Heaviest Barefoot Runner that You're Aware of?

IncredibleBulk

Barefooters
Dec 4, 2016
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Hey everyone! Question for you all.

I'm tipping the scales at the moment at 310.

I'm planning on starting VERY slow - a little here, a little there, and not too much all at once... this month for example is take my shoes off and go walk around outside on the concrete and the gravel a little bit each day. Keep walking around the rest of the time in my VFF's.

At 310 - small pebbles, feel like stepping on legos. So I need to work on learning to land lighter, relaxing and letting the feet form around the gravel or the rock and not tensing up - I ran all of 15 yards barefoot on the wet concrete sidewalk yesterday, picking up and landing on tons of small pebbles and that was enough for that day. LOL

What is the heaviest successful barefooter that you are aware of? Is 300 too much to barefoot on? The mental debate I'm having is: One shoulder says 'Shut up and barefoot and lose the weight." The other says, "Lose the weight, then barefoot." I'm a big fan of the concept of, "If it doesn't suck, we don't do it." So I'm leaning towards, "Shut up and barefoot", but I don't want to bust a few metatarsals because this shouldn't be done at 300+ pounds.

Thoughts? Do you know some successful big barefooters?
 
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I'm under 200 lbs. but if it is any consolation to you, small pebbles felt like large rocks to me. I would often look back and wonder what I had just stepped on, but never could really see anything. I'm sure the extra weight does make a difference, but you'll have to get so lite the wind could blow you away before you stop feeling Legos® where pebbles are.

I've been barefooting less than a year (not a 100% barefooter, but as much as possible) and some days it feels better than others, but I can still feel a lot of stuff under my feet. I think not only are my feet toughing up, but I'm learning to ignore a lot of stuff as well. When you are use to perfectly flat cushioned surfaces, your body complains when it gets something totally different.

So my advice to you would be take it easy and enjoy the process of transitioning to a barefoot lifestyle.
 
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Several things...

1. At first your feet will be over sensitive due to the anaesthetic effect of footwear.
2. Your feet will be soft also.
3. You will step on things far too often that you'll learn later to avoid.
4. You will step heavily because you're used to the protective effect of shoes.

It's a quadruple edged nasty. Over time your feet will become much less sensitive, just like your hands are, and your soles will toughen up and callous and pad out, and you'll also begin to subconsciously scan where you're walking and avoid stones and other uncomfortable things and you'll also learn to step lighter regardless of your weight. It took me somewhere between 6-12 months of going everywhere barefoot before it became truly comfortable.

Not sure how much weight will affect this though. But the more weight you can lose the better i would presume. I'm only 115 at just under 5' 9" and stones can still hurt when i stand on them if i i'm being heavy footed.

One thing to remember is that you will slough off callous as you walk on harsh abrasive surfaces, so stay away from the really nasty stuff until your callouses have built up else they won't build up as you'll be wearing them off as soon as they're forming - a bit like those pumice stones people use on the hard skin on their feet. As soon as you feel any soreness put some soles on and take a break.

Good luck. It's well worth the initial suffering.
 
I started at 298 lbs, lost 105 lbs. in about 16 months and am now steadily gaining over the last two years in spite of staying active. I'm still way ahead of where I started. I've been barefoot most of that time and weight does matter. But lots of other things seem to matter more. The added weight seems to have more effect on ankles, knees and calf muscles than on feet. As Lorri pointed out, feet get tougher and less sensitive to hateful things in your path, and you'll get better at avoiding them; but stepping on a sharp pebble will still hurt. Feeling what's under my feet is part of what makes barefoot running work for me. I wouldn't want to lose too much sensation. Listen to your feet, don't overdo it, all of that advice that sounds cliche' but really isn't. Your feet won't have much to tell you if they're not bare. Form matters and getting a good form takes time and patience. Have fun with it!
 
I think Edgar Ortiz was way more than 300 pounds when he began running barefoot... It was diet and exercise that helped him lose 200 pounds.
http://barefootrunning.com/?p=3744

If you want to lose weight, you need to move your body. Start by walking (barefoot preferably - at least for a bit to help with technique). Build distance and speed gradually as you tune your technique. Each increase in speed will allow you a chance to fine-tune your technique.

Most important thing (besides building gradually) is to have fun, otherwise it's really difficult to get up and get moving.
 
Keep in mind that losing 50% of your weight can reduce impact by 50%.

But by changing technique, many people have reduced impact by 50% in one day (good luck losing 50% of your weight within a day).

According to Dr. Lieberman, good barefoot technique results in zero impact, just gentle loading. None of that sudden, shocking, jarring, jogging deceleration known as impact.

More info: http://how.barefootrunning.com
 
Thanks Ken and everyone!!

Eric's story is super inspirational! Thanks for sharing, and I'm glad to see that people have done it at 300+, and it can be done. The "Shut up and Barefoot" voice wins. :)

Also, I really appreciate you all taking the time to respond. It sounds like the weight itself is less the issue (but - will get better with time and weight loss) PROVIDED the foot landing is with proper form, and bent knees.

Interestingly - when I trained to run my half-marathon shod in 2014, I would have these moments where my cadence quickened, my knees bent, and I was just flying. It was so enjoyable, and I just felt alive. I contributed it to the 'Runner's High', but as I reflected back on it today driving around town - I think back on those moments, and they typically happened as I was heading down an ever so slight decline, and I was landing more forefoot, with bent knees and not reaching. I think I managed to tap into the barefoot style, just with shoes on.

It was exhilerating - so I'm excited to do it with my feet unshod. Thanks for the advice - and I look forward to being able to look back someday on this post 100+ pounds lighter.

Cheers,
Ben
 
i can't speak directly from experience seeing as i am horrifyingly skinny and have giant feet. however, i can attempt to indirectly commiserate as a fulltime barefooter who tries to run long distances (i.e., 50-mile races on grit and training on gravel and chip-n-seal). i have noticed a few things in my experience:

1) the skin on the bottom of your feet will change. for the first couple of months, almost everything would stick to my feet. but after a few months, you end up with qualitatively different skin which seems to shed the bits of sand and acorns and what not and very few things stick. and/or you get used to it. also, more important than the skin is the fat pad which will develop and allow you to accommodate fairly substantial intrusions into your foot without problems. which brings us to...

2) training your mind. i am not clever enough to be able to make mystical recommendations, so i will be more mundane. take your time and intentionally seek out terrifying terrain. then go super slow and just feel what is going on. close your eyes, even: that will teach you to land in the most robust, low-pressure way possible because you have no clue what you will land on with which part of your foot [hopefully not your heel :)]. when you first run and step on a tiny something you will stop and hop around and try not to say naughty words. but after a while, when you step on something, you will think to yourself "ouch", but will keep on going because you know that in 3 steps you will feel better. that is, by the time you stop to feel sorry for yourself, the problem will have resolved itself.

this has been especially important for me for wintertime running. i know the chip-n-seal stretches that i run on very well. thus, now that winter is upon me and my feet are colder and more sensitive, i can truthfully remind myself that i have run on those exact same rocks a zillion times before and they didn't hurt my feet. so as long as i run in the same way, i know that i am not getting hurt even if the sensations themselves are not entirely pleasant. and when i get home it is verified that no damage was done.

although you initially have to swallow your pride and go frustratingly slowly, it is well worth the investment. you will soon be able to tell the difference between "annoying" and "hmmm..., this is actually a problem. i should probably stop and check it out".

very few of us will ever actually be the fastest and earn that kind of respect. however, even fewer people are willing to take the time to learn to run barefoot on any surface presented to them. thus you will earn mostly, "who is that nutso out running on gravel without shoes? call the cops!" (i'm not kidding about police, so try to be mentally prepared since it is pretty jarring when they stop you for walking down the sidewalk...) but among the hardcore runners you will earn even more serious respect than if you were fast.

oh, and you'll have tons of fun and find yourself weaving all over the road trying to find the roughest parts because the smooth stuff is too boring!
 
You guys make me proud. I think the biggest thing is walk everywhere barefoot that you can. You'll get there. We'll be here.