Hi! (Oh yeah from Florida)

afultz16 · Jan 2, 2011

I just wandered over here from that "other site" and figured I'd say hello! I began my adventure into barefoot running about a week and a half ago, (well thats when i started running barefoot on purpose....*insert drunk story here*)

My past 3 runs have been 1 mile, with no pain or discomfort (ok my New Years Day run was painful and uncomfortable but that had nothing to do with my feet) I'll probably continue with 1 mile through the week then begin to slowly increase. The only soreness I've experienced at all has been in my calves and it's rather mild and is totally gone after my in between days.

I look forward to getting to know everyone and hope I can find some BFers in my area (Tampa/Brandon) to meet up with to run.

Barefoot TJ · Jan 3, 2011

Welcome!

Welcome!

Phil Hart · Jan 4, 2011

Welcome to the crew here,

Welcome to the crew here, Amanda.

tao.of.gemini · Jan 11, 2011

Welcome to the Jax area

Welcome to the Jax area Chapter... looking forward to meeting you at one of our next events.

anngunn65 · Mar 2, 2011

Hi-I'm new here. From South

Hi-

I'm new here. From South Florida. Long-time runner in my mid forties. After suffering a stress fracture in mid-November and after considering the benefits of bfr for a while, I purchased my first pair of Vibram Bikila's at the end of January. Have been working up my mileage VERY slowly.

Look forward to meeting other Barefoot Runners!

Ann

Phil Hart · Mar 3, 2011

Ann:From another long-time

Ann:

From another long-time runner in his mid-forties who experienced a stress fracture last fall, welcome. It sounds like you've got the right idea. Slow is good. Transitioning too fast (either in speed or distance) could earn you another stress fracture like it did me. And my word of caution from experience is to be careful in the VFFs; they can easily make you feel like you can do more than you safely are capable of. I still use mine, but to best learn muscle-memory-level good form, barefoot first is best. Your soles' comfort level are also a good indicator to keep you at a pace that allows the rest of your foot and lower leg structure to strengthen gradually as you adjust to this very different running style.

Enjoy, and stay uninjured by transitioning slowly and listening to the feedback your feet provide!

Phil

Warren Dickey · Mar 3, 2011

Amanda and Ann,Welcome to

Amanda and Ann,

Welcome to the BRS. I do much of my running run over in Valrico around the Bloomingdale Area just outside of Tampa. I started barefoot running in January of 2010. My last big run was the Goofy Challenge at Disney. Ran the half-marathon barefoot then the full marathon the next morning in Luna Sandals. Lately I've been hitting more trails as I prepare for a 50 Mile Trail Run I'm doing in April. As a training run I'll be doing the Trout Creek Trail Run 15K this coming Sunday. They also offer a 5K. I originally planned to do as much of it barefoot as possible but I recently picked up some Merrell Trail Gloves that I'm going to be trying out in preparation for my 50 miler.

Another place I run sometimes is the concrete sidewalk on Bayshore Blvd near downtown Tampa. That is a GREAT place to barefoot run. It's right on the Bay and between the sun and the cool breezes it's very pleasant. I work at MacDill Air Force Base and frequently stop either on the way to work or on the way home to get some barefoot running done.

Hopefully as you progress you'll find some great places to run barefoot around your area.

Stay Bare,

Warren