Walker training program?

Dale Fiorillo

Barefooters
Jan 2, 2012
5
0
1
81
Kent, Wa
Would this be so bad? Start out in minimalist footwear and increase carefully, focusing on form, cadence, etc. I would be on smooth hard surfaces til I could go 4 hours, then I could do half marathons, walking in my vff's. Then, slowly add trail walks in minimalists, and barefoot walks on smooth. My goals are to walk a half marathon in 5 months, then in 5 more months either walk a half barefoot, or walk a whole marathon in minimalists. My heart rate is capped by my doc, so running will never be an option. I just love to do halfs all over the country! I really want to get started. Dale.
 
Interesting, Dale. For

Interesting, Dale. For walking, I really don't think you would need the shoes for anything except really uncomfortable conditions (same goes for running, in fact). Why do you think you need them at all?

I admire your perseverance! :)
 
Dale,As long you are happy

Dale,

As long you are happy and you are enjoying the protocol go for it. Seems certainly doable to me. If you find things aren't working out take an evaluation of protocol and modify.
 
You'll definitely have to

You'll definitely have to build up your plantar skin. Even for me, going barefoot over 6 months now, if I walk 45 minutes or so on rough chip/seal asphalt, my feet still get pretty tender. And that's less than 3 miles distance.
 
I have found that i get more

I have found that i get more abrasion from walking barefoot than running. It seems I push-off when I walk. I probably push-off when I run as well, but to a lesser degree I guess.
 
Corona0401 wrote:I have

Corona0401 said:
I have found that i get more abrasion from walking barefoot than running.

For me my left foot twists a little when walking which wears my skin down if I walk to far. I'm trying to learn not to do that twist, but it's near impossible for me to stop it.
 
The only time I've ever

The only time I've ever abraded the bottom of my feet significantly I was walking. Walk gently and self-consciously when you get out of those shoes.
 
When I saw the word "walker"

When I saw the word "walker" I was thinking with an elderly person walker, lol.

Well, I started with a plan similar to yours. However, I went barefoot during everyday stuff, every chance I got - which for me was at least 50% of each day. And when I did have to wear shoes, I wore men's slippers (which look like shoes unless you are looking really closely) because they were super close to barefoot. I even managed to get away with wearing black socks into stores. No one noticed cuz they were black and didn't really catch anyone's eye like my negative-white feet would have. Lol. And I drove barefoot - it felt freakish at first. A wide variety of input to your feet should help jump start your newfound sensory feedback from your foot to your brain, and vice versa.

In retrospect, I would have hiked barefoot on trails, in addition to pavement, a lot, to help build up my skin and muscles. Since the terrain of trails is so variable, it should really help build up your long-under/non-used muscles too. I also spent some time purposefully walking on some small and medium sized gravel as well, testing out my skin thickness before I took "the plunge".

I would also recommend doing any exercises or drills listed anywhere on this site, specifically for barefoot running/training, etc., that do not include actual running.
 
I will also add, that once I

I will also add, that once I started running barefoot, correct barefoot form came MUCH more automatically to me, than when I ran in minimalist shoes. I have to actually concentrate on my form pretty hard when I do wear my vibrams nowadays.
 
Wow, that's a lot to digest.

Wow, that's a lot to digest. Walking is all I can do, but I have pushed it to a 3:29 half in normal (?) shoes. The reason for the minimalists at all is safety on the crummy places I train on. I am expanding my barefoot time, just want to get off an the right foot, as it were. Dale.