how did you became a barefooter?

I was trying to find some sort of exercise I would actually do. A friend read about 100-ups and I read the article and found out the author wrote "Born to Run", so got that on CD from the library. McDougall makes running sound really fun and worthwhile, even though it always seemed like pounding to me when I was younger. He made it sound like one could learn how to do it without the pounding, so I got "Chi Running" and tried to do that, but my bad habits were way too ingrained, so I tried the barefoot thing. It was really fun! It felt like being a kid again! So I got hooked, overdid it, hurt myself with minimalist sandals, had to back way off, but kept walking barefoot and this last fall I got going running again and I'm trying not to overdo it. I've actually found a route that has a lot of gravel on purpose to try to help me with the pounding and overstriding and it seems to be working wonderfully! I can even run fast (I'm still out of shape, so this is relative) on gravel now!

All the best,
Scott

 

Conventional running shoes try to kill me. Well, not really, but it sure feels like it. My running form in the heavily padded, motion control, etc running shoes is so heavy on the heel striking and over-pronating (from not being able to feel the ground) that I end up with severe shin splints, ankle, knee, hip, back and shoulder pain - and that just trying to build up to a 5K distance...

I started researching alternatives and came across a number of articles for minimalist running, which I changed over to for about 2 years and very quickly "lost" all those previous running related injuries and not had a single recurrence. I found this site spring of last year (2014), ditched the shoes completely for running (only used them once since) and I spend a lot more time barefoot around the house and the yard.

I've never been much of a runner, but I find I enjoy it far more barefoot and have been maintaining 5K distances several times a week, even when stuck on a treadmill due to weather conditions.

 

I've been running half-marathon with shoes during 3 years
tried the vibram five fingers because I was looking for solutions for my ankle and knee problems,
but didnt like them,
then I discovered Ken Bob Saxton book, thought "this really makes sense !"
and tried,
one year after reading the book I ran another half-marathon, 16 minutes faster than my fastest one (1h42 to 1h26 in only twelve months),
never had injuries since I read the book, but one piece of glass once.

 

I took a break of about 27 years after running a 3:18 marathon in 1984. My feet and knees were so hurt I thought I was done running for good. Then I read BTR (Born to Run) in 2010 and, as mentioned above, thought it sounded so fun and reasonable, I had to give it a try. Everything worked just fine for me. I was transitioning from "couch" and hadn't any bad habits or expectations to lead me into trouble.

Since then I've had the occasional tweaks and aches and pains but no real injuries at all - not bad for more than 5 years of running.

BTW- I'm looking for my 3rd pair of Vibrams. My first pair are worn to flimsy shades of their original glory and are still quite useable. If anybody has a pair of Spyridons, any color or style, in size 42 that they don't care for....I see new ones on Ebay for about $60 or $65,but just haven't gotten up the nerve to spring for them...

Never mind! I just bought a new pair for $49 and free shipping! Ebay is the bomb!

 

How? I took off my shoes.
Why? Shoes are expensive.

 

Hated running -I was a cyclist.Then one night after way too many Dark'nStormy drinks agreed to run the International 10K (held in BDA every year) with a buddy's girlfriend. She got the flu and didn't run on the day! I enjoyed the race and after that continued running. Eventually ended up with knees, hips and ankles hurting. Borrowed Barefoot Runing by Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee and was intrigued by what Iread. Started barefoot running. This was about 4 years ago.

 

I read a newspaper article about Born to Run - way back when it was first published. I tried it and loved it. I ran a lot for a while. Then life got in the way, along with a lot of other lame excuses. I have gone bare or minimalist all I can ever since. I'm trying to get back to running now - not good timing for someone living in northern Michigan.

 

I started running at 20 years old, all runs were short distances. 8 years ago I ran my first half marathon and got hooked running longer distances and started to take running a bit more serious. I wanted to start going minimal with my footwear, I started looking at racing flats, then discovered the "barefoot running" forum on Runnersworld.com and that pretty much sealed the deal to start running barefoot. I didn't know about "minimal" footwear so went straight from traditional footwear to running barefoot.

 

Short answer, got sick of being a crippled shoddy!

 

I like feeling the varied surfaces.
And my feet get hot in shoes.
And socks feel awful unless it's really cold out.
Plus I feel more agile/balanced/stable barefooted.

 

Read born to run, which got me inspired at running. And I still am inspired. First I tried chirunning, it was pretty hard. Then came the spring and I tried barefooting and found it pretty easy. That was good summer of barefoot running. Well, winter came and I have not been so full time barefoot since then. I have bought and tried over 50 pairs of minimalist shoes and sandals and I got to say that most of them suck somehow. A few fivefingers are good, so I run with them. I started trail running and got few nasty cuts to sole so I kinda wimped out of full time barefooting, but I do it still occasionally. If I would get some nasty cut to my sole, it would definitely ruin that one run. I just don't want any single one of my runs to get ruined, kinda feels like one run is just too valuable to risk. That's also why I usually sell shoes if they feel bad at the first run - I don't want them to ruin any other run. I have many times tried to give second chance for a bad shoes, put them on, but just before I open the door I tend to think about how bad they felt the last time and swap them to some more reliable shoe and then have that nice run...

 

I bought a pair of KSO Treks for walking. They weren't so great for running, so I bought some Bikilas. I tripped twice in them, and ditched them. The rest is history.

 

I was recovering from tendonitis. I decided to try a short run on my treadmill in the basement, but when I got there I realized I had left my shoes out in the garage, so I tried bare feet and liked it.

 

The husband was researching for his plantar fasciitis. I had started having trouble with ITB pain. He saw that barefoot running might help both and suggested I try it. I did it right away and was in heaven! Tried minimalist some, because I was not aware of how much my feet would adapt and how the surfaces would help me train. Now, I barefoot almost all the time and wonder how I missed this earlier in life!

 

Being bare foot probably goes way back to my youth in NYC. There, I explored the sensations of putting my toes and feet into mud puddles and slushy snow. But conforming to convention (especially in the City) required that I wear shoes in "normal" life.

Skip forward to present times, as a long time resident of Oakland CA, I saw a neighbor with VFF shoes one day, several years ago, and I thought "how cool!" So I got a pair of my own and started wearing them to the gym and sometimes wore them instead of sneakers for informal situations. Occasionally, I slipped them off at the gym and exercised barefoot and really enjoyed the experience.

One day, early last year, I saw a couple at the farmers market who were both barefoot and again I thought "how cool!" Then on Labor Day last year, I decided to try walking and jogging around my neighborhood bare foot. Again, I liked it a lot though the first months involved blisters, soreness, stares, and quizzical queries about my new and unusual practice.

Whereas athletics were never a big part of my life and in fact jogging and running were at the bottom of my list of exercise activities, bare foot running has become my favorite, at least during the past few months. Instead of knee pain or other discomfort after a short jog, not to mention the utter boredom to me, barefoot running is fun. As others have noted, I really do notice the changing earth and ground I am on and it's wonderful. Walking around barefoot has also been fun though I am not sure I will adopt it as a way of life. However, I will go bare foot when the felling hits me now that I have less inhibitions for barefooting! LOL. Finding BRS has helped my transition to bare footing tremendously.

 

my knees hurt and I happened to borrow "Born to Run" from a friend and then things just went from there...

 

I think it is a bit of 'try something different' and also the fact I could not find a shoe that would fit me well.

I started with VFF, got injured very quickly, got rid of them and started from scratch completely barefoot....

I now run most of the time barefoot, but I am considering buying a pair of Luna

 

I have met friendly barefooters in marathoners and met Barefoot Rick Roeber during the Kansas City Marathon a couple years back and he encouraged me to stop playing around with minimalist shoes and just go barefoot & learn to run correctly.

 

yes,
I started running cause of a depression
when I heard about barefoot running, I immediately knew this was going help even more