Barefoot?...BAREFOOT?

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Chapter Presidents
May 13, 2010
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#1
After yesterday's 5K my wife and I were hanging out at the associated street fair talking to whoever had questions about BFRunning for us.
I'm chatting with someone thinking about transitioning due to foot pathology, when a group of runners walks by, looks at my feet, and one guy in Vibrams yells out "Did you run barefoot?" .........."yes"
"So did I! The ten mile!" and kept walking.
I highly doubt he raced ten miles barefoot and within 30 minutes of finishing put on Vibrams.
I explained to the people we were chatting with that the guy is probably calling running in Vibrams running "barefoot".
I may be wrong, but do any of you race ten miles barefoot and then put on Vibrams to walk back to the car through town on a 85 degree day?
I would assume flips or huarachis or barefoot or anything not as hot and confining as Vibrams.
Or was the guy claiming BF legitimately?
 
#4
I didn't really care, and the potential new convert was probably better off thinking the guy walking by DID run ten miles barefoot, but I figuired I'd better inform her of the confusion right from the start.
 
#5
last year i was in a public speaking class and gave a speech on bfr. this guy in there told me his friend runs in vff's and claimed to be bf. i told him that's not bf and he said he argues with his friend that he's not bf. he said his friend just doesn't really get it.

some people are slow and dense. you'd think that'd help them right?
 
#6
I can prove Vibrams is not barefoot.
There are people walking around at Disney parks all day in them and not being hassled.
 
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#8
But you ran in them, then did a few miles barefoot, and then ran again, right?
You did'nt do a long run barefoot and then put them on for walking I assume.
 
#9
It's an insider thing. If you listen to Cecil Taylor, it's a little annoying when someone who listens to Kenny G says they like jazz too, but as JT says, it's marketing and we're all potential dupes until we've been around the thing for a while. I bought Nike Frees two years ago thinking they were minimalist. I was just getting back into running and didn't want to add the extra challenge of doing it barefoot too. Dumb.
 
#10
I've had a couple people call running in Vibrams = barefoot and running with no shoes at all= barefoot barefoot. It probably began with whoever started calling minimilist shoes, barefoot shoes.
 
#11
I saw Billy Cobham doing a drum clinic at a Guitar Center store maybe ten years ago when one of our sons was "serious" about becoming a player.
Sure, he was sponsored by Yamaha, but in his opening remarks he really dissed "smoothe jazz", and said that it's such a shame that from now on younger people will call that stuff jazz without ever having heard the real thing.
I cheered, but my wife didn't understand what we were even talking about. (she had pre-sets in her car audio system for the smoooothe "jazz" station.
At least she "gets" the barefoot thing!
Jazz is jazz, smoothe jazz is easy listening utilizing instruments that sometimes were used in playing jazz.
If Bird had played a soprano sax would it sound anything like Kenny G?
 
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#12
Mike R said:
I've had a couple people call running in Vibrams = barefoot and running with no shoes at all= barefoot barefoot. It probably began with whoever started calling minimilist shoes, barefoot shoes.
Click to expand...
I've taken that up too, intended ironically, but maybe the irony is missed most of the time. Maybe we should just duplicate words when we intend to refer to their original sense/reference, like jazz-jazz (Miles Davis), or food-food (apples). So, I run barefoot-barefoot eat food-food and listen to jazz-jazz.
 
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#13
It's all semantics and really just depends on your perspective. If you think that running well, and staying healthy is the objective, who cares what you call the shoes or lack thereof. If you think it's about being barefoot, and running well, and staying healthy....then I suppose the semantics are more important. For me, I couldn't care less what people describe their shoes as. Did you have a good run? Awesome!
 
#15
Hawkbilly said:
It's all semantics and really just depends on your perspective. If you think that running well, and staying healthy is the objective, who cares what you call the shoes or lack thereof. If you think it's about being barefoot, and running well, and staying healthy....then I suppose the semantics are more important. For me, I couldn't care less what people describe their shoes as. Did you have a good run? Awesome!
Click to expand...
Yah, who cares about semantics? When I slow run, I walk, when I fast walk, I run. Most wars these days are peace-keeping. As long as you're talking, you're communicating :cool: .
I agree it's silly to get too caught up in these things, unless you're a semanticist, but if it's true that people who use barefoot shoes are unaware that 1) they need barefoot form to go along with them, and that 2) barefoot barefoot running might be the best/fastest way of achieving that form, and so 3) often get hurt as a consequence of this misunderstanding, then it might be worth arguing over. If there are no health consequences though, then ya, let the corporations do their marketing and buyer beware. The smooth jazz analogy wasn't perfect because there are no physical consequences to listening to it, although there may be mental health issues involved :) .
 
#16
When I started running "barefoot" I used vibrams. I never changed my style and was heel striking with no cushion and further injuring things I had hoped to improve with barefoot style. So technically it is not running barefoot, though I might say it is an attempt to use barefoot style running. Huraches are a much better choice for encouraging barefoot style, the discourage planting the heel. I still call myself a barefoot runner even though I cannot put all my miles in barefoot yet. I relish the time I can do without injury though and that love for running barefoot is what I think defines it.
 
#17
Bare Lee said:
I've taken that up too, intended ironically, but maybe the irony is missed most of the time. Maybe we should just duplicate words when we intend to refer to their original sense/reference, like jazz-jazz (Miles Davis), or food-food (apples). So, I run barefoot-barefoot eat food-food and listen to jazz-jazz.
Click to expand...

That reminds me of some comedian that had a bit about a "Date" vs. a "Date Date".

When I tell people that I run barefoot, and they go on thinking that I mean I run in VFF's, I clarify: "No, I run skin-to-ground". No room left for interpretation, there, I think.
 
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#19
Bare Lee said:
So, do you run skin-to-ground barefoot or with skin-to-ground shoes?
Click to expand...

I take a pair of stability control running shoes cut the soles off and just run with the uppers. Saves time and explanation whenever I want to walk into a store :D
 
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