Comming full circle!

[Jonny00GT]

Well...it's been a year! May of 2011, TJ and SayPay got me to take off the Vibrams and listen to my feet after only a month of running and I'd say that pretty well changed my life, but you be the judge...

March 23rd, 2011, at 38yrs old, I bought my first pair of Vibrams as an overweight 260lb non-runner who ate like crap, couldn't sleep more than 6hrs without back pain, had no energy to play with my kids after work and hated how I felt and looked.

Today I'm a 218lb, Kilt wearing Barefoot Addict with more 5k, 10k and 15ks under my belt than I can count, a Barefoot Warrior Dash, a Vibram clad 12mi Tough Mudder(only race I've done in shoes since June 2011), 5 half-marathons in the last 6mo(3 of those in the rain...WTH!) and Saturday, I ran my 22mile long training run for my first Full Marathon coming up in San Diego, CA on June 3rd! I also sleep great, have tons of energy, eat healthy and I not only have the gas in the tank to play with the kids but my 7yr old daughter has run 1 practice 5k and 2 5k races with me and my 4yr old son has done a 50yd dash and a half mile fun run! It's also brought my wife and I closer together, doing all our long runs together. Vibrams let her run pain free, she's done most of the same races I have and is also about to do her first Full in San Diego...

Thank you, BFR!! You've changed my life!

-Jonny

Pics below: 240lb me at my first barefoot 5k June of 2011, feet after my 4th Barefoot run May of 2011, feet after my 18mi run 2 weeks ago and me at 218lbs after the Katy Trail 5k on Thursday May 10th.

 

[Rusinque]

Congrats!

 

[Zetti]

nice....cool to see the transition on more than one level

 

[NickW]

That's awesome Jonny! I wish I would lose weight like you are/have. You are definitely an inspiration. Also, in your 218 pic, you look like you are swimming in that shirt. Time to update the wardrobe to skinny you clothes?

 

[JosephTree]

A most impressive testimonial!
You're still not what I'd call a little fella. I think you should have no fear of fading away to skinny-ness in the near future.
Good for you and carry on!

 

[Barefoot_AK]

Very motivational post. Keep up the great work

 

[rickwhitelaw]

Great story Jonny. Keep us posted on how that marathon goes. I'll have to hit you up for advice. My first barefoot full will be in October.

 

[Zetti]

Great story Jonny. Keep us posted on how that marathon goes. I'll have to hit you up for advice. My first barefoot full will be in October.

Same here....very interested =)

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Wonderful news, Jonny. Been missing you and wondering if you had gone back to being a shoddie. Glad to know the opposite.

Question, do you think you would be experiencing the same success if you had continued on as a shod runner?

 

[BarefootGburg]

Nice work. Bravo.

 

[Hawkbilly]

Outstanding! Best of luck in the marathon.

 

[DNEchris]

Looks like you really are enjoying the journey

Congratulations!

 

[RunningPirate]

You are the wind beneath my wings, Jonny....so long as that wind doesn't blow up your Kilt, then we're cool

In all seriousness, good for you,man. I went from about 260 to my current 190 to 200, running was no small part of that (switched to BFR about ~6 weeks ago, so I'm now in the process of rebuilding my mileage).

How was the Tough Mudder? Is it just a longer Warrior Dash? Or is it that much harder?

Also, I do entertain the sport Kilt idea, but I don't have the....<ahem> let's just say I'm not yet brave enough to try the Kilt, just yet

RP

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Kahunas?

 

[JosephTree]

Oh, TJ...I think the word you're trying for is "cohones."
RunningPirate, I think the term you are looking for is "dashing sense of style and liberated tendency to self expression."

 

[Barefoot TJ]

My bad.

 

[Jonny00GT]

Thanks for all the responses, y'all!

Joseph - LOL! Very true! I think all the weight lifting I did in high school all the way up till about January on and off is not something that will fade away any time soon...if ever. I plan on Triathlons after the Full and knowing the way my body responds, I'm pretty sure I'm stuck with a Wolverine/Puck shape! ...as long as that ends up including 6 pack abs, I'll be cool with it. 185-195 is the end goal. That would be 10% or less body fat.

TJ, that's a tough one. I think I would probably be about in the same place if I had always stuck to Vibrams, just given that my wife is right there with me, but in conventional running shoes, hell no! Not even close! I struggled with 2 miles back then. I was a heel stricker with terrible form and with ACL surgery on the left knee, I have no doubt it would have taken me a lot longer to improve my form through trial and error rather than my barefeet or Vibram clad feet taking a lot if not all the guess work out. I'm sure I would have dealt with injuries in the conventional shoes, too. Even barefoot, my form has gone through at least 4 transitions with growning pains along the way and that has been a VERY accellerated learning curve!
Also, to be totally honest, I abhor following the masses. If I can find a different way to do things that others can't or choose not to because they find it challenging or difficult, I tend to lean that way. Point of fact...I've seen a barefooter or 2 in some of my races, but I've never seen one in a Kilt! Besides...my club was getting too use to just seeing the bare feet! Some day, it'll be JUST the kilt! Close as you can legally get to streekin!! Whoopwhoop!!

Pirate - That's awesome!! Any tips or tricks to get the last 20-30lbs off? Slowing down my running helped like crazy!! I lost the first 30lbs my first 4mo running cause I was natrually running at a comfortable conversational pace. Then I joined the running club and had to speed up. Spent the next 9mo gaining 5lbs back. Slowed back down in Feb and hit 218 the end of last month. I have also been on top of my diet and finding what makes me feel crappy and what makes my body feel better and stronger.

Marathon tips - I don't have anything profound, but here's what I've learned from my 15, 18 and 22 milers. My main focus was in finding what fuel worked best for me. I don't want to be a tough guy and gut it out at the end...I want to be dancing a jig across the finish line and celebrating!
-So far, one packet of plain UCAN and one packet of Hammer Meed in 20oz of water with 3 scoops of Hammer powder electrolytes 20-30min before and 3 times durring my 22 miler would have been ideal, but I only took enough for 2 durring the run, so the last 2 miles on just water were a little tough and I was nearing the bonk zone.
-Re my feet, I lotion and massage them the night before and loosen them up with a small rubber ball by rolling my feet accross it all directions. Dry tight feet for a long run, suck! (at least to me.) I also focused heavily on very soft light landings early on and making them feel natural, while also keeping good posture and relaxed shoulders. I can tell when I've been holding my shoulders up. This practice paid off and at mile 22, my feet were 100%, but my legs were tired. I can live with that. I keep an eye on the foot landing as I get tired. Pounding on my heels has made shorter runs painful in my ankles.
-What to wear, I put the water proof skin color tape on muh nips, glide on the outside of my pecks, wear Wal-Mart compression tights under my kilt (I know...dissapointing, but no one likes chaffing on Mr Happy!) and a drifit or similar shirt...one that's soft and smooth, not the ones that feel almost like mesh. I love the Amphipod belt with the 20oz low back bottle with a couple of flask holders on each side for Hammer Gel (just in case), but I'm thinking about the 2x20oz one so I can skip a couple extra water stops and only have to mix one up durring the race.
That's all I got. Try things and see what works. I also recomend a run or two without eating or drinking anything...take it with you, just in case, but know what it feels like to push through the rough spots before you hit the race. My last 2 half marathons, I went out way too fast and had to gut out the first one from about mile 7 and the last one from about mile 8, but the last one was my fastest avge pace and I found a "reserve power" stride that works for me.

Wow...sorry about the book. Hope it gives someone a good starting place they can refine to what works for them. I'll let y'all know how it serves me in the real deal after June 3rd!

The Tough Mudder was NOTHING like the Warrior Dash! I did the WD barefoot and giggled the whole way! The TM owned me hard! They save the hard stuff for the end, when you're good a tired and I didn't take any fuel with me. The Texas one was 12mi and 23 obstacles. They were no joke! The Warrior Dash was like Boy Scout camp stuff. The TM was what I would envision boot camp to be. Lot's of belly crawling, climbing over and hunder, fearing for your life, testing your endurance, freezing parts that should never be frozen and electro shock therepy twice! Needless to say, I'll probably be doing the one in Austin in October! LOL!! I must defeat it!

-Jonny

 

[RunningPirate]

Hi Jonny -

As for the last 20 to 30, I think the thing you might want to consider is what time frame you want to do that in. Generically speaking, I think a lot of us that try to lose weight want to do it within a certain timeframe, e.g. "I want to lose 30 lbs by my high school reunion" or "I want to look good the next time I see the ex, so she'll regret running off with that guy she met at the Jiffy Lube" or whatever... (did I overshare? ). Big scale, you have pretty much until you die to lose the rest. I'd say just look at your intake and make incremental changes. With me, the most recent 20 lbs was due to - hold on to your hat - quitting drinking. Now, I realize that's a rather extreme measure for some and that most folks would not want to do it (weight was one of my reasons, but I had others) and that's perfectly understandable, but that's what did it for me. All that said, if you keep running and stay on top of your diet, the weight will come off in time. Losing 1 to 2 lbs/month is not a sexy number, but that's up to 24 lbs in a year.

So the Tough Mudder is...well...tough...but did you enjoy it? (They ususally have one in the Bay Area, but I'm on the fence about signing up).

TJ - I think you might have inadvertenly offended the entire chain of Hawaiian islands with that one!

JosephTree - I like that phrase, but I don't think AC/DC could use it in a song: "Some 'dashing sense of style and liberated tendency to self expression' are held for charity and some for fancy dress/ but the ones held in pleasure are the ones that I like best" See? It just doesn't flow...

 

[Jonny00GT]

I don't really have a time frame, but any progress would be great. I don't drink, so that's out. I could tighten up on the cokes though. I'm a Pepper, but trying to kick the habbit! ;o) I've mostly cut out the candy, fast food and junk food as they make me feel sick anymore. I've been pretty lazy with the crosss training...I'm picking that up this week! I should be well aclimated by the marathon if I start now and I think it will help my endurance. I quit working out and lifting in January when I started my program. I was supposed to do some cross training, but it was supposed to be compound movements, light weights and high reps...not what I'm use to. I'll see if this stuff on bodyrock.tv helps. It kicked my butt last time and I only did it for 15min!

Yes, Tough Mudder is tough! Don't let them fool you! They say on the site that if you can run 5miles a couple times a week and you're in decent shape, you can do it...I call BS!!! If you haven't run at least a Half-Marathon, then you've never been this tired! It took our group 4hrs and we were muddy for pretty much 3hrs and 50min of that and it was more slipping and sliding than running. Yes, I would say it was fun! I did see a guy almost die in the electro shock therepy final obsticle when he got shocked in the head and knocked out in the mud. They had to shut it off and dig him out. Pretty scarry, but he was ok. It's really cool to see total strangers helping eachother over the obstacles. Really cool to bond with strangers!

-Jonny

 

[Bare Lee]

Awesome post, and great comments all around!