question about shod and unshod

[fireman10535]

Hey guys, gots a question for ya





I new to the minimalist thing, currently started out in VFFs, I am seriously thinking about taking them off and going barefoot. My question would be, as I also do this for weight loss and fitness, I would like to keep up my mileage. Am I going to hurt my progress toward barefooting by running shod to get my miles in? I'm thinking of keeping my bare runs to a mile or so, but I really to put in my 3-4 miles/ 3 days a week





Thanks

Scott

 

[Abide]

Hey Scott welcome!Read

Hey Scott welcome!

Read through this thread just to get an idea of what people thought in hindsight. It may help you figure out the best approach.

http://barefootrunners.org/forum-topic/what-do-you-wish-someone-had-told-you-when-you-started-out

 

[miker]

Scott, obviously until you

Scott, obviously until you can run the same distances, you won't get the same weight loss. There are many ways to get your soles used to the texture of the ground, but you want to take it slow and easy. You've spent a lot of years in shoes (45+ for me) and Rome wasn't built in a day (although it was, I believe, built by people in minimal footwear). But just keep at it, go barefoot when you can-where you can, and listen to the wisdom of many here (myself not included). Where in MO are you located? I'm in Tulsa, OK, but so far I've been either the only BF runner, or one of a very few in all my races in the last year.

 

[stomper]

what abide said. welcome!

what abide said. welcome!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

If you truly want to run

If you truly want to run barefoot, then you will need to make some sacrifices, one, your speed, and two, your distance. You will eventually get both back, and much more, but you have to be patience and willing to approach this the most sensible way possible, with your head. If you choose to transition from footwear to barefoot, versus going cold turkey, you will slow your progress down, there's not doubt about it. Just like in the link Abide shared, you will see that it is repeated over and over again.

Good luck and welcome!

 

[twinkletoes]

What TJ said......and Welcome

What TJ said......and Welcome from me too, who figured out the hard way that trying to get around the short-term sacrifice of time/distance just isn't worth it in the big picture! It has taken me months to admit that transitioning with minimal shoes intermittently to keep my distance runs just messed me up; though some people do it just fine. Happy running whatever strategy you choose!