I found this site when I started running barefoot recently, and was worried about injuries and how quickly to transition, as I will explain below. It has been really helpful, so I will give a few details about how it has gone for me in the hope it will be of help to other people.
I am 55, but I have run barefoot before, but only on sand - I lived in CA for a while in my 20s and ran c. 8 - 10k / day on beach, that probably helped my running form in retrospect, I think I have been a natural mid/front foot striker since then. When I moved to London which was 30 years ago I pretty much gave up barefoot except for when on beach holidays. I have always run with New Balance shoes, pretty cushioned. My mileage has typically been 25 miles per week recently, but I once in a while train for a half and that takes it up a bit. I have never had any problems with injuries, except recently a bit of a sore knee sometimes.
In April this year I started training for a half in September, so I upped my mileage to 35/wk and heading for 40. At the same time, I read Chris McDougall's "Born to Run" (I'm sure a lot of people here that's how you started), and also Dan Liebermann's "Human Body". One day, I was near a field in the morning and I thought "why not", so I just did a half mile without shoes on the wet grass and that was it, I had to do more! I started gradually adding a bit more barefoot to my runs and I realised it was not difficult to find places where there were grassy fields and indeed even pavement is OK if its flat and not too rocky. So, off I went to potential injury land.......
Within a month I was going for 5 mi of my daily run barefoot. Interesting, no problems with blisters or soles of my feet, but I did choose easy surfaces. My "little niggle" came in my calfs - I assume a bit more front foot striking and a bit more spring action were the reason. It happened one day when I was on a pavement, so more spring in the calfs - sudden sharp cramp in one calf. Not a pull but definitely on the way.... So, I looked on the web and sure enough, other people had experienced the same, so I read around a bit, realised it was a bit foolish to try to go from 0 miles per week to 25 barefoot in a month, and put my shoes back on and started to transition more slowly. Now I'm doing about 35 miles per week and c. 1/3 of that is barefoot and no problems at all.
Things I have noticed (1) My form is better - I'm striking more front foot and I feel like I'm gliding my feet along; my cadence has gone up I think too to c. 180 (was c. 170) - this includes when wearing shoes (2) My knee has given me no problems at all since incorporating a bit of barefoot. (3) Training is much more interesting/fun when you can kick your shoes off for a while. I think my speed is improving more quickly than it has previously when I have trained, so I am hopeful of beating my (not very impressive - I am slow!) p.b. of 1.52 this time.
I haven't gone for the rubber shoe Vibrams etc., if the road is rocky or there is glass or trash or big stones then I keep my shoes on. So I am genuinely saving money running barefoot as my shoe consumption which was 3/year will certainly go down and not be replaced by rubber shoes that wear out presumably even faster.... And, it must be good for the environment in a little way (less landfill).
It certainly feels great to leave the shoes by a bench, anyone reading this and thinking about it, "go for it!" - just do go slowly and listen to what your body is saying, it can take a while particularly if you are older.
I have not found any fellow bare footers yet.
I'm also not sure how I will get on in the winter, when it is not so much the cold but the muddy conditions that might be tricky for a few months. I will keep people posted - for now, all is good!
I am 55, but I have run barefoot before, but only on sand - I lived in CA for a while in my 20s and ran c. 8 - 10k / day on beach, that probably helped my running form in retrospect, I think I have been a natural mid/front foot striker since then. When I moved to London which was 30 years ago I pretty much gave up barefoot except for when on beach holidays. I have always run with New Balance shoes, pretty cushioned. My mileage has typically been 25 miles per week recently, but I once in a while train for a half and that takes it up a bit. I have never had any problems with injuries, except recently a bit of a sore knee sometimes.
In April this year I started training for a half in September, so I upped my mileage to 35/wk and heading for 40. At the same time, I read Chris McDougall's "Born to Run" (I'm sure a lot of people here that's how you started), and also Dan Liebermann's "Human Body". One day, I was near a field in the morning and I thought "why not", so I just did a half mile without shoes on the wet grass and that was it, I had to do more! I started gradually adding a bit more barefoot to my runs and I realised it was not difficult to find places where there were grassy fields and indeed even pavement is OK if its flat and not too rocky. So, off I went to potential injury land.......
Within a month I was going for 5 mi of my daily run barefoot. Interesting, no problems with blisters or soles of my feet, but I did choose easy surfaces. My "little niggle" came in my calfs - I assume a bit more front foot striking and a bit more spring action were the reason. It happened one day when I was on a pavement, so more spring in the calfs - sudden sharp cramp in one calf. Not a pull but definitely on the way.... So, I looked on the web and sure enough, other people had experienced the same, so I read around a bit, realised it was a bit foolish to try to go from 0 miles per week to 25 barefoot in a month, and put my shoes back on and started to transition more slowly. Now I'm doing about 35 miles per week and c. 1/3 of that is barefoot and no problems at all.
Things I have noticed (1) My form is better - I'm striking more front foot and I feel like I'm gliding my feet along; my cadence has gone up I think too to c. 180 (was c. 170) - this includes when wearing shoes (2) My knee has given me no problems at all since incorporating a bit of barefoot. (3) Training is much more interesting/fun when you can kick your shoes off for a while. I think my speed is improving more quickly than it has previously when I have trained, so I am hopeful of beating my (not very impressive - I am slow!) p.b. of 1.52 this time.
I haven't gone for the rubber shoe Vibrams etc., if the road is rocky or there is glass or trash or big stones then I keep my shoes on. So I am genuinely saving money running barefoot as my shoe consumption which was 3/year will certainly go down and not be replaced by rubber shoes that wear out presumably even faster.... And, it must be good for the environment in a little way (less landfill).
It certainly feels great to leave the shoes by a bench, anyone reading this and thinking about it, "go for it!" - just do go slowly and listen to what your body is saying, it can take a while particularly if you are older.
I have not found any fellow bare footers yet.
I'm also not sure how I will get on in the winter, when it is not so much the cold but the muddy conditions that might be tricky for a few months. I will keep people posted - for now, all is good!
