New to Barefoot Running - Am I doing it wrong?

[AndrewGK]

Hi,

I'm Andrew and I'm 18 years old. I live in Southern California and love endurance sports. I mountain bike quite frequently (2-4 times a week) and just got into barefoot running. I just started over spring break and am really enjoying the sport. I feel like I can run much farther barefoot than when I have regular running shoes on. I've literally only been running for a week and over the course of the past week I have logged about 45 miles.

Quick recap of my runs:

April 5th - 4 Miles on San Clamente Beach (Barefoot)

6th - 6 Miles on Aliso Creek Trail (Barefoot)

7th - 11 Miles on Aliso Creek Trail (VFF KSO Treks) - 1:30

8th - 6 Miles in Aliso Woods Canyon (800ft gain) - (VFF KSO Treks) - 1:40

10th - 20 Miles from (Golden Lantern X Crown Valley) to Dana Point (Very hilly, I have no idea how much the gain is though). (VFF KSO Treks) - 4:10



I've been reading around and have read that you should be taking it easy on your runs so that your feet can get acclimated to running barefoot. I would just like to note that before spring break, I had never run more than 2 miles at a time (I only ran these miles because it was required for P.E. I also ran these miles in conventional running shoes). So far I have experienced no soreness (except on the last 20 mile run where the balls of my foot became extremely sore during the last 4 miles) and I overall feel great about running. Even after the 20 mile run, my feet felt great the next day.



So, my question to you is: Am I doing it wrong? I know I'm supposed to take it easy, but at the same time my body has not complained about running barefoot or the long distances. I don't want to hurt my self doing this, so I just wanted to ask you guys to see what I should be doing.



Also, I don't know if it matters or not but I am about 5'7" and weigh about 170 lbs. I'm not particularly fit or buff. I would consider my self a little chubby. I also have been mountain biking for a year and a half and have competed in some races.



Thanks!

Andrew

 

[Barefoot TJ]

So, my question to you is: Am

So, my question to you is: Am I doing it wrong?

Yes. And I am jealous.

Seriously, no one should be running that many miles after just beginning to run (with or without shoes) in a week. You may not experience problems now, but soon, it could sneak up on you and bite you.

It's great that you were able to get away with it this time. And I hope (should you continue on) that you get away with it each and every time. You apparently have youth and health on your side. Cherish those memories.

 

[AndrewGK]

Thanks for the info! I'll

Thanks for the info! I'll ease up on the miles... Hopefully all that running won't come back to bite me anytime soon.



Andrew

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I did a run/walk called Walk

I did a run/walk called Walk For Mankind twice (25 miles each) when I was much younger than you, in the Girl Scouts to raise money. It didn't kill me either. But if I ran it straight and kept doing it, I'm sure I would have suffered for it.

 

[ajb422]

Assuming you do it and get

Assuming you do it and get away with it I'm with TJ, totally jealous. But I agree you really you may want to ease up a bit. Contrary to what everyone says about listening to your body its sometimes a liar. I nearly got a stress fracture (caught it just before but still put me out for about a month) and got a very very nasty case of tendonidis (about two weeks off) in my foot even though I didn't feel an ounce of pain before either stuck. I was perfectly fine and then suddlenly bam. It just took awhile to catch up with me. I'm sure all the biking is what lets you get away with the muscular and aerobic components of the running but your joints and bones most likely need some time to catch up. And it seems like those don't like to tell you they are being damaged until its too late.

 

[ajb422]

Oh and p.s. if Aliso Woods is

Oh and p.s. if Aliso Woods is like Irvine Open Space and Crystal cove careful on the fireroads. They are super bouldery in spots with not alot of give to the dirt for them to sink into. Thats actually what I blame for my tendonidis issues. A long huarache trail run on them pretty much destroyed my feet. But I've never made it down to Aliso Woods before so I'm not sure what their trails look like.