The media says Barefoot=VFF. Is this a major problem? Please discuss.

#41
 I am really starting to

I am really starting to believe in Barefoot Ted's Trojan Horse theory about VFF.

http://barefootted.com/2009/10/paradigm-shifting-trojan-horses-vffs.html



Stomper people think they can buy their way into barefoot running at least that is the way I got into it

Newtons,Racing flats, water shoes, Vff then inevitably barefoot. It is a very slippery slope.



I have tried to tell my shod running friends this point, that they are just faking barefoot running, but usually the response I get sounds like crickets.

Barefoot is barefoot absolutely that is why I am here.

I appreciate the discussion.
 
#42
Yes, barefoot is barefoot My

Yes, barefoot is barefoot :)

My husband just went on his second barefoot run this morning, when he got home he told me that he passed a mother buckling her daughter into a car-seat and the little girl shouted out, "Mommy, look he has no shoes on!" The mother replied, "Yes, he is running barefoot!" :) I thought that was so sweet actually :D But... can you imagine what the little girl would have said if he was running passed in his KSO's and the reply the mother might have given? I doubt she would have said he was running barefoot.
 
#43
I guess if the media keeps it

I guess if the media keeps it up it won't be long before the response WILL be:

"He's just running barefoot"
 
#44
Liesl - I've been on a few

Liesl - I've been on a few VFF runs in the past and have had people congratulate me for running barefoot.



I agree with Ted that VFFs are a slippery slope. I used to put so many miles on mine and now they hardly come out of the trunk of my car as I am putting more and more truly bare miles in. The past couple weeks the Lunas haven't been getting much use either.



I'd challenge anyone who thinks running in VFFs is equal to barefoot to actually give it a try. Two completely different animals.
 
#45
 it actually does bother my

it actually does bother my sentiments....if I pay attention to my sentiments....in my mind I scream "ITS NOT BAREFOOT!! THIS IS BAREFOOT" as I mentally point to my feet....and then I catch myself and ask myself why do I care what people call running in VFFs....Is it MY responsibility to educate them on their delusions??? :)....but then again, I've never actually SEEN anyone wearing VFFs or Minimals...everyone I run into is wearing boat anchors and heel striking away oblivious to everything and everyone around them except the new Justin Beiber tune on their ipods....



our delusions are important parts of our lives...and I'd rather enjoy my run instead of being pissed off that someone else thinks they are barefoot when they have something between the bottom of their feet and the earth. Seeing us run barefoot, they do KNOW they are not.
 
#46
  Barefoot = bare skin to

Barefoot = bare skin to earth, NO protection from the elements or surfaces! The word BARE in barefoot should be the first clue as to what it means? Basically and technically anything at all on your feet is minimal or worse, your foot is not bare if it is covered any at all, top or bottom. I wonder if that makes it crystal clear?
 
#47
I'm going to have to find

I'm going to have to find some shoes so I can continue to be barefoot in the house. I keep wondering if there is a way to re-capture the meaning of "barefoot", or if there is another way to term "barefoot" running so that people know that we are actually running without shoes or footwear.
 
#48
It bothers me when the

It bothers me when the medical community keeps saying crap like, "We keep seeing all these barefoot running-related injuries in our offices," when it's really people running in something wrongly perceived as being barefoot. Then barefoot gets the bad rap. I mean let's face it. There's really not that many of us out there compared to people who are picking up running in minimalist footwear, so how could we be "flocking" to their offices? Plus, I must add, anytime this barefoot runner went to a doctor's office seeking medical help was because of the DAMAGE the society-accepted shoes did to her.

Now, if I were wearing a pair of VFFs, and someone yelled, "Hey, barefoot," or something like that, I would yell back, "But I'm NOT barefoot!"
 
#49
TJ -- I'm not sure what the

TJ -- I'm not sure what the general attitude is among naked foot runners, but I don't trust doctors and stay as far away from doctor's offices as possible. They've done more damage to my health in the past than even running in running shoes did.
 
#50
All I know is shoes screwed

All I know is shoes screwed me up. I've had good success with doctor's care in the past, but with trying to correct what shoes did to me, I've been very unlucky in that the procedures, all of them, have failed me. I will continue to try though, since I have no choice. This is not something that will correct itself. I have MN, and it will be with me until it is resolved, meaning it's not just something that goes away on its own, especially once it has gotten to this point.
 
#51
TJ -- We all have our own

TJ -- We all have our own routes we need to take to get to good health. I'm sure your feet will get where they need to be in time. And I hope to someday find a doctor who isn't invested in harming my health.
 
#52
Even though I've just begun

Even though I've just begun my journey I've had a chance to experience both the true barefoot and minimalist experience and can honestly say that for me I think there is a significant difference between the two (especially with impact and speed). However the media decides to define that is fine with me. I don't listen to half the stuff they say anyway.
 
#53
Thanks for the fresh input.

Thanks for the fresh input. I think Nate's attitude echoes my own (on days when I'm not too grumpy) and I'm just going to try to take that perspective all the time.

However, TJ brings up a good point. The one place where the confusion could make a difference is when it comes to health effects. If there are differences in the health and physical effects between being shod minimally and going truly barefoot, then the confusion could end up hurting people, or at least leading them down the wrong path. I'm not sure how much objective evidence there is right now about this difference, but our anecdotal experience suggests there could be one.

One place where there is objectively and truly a difference: aesthetics. Saw a guy at a party with some VFF's the other day at a party and I couldn't stop staring at his feet. It looked like he had robot paws. :)
 
#54
I know evidence from only one

I know evidence from only one source doesn't really count but stomper, have you checked out Steven Robbins' work? A lot of it seems to support our anecdotal findings that there is a difference. It isn't the same as a study on injury frequency and so on but it's something at least.
 
#56
 I read the first page of

I read the first page of responses and not the other 5 so this may be redundant but I do think there is a difference and it should be noted but not necessarily to the point of argument.

I wear my VFF Treks for work and I get may questions and comments (I wear them to work for this very reason!) and I always clarify that I run truly barefoot and very rarely put on the Treks unless I have A. been running more miles than my soles can take or B. its very cold and wet ect.

More people than not are going to be running in minimal shoes than totally barefoot but the guiding principals are the same. The same how to books apply to both minimal and barefoot runners. The argument distracts from the important aspects and changes the focus to semantics instead of running.

Sometimes its relevant but trying to change the media is going to take more effort than I am up for anyways. It seems that with VFF talk comes barefoot talk so the message is getting out there even if totally barefoot takes the backseat. I am happy to be in the car at all compared to just a few years ago when it was totally fringe and not just a little fringe :)
 
#57
#58
Hopefully Oprah is just a

Hopefully Oprah is just a gateway drug for her millions of viewers. I'd like to give her a hard time for this but I can't. She does way more good than most.
 
#59
I think she had them on her

I think she had them on her list a few years ago. Unless Nike has re-designed these things, they still aren't very "barefoot".

"Nike, I ran with Mr Barefoot, I knew Mr Barefoot, Mr Barefoot was a friend of mine. Nike, you're no Mr Barefoot."
 
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