Hello from Wirral, UK

[Bob P]

Greetings one and all,

Thought I'd take a moment to say hello.

Brief bio - been running for just over 18 months. Took me a while to get going. Tried some run walk run training programs but never really enjoyed it as I never felt I was making progress. Promised myself I would run 3 miles without stopping before my wedding (July 2011), ran out of time, and did it the morning of the big day. Found it surprisingly easy and ditched run walk run for, well, run!

April this year did my first half marathon. Forest of Dean trails, plenty of hills. 2 hours 8 min, which I was pleased with.

This summer started experimenting with barefoot running. Started by wearing Vibrams, then read Barefoot Ken Bob's book and tried skin to tarmac. Loved it! Obviously though, cannot do the distances that I was used to running shod.

So my initial question is this; how can I increase my barefoot range whilst still clocking up some miles? Is it possible, or do I have to accept that I will need to go back to very short distances for a while?

There's a 10k in Wirral in about a month that I'd love to try barefoot. Obviously the aim would be to finish, rather than to beat any personal bests...

Thanks

Bob

 

[JosephTree]

Hey Bob, welcome aboard!

A modestly run 10K might not be out of your range. If you can run a 5K BF now and still be within your reasonable zone for slightly farther runs, extending to a 6 mile run shouldn't damage you.

Of course you will have to be the judge of whether you care to try it or not, but based on the reading I've done here and elsewhere over the last couple years, your goal doesn't raise too many red flags.

Fwiw, I'm just planning to run my first BF 10K this October 20. Heretofore I've run my races in VFFs, mostly because the courses I've run have been too long and/or too rough for me to think of running them BF. I also have a Half Marathon the first weekend of November on trails which I'll run in my VFFs, too. I don't believe in pushing the BF thing to far beyond comfort or good sense.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Welcome!

 

[migangelo]

bob,
as one of the resident smart asses i'm very conservative when it comes to running. forget the race until you're comfortable enough to run it bf. there will always be more races. do it in the vff if you must and can. as far as bf, just learn that on it's own.

 

[Phil Hart]

I'm with Mike on this issue. Take it slow and easy until you're sure you've got a couple successful months BF at the pace and distances you're interested in, then worry about races.

Oh yeah - we're glad you're here. Welcome to the crew.

 

[Bob P]

Thanks for the welcome and the guidance folks. To be honest, with life as busy as it is at the moment, I've not got out barefoot for a few weeks now :-(

Have people made the transition from shod to barefoot whilst still clocking up regular miles? Or is it easier to get rid of the shoes completely and start training from scratch?

 

[skedaddle]

Hi, from Wiltshire.

 

[Barefooting Bob]

Thanks for the welcome and the guidance folks. To be honest, with life as busy as it is at the moment, I've not got out barefoot for a few weeks now :-(

Have people made the transition from shod to barefoot whilst still clocking up regular miles? Or is it easier to get rid of the shoes completely and start training from scratch?

Welcome Bob, from another Bob.

Your question is a hard one to answer, everybody is a little different and everybody you talk to about it might give you a slightly different answer. I was lucky I was able to transistion to barefoot running fairly easily, as I was not a real runner before i ventured down this garden path. I can go between minimalist shoes and barefoot fairly easily without to much of a difference in form and being from Canada and our crazy winters that is very important.

Some will say drop the shoes entirely and start from scratch barefoot, it is the only way to go. For some this is true, but for others not so much. You have to find what works for you, I would suggest you try it out and see what works for you, but do not be disappointed if you find that the shoe/barefoot option does not work for you.

Good luck.

 

[Enso108]

Hey Bob
I started again from scratch I wasn't training for anything so I thought why not. My only advice is the usual take it easy, stick with it and if you get sore rest.
Best wishes
Gary in sunny Scotland.

 

[Twisty]

Welcome Bob,
Can't really add anything else to what all the guys have said, since I'm relitivley new to the game.
Just do what works for you!
Take care
Garry no.2 from (not so sunny the day) Scotland.

 

[Runningcat]

Another UK person here (Cornwall) so just thought I'd say hello and welcome.
I started off with small amounts of barefoot running (actual barefoot and some in barefoot shoes) in amongst my 'shod' runs and built up gradually from there so the total mileage I was doing wasn't affected significantly. Best advice though I think is, as has already been said, do what works for you. *
Good luck!

*Edit/afterthought: I think its important to do as much actual barefoot running as you can (although still with a gradual build up) I found this was the best thing to help me to improve my technique. (I started off by doing a few minutes at a time as part of a 'normal' run (i.e one with shoes on!) so didn't need to cut down on my total mileage.