WTH?

ladycheshire5

ladycheshire5

Barefooters
Aug 16, 2011
91
1
8
#1
I'm not one to talk trash, unless I'm really familiar with you (you are my friend) and it's kidding and being a good sport, not meant maliciously. I know someone who is training for a Tough Mudder event. In talking with her about her training then coming home to discuss with my boyfriend, he and I are thinking of doing this event - possibly next year in summer (July 2012). I'm on facebook, I "liked" Tough Mudder a long time ago but posted to their wall tonight asking if it's ever done barefoot, is it even allowed? The response I got sorta took me by surprise (Tough Mudder's facebook page is public so anyone here can go there to view this so I assume it's OK for me to reproduce it here; copy/paste)...




Not sure where they get the idea that barefooters/minimal runners are trying to be "the sh*t"? And this all leads me to a serious question about if it is a good idea to attempt this barefoot? Has anyone here done this event barefoot or in minimal shoes before? My initial concern, aside from just recently wanting to run BF, was running in wet shoes and the inevitable blisters you would get. I wanted to do a Mud Run years ago also but was concerned about all that wet and didn't know what to do about it. Comments? Advice? Laura Barrettposted to[/u][/i]Tough Mudder
Do many complete this event barefoot? Is it allowed?



Like · · 2 hours ago ·
Privacy:[/u][/i] Levi Shaw not a good idea lol2 hours ago · LikeLaura Barrett why?2 hours ago · LikeLevi Shaw well I volunteered as a z
one leader last year on sat then sun worked with the emts and I tended to three people who did it barefooted and keep in mind these courses are outdoors usually in the country and theres alot of debris not counting here in tx cactus, briars and mesquite thorns2 hours ago · LikeEli Nicole Mattioda It's not allowed I believe from what the rules were for norCal. But you can wear vibram five finger shoes but nearly everyone wearing those were injured2 hours ago · LikeLevi Shaw Yeah i found alot of those shoes ditched on the course as well and everyone thought theyd be the sh*t but soon found out they wernt lolabout an hour ago · LikeMark as SpamEli Nicole Mattioda Best to get fitted for runnin shoes or trail running shoes!about an hour ago · Like[/list]
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#3
Interesting...so people threw

Interesting...so people threw off their shoes on the course??? I don't get it. Or did they just wear them till they got past the wet section and then put on some dry shoes? What sort of injuries?

My biggest pet peave about any sort of forum is the know it alls with no personal experience, but who know a guy who's sister's best friend's brother's college room mate heard about a guy who died from running without shoes!

I am, however, thinking, you're just gonna have to try it out. As sparse as fellow barefooters are in normal races, I think they will be less so in "Tough Mudder", "Warrior Dash", "Jail Break", "Mud Run", etc. If you can handle a trail run the distance of the event, I say go for it. Worst case, clip your VFFs to a belt or something for just in case.

I plan to do the Warrior Dash barefoot next year. Should be fun!

-Jonny
 
#4
It's really up to you to know

It's really up to you to know what your limitations are for any race you run, whether that be trail or road or shod or barefoot. Only you will know if you can do it. Ask yourself: Have you trained properly for the event, for the terrain, for the distance? If not, then get some trail running in before you run it in an organized event. Mokaman has been pre-running the Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run course here in Georgia several times now, preparing for the actual event. He knows the course. He knows what to expect at certain points along the way. He knows where the grass is, where the crossings are, where the gravel is, and how long in distance each is. If you can do the same, some of these events publish the courses, then I would recommend you do so. If not, then find some serious trails and give them a few runs until you feel confident that you can cover anything they throw at you. Is it doable? Of course. But you have to be ready to do it.

As to the static, just ignore crap like that. Listening to it will get you no where but take you backwards in your journey.

BTW, recently, the BRS was instrumental, along with our good buddy and co-founder Jason Robillard, in convincing Merrell and their sports management company to allow barefoot runners in their event and in their Barefoot Specific Division. Before that, they only allowed VFFs and Merrells in their Barefoot Specific Division, and they didn't allow barefoot runners on their course at all. Let's not squander this opportunity to prove that humans weren't born running on cushioning, cotton and rubber thrown in front of them mile-after-mile. We've been running on trails for millions of years. Should running in crap for the past 30-40 years reverse all that so quickly? Along with our feet, let's use our brain to answer that one.
 
#5
I've checked back and there

I've checked back and there are some people responding with intelligence. I just don't like the idea of BF being discarded and discredited with nothing to back that up - just because most people wear shoes (exactly where does "shod" come from?). Common sense is now speaking up, just like you are saying - you have to know if you can handle it, you have to properly prepare for it and many of those who were BF/VFF and injured didn't properly train for what they did.



Personally, I have no idea if I will be able to do this a year from now. I KNOW I cannot do it barefoot right at this moment. Every day I go out for my BF walk/jog at the one end of my route where I turn around the side walk ends and there is dirt, small pointy rocks, dried up weeds and little sticker balls... I walk out into that every time, slowly and carefully. I can handle most of it but still hit some of those small pointy rocks and it sucks. I hope that in time I can do it but right now I don't think so. Big rocks and uneven terrain aren't that bad, you scramble over it. I can run 11 miles... that isn't a problem, I completed a half marathon in June - in shoes though. My cardio is up to it I think it's getting acclimated to the barefoot condition is where I need help. I have the Merrell Pace Gloves too... for this reason. Right now, I don't know why but, I can totally see myself running strong BF for 13 miles on road (concrete/black top or even groomed dirt, grass or sand) but doing it on unfamiliar, unexpected "off road" I cannot envision. I want to though.



Aside from just preparing to do the event BF, there are a whole slew of other physical requirements too which I'll need to be working on. Scaling a 12' wall, not sure how that is done. And I'm not sure how you'd train for running through a electric field.
 
#6
Laura,barefootmetalman

Laura,

barefootmetalman (prez. of BRS-Kansas) just finished the Warrior Dash barefoot. Maybe he'll jump in here with his thoughts. It was the Warrior Dash in Tulsa, OK. I wasn't able to run it, but saw on Facebook that he did. I have run barefoot most of the area the Warrior Dash was held in. Some of it is pretty technical, but you can get through it if you really want to (or have to, which is usually where I wind up). Anyway, Warrior Dash doesn't say you can't run bf. But I agree that you should run in the general area of the race and see what it is like. I ran in a local mud run, but in the rules they say you had to run in shoes. So I ran in my VFFs. Check the rules, and do some practice runs, then make your decision whether or not to run bf. Remember, "footwear as tools" (or as required by "race law"). ;-)

Cheers!
 
#7
The thing about these mud

The thing about these mud runs is that it's more about the experience than the race, so if you have in mind just to finish it in whatever time it takes, you can tackle whatever walls you want. From everything I've seen, there are always people helping others through, around, and over whatever obstacles are out there. Trust me, they don't apply electricity to the fields though. ;-)
 
#8
From what I've been hearing

From what I've been hearing from people who've done the event, they do apply electricity... I watched a video and it was almost like those cascading christmas lights, a canopy of wires go arcoss the top the a bunch of strings hang down that are electrified. Some get shocked quite hard and some not so much. Unless everyone is making this up?



I can always run around it or crawl under it. ;)
 
#10
After reading through the

After reading through the definitive gross picture thread here, I'd be worried about a barefoot run in the mud- but only you know what you can handle.
 
#11
I enjoy running in mud (not

I enjoy running in mud (not that there's been much mud in Dallas this summer) and have considered one of these obstacle courses. It's the obstacles that are the issue for me right now, not the mud. Mud itself is great! Exactly the sort of fun that makes BFing what it is.
 
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