Chad in northwest Tennessee

[chadisbarefoot]

Hello all! My name is Chad, and I'm a late-20's, former Army guy orignially from Kentucky now living in Tennessee. I have been walking/living/running barefoot on and off since 2001, but I didn't start running barefoot consistently until 2008 or so. I had basically given up on running a little more than a year after I got back from Iraq due to persistent back problems (bulging disk) resultant of carrying around 130lbs of gear 24/7 overseas. To make a long story short, running barefoot has allowed me to return to running. The same acivity that used to result in debilitating, shooting nerve pain and lingering soreness for days now is something I could scarcely live without.

I now run almost exclusively BF, but I occasionally run in Vibram FF Sprints, Mizuno flats (to avoid the ol' TMTS syndrome), or NB MT100s (trails). I have had a few setbacks in the past three years as I ramped up my BF running: top-of-foot pain, ITB issues, knee sprain (unrelated), etc., but I am still going. My max BF distance so far has been limited to under four miles as of yet and under eight miles in VFFs. I intend to run the Country Music Marathon next year, but I may have to settle for the half if I have any more setbacks. I will run about 20 miles this week and 25 next week. Training will ramp up from there.

Anyhow, that's me. Here's my running partner for your viewing pleasure:

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Very sweet, and precious baby

Very sweet, and precious baby in the background there. A future running buddy? Thanks for your service to our country, Chad!

 

[Phil Hart]

Chad - welcome from another

Chad - welcome from another Iraq veteran; I was in Saudi and Iraq with the 24th ID(M) the first time around in 1990/1991 (I'm about 15 years older than you). 9 years of Army life put some hard miles on my body as well, so there's a lot of similarity in our experience. I've got some of the same weight-carrying-induced spinal column compression problems. And my years of hard, heel-striking running since have added to that a basically cartilege-free, worn out right hip, all of which pushed me toward barefoot to be able to run again.

I'm from East Tennessee and have spent some time in Kentucky as well (basic at Ft. Knox). I just started running barefoot in earnest about a month ago and have similarly had good experience, although it's been a slower adaptation than I'd hoped for.

Thank you for serving, welcome home to Tennessee, and let me know if I can help you with anything.

 

[chadisbarefoot]

Thanks a ton, guys. I'm sorry

Thanks a ton, guys. I'm sorry I have not been back here to respond to your greetings until now, but I appreciate it.

TJ: The little guy in the background is Asher. He's 2 1/2 now (was 1 y/o in the pic), was born 12 weeks early, and has a genetic condition called CFC (cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome) that causes cognitive and motor delays. It is a dream of ours that he will be able to run with me one day because he has yet to crawl. But we are just happy that he's with us; he almost wasn't. BTW: We're picking up his first wheelchair on Thursday.

Phil: Adapting to bf running is apparently supposed to be ridiculously slow if you're doing it right. I've apparently done it wrong a few times, lol. It can be incredibly frustrating sometimes. And thank you for your service, too, brother.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

My heart goes out to you all,

My heart goes out to you all, Chad, and I hope and pray that precious baby will run with you too some day.

And here I complain about having Morton's Neuroma, when at least I can walk. Humility.