hello BRS, from northern california

[Garrett Dunn]

Im brand new to forums of any kind, and im regretting not choosing a cooler user name already, but I've never had a nickname so garrett's fine. I've been running barefoot/minimalist for 18 months now and love it. Started out in vff's but now only run in home made sandals, if anything. My running has not come without injury though in the last 6 months I have broke my heel and shattered my seismod(the little jelly bean size bone under the balls of your feet), at the same time, both are very painful especially on differt feet (i was wearing vff's). While at the end of a three months recovery, I read the great book Born to Run, and started running again (in sandals), and running alot (70 mile weeks) and was feeling great, until the TOFP. So now im at the end of a two month recovery from a stress fractured met. I would like to think a learned my lesson, but when I told my wife I was going to race the nor cal 10 mile this weekend BF, she gave me a look and it clearly was calling my a dumbass, she was right. I don't in any way blame barefooting for my injuries its just me being a dumbass. Still I would rather break some bones then deal with cronic knee and lower back pain I had during my shod running years.
I run on all surfaces. But have a real passion for rough singal track trails, the more intense the better. I do most of my miles on pavement though. The City of Redding literally has hunderds of miles of dedicated pedestrian trails and hurderds more planed. Its a great place to live if you love to run.
Anyway ive been lurking around the site for a couple of days and love it. Great info, good discussion, awsome stories, and even better people.

I have found my people.

 

[Abide]

Wow, welcome and stay safe

Wow, welcome and stay safe man.

 

[Barefooting Bob]

welcome the the few but proud

welcome the the few but proud to be barefoot masses.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I like the name Garrett,

I like the name Garrett, Garrett. But if you want to change it sometime, just let me know, and we'll make it happen.

Have you considered running purely barefooted? You might not injure yourself as often.

I used to live in Northern California, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. My landlord at the time lived in Redding. Don't you guys have all the beautiful redwood trees, those ginormous monsters you can drive through? Must be absolutely beautiful up there.

Welcome!

 

[Garrett Dunn]

Thanks for the welcome

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

@TJ. I'm not quite in the redwoods, Redding is at the north end of the Sacramento valley, im surrounded by four national forests, two national parks, and alot of BLM land(public land). They are all very diverse and beautiful lands and I'm truley lucky to be a runner in such an area.
Someone told me that Redding at times in the summer is the hottest place in the US, right up their with Phoenix AZ.
I started running purely barefoot after this recent recovery and it has slowed my roll, so to speak. Thanks

 

[Barefoot TJ]

It'll do that,

It'll do that, learning/beginning to run barefoot. It's fine though. You will build your distance back up, but more safely this time. Patience is key.

This is what I imagined. I would love to run here.

 

[Phil Hart]

Welcome to the crew,

Welcome to the crew, Garrett. This is a great place to compare stories and experiences, and a great source of well-experienced BFRers for advice and validation of your theories and experience. Enjoy, and I think TJ's right about truly BF being the best to start off; it forces you to learn and build good form into more muscle memory, which will keep you safer, less injured, and more aware of when you're doing TMTS.