Hello Vermonters!

Hello and welcome to the Vermont chapter of the Barefoot Runners Society! I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself so that you know who I am and will feel welcome here. My name is Joshua and I live in the northeast kingdom of Vermont. I have been married for almost 18 years, have three kids aged 21, 16, & 13. I also have two foster boys aged 18 months and 3 years. I am a retired A-EMT/Firefighter, currently in the process of completing my BA to pursue my Masters.

I have always loved sports and was very fit through my early 20’s until I had to have major surgery on my left arm due to trauma. After that surgery, I started putting on weight at a fast pace. Then in my early 30’s I decided to get to it and get some weight off. I went from 400 lbs to 310 with diet and exercise. I started running for a short time, fell in love with it, then started looking into the barefoot thing. I read “Born to Run” and then started on a journey of research. I started slow, which helped mitigate injury, then progressed to running about 3 miles a day. It was wonderful! I was full of life and excited for my athletic future. Then, I went into renal failure. After almost dying and spending almost a month in ICU and the floor below, I was released. I was put on chemotherapy and a huge dose of Prednisone for six months. And just like that, the weight came back. But thankfully, my kidney function returned to about 60% function, which is more than enough to lead a regular life.

The reason I am sharing all of this is so others who may be going through similar struggles, fear, discouragement, or doubting themselves with a big obstacle to overcome may find solace in this forum. Together, we can lift each other when life pushes us down and share in our love for running, bare footedness, and both mental and physical health.

Please feel free to reach out to me at any time.

Joshua

 

Thank you so much for the kind words! Sometimes a good scare can drastically change our attitude towards life. I can say now that I am thankful for what I have been through.