I am

What I am saying, Agnes, is that if your goals are to become a barefoot runner, then it is best to ditch all racing goals and all shoes and get down to the business of being a barefoot runner and getting that proper form down first. Shoes will only cloud your progress and slow you down. We find that those who are able to transition to barefoot while incorporating minshoes risk injury more often than those who go cold turkey and run bare. We also find that going back and forth from shoes to skin causes the process to take a lot longer than it should. They get there, but it's either a long road or a long road plaqued with injuries. The best way to learn how to run barefoot is to run...barefoot.

I've heard Barefoot TJ say this many times and I am finally going to follow her advice. I have one more race on Saturday and after that, no more races for a while.

I feel like my transition has happened slower than it should have. Although I am very happy with my progress and am mostly injury free, I have had a struggle with minshoes. Too many hours and money trying to find the right ones, what to wear for this race, what to wear for various conditions, etc. I currently do about 30 percent of my miles bare and about 70% shod. I know I need to reverse those percentages to progress further, and the shod miles will be in huaraches.

Whatever you decide, it will still be a great experience.