The "Transition": fact or fiction?

[Mike R]

I realized I had transitioned when I had a 4 mile trail run to do and decided to wear my old running shoes instead of going barefoot. By the end of the run, I had pinched some nerve in the top of my foot and had to take a week off of running. That's when I realized I couldn't run in running shoes anymore.

 

[spoonerweb]

So someone who runs 10 miles a week (all of it barefoot) is a barefoot runner, but someone who runs 50 miles a week (30 shod, 20 barefoot) isn't? That doesn't seem fair.

You run barefoot, but you are not a barefoot runner. You are a shod runner who likes to run barefoot once in a while. That isn't as bad as the vegetarians and vegans. At what point or how many of your meals have to be vegetarian or vegan before you can call yourself that?

 

[Sid]

That's when I realized I couldn't run in running shoes anymore.

Well, call me transitioned then. When doing yardwork, my feet won't even fit in my old running shoes unless I take out the insoles. I'm sure that if I tried to run in them, I'd wobble for a few steps, then tumble over like a toddler.

Then I can go to the doc and say, "See! Traditional shoes do cause injuries!"

 

[Barefoot Gentile]

You run barefoot, but you are not a barefoot runner. You are a shod runner who likes to run barefoot once in a while. That isn't as bad as the vegetarians and vegans. At what point or how many of your meals have to be vegetarian or vegan before you can call yourself that?

+1

 

[Barefooting Bob]

I consider myself a runner who has found that he prefers to run barefoot because it works for them.

It is my belief that you are forever transistioning to a new level, whether it be distance, speed, terrain, etc. There is a time and a place for shoes, I found this out this weekend, after running barefoot 18 miles on crazy trails and terrain at my first 100 miler, I put on my KSO's for a bit and then followed up with a pair of NB Minimus 110's for the traction. It was the first time I have worn 'shoes' for a extended period of time running ever. I never ran in standard shoes for more than a mile because I couldn't, my knees would just not allow me. But these minimalist shoes allowed me to run the fartherest I have ever gone at 60 plus miles, and have given me the hope that I can finish the ellusive 100 miler at Lost Soul next year, barring another sprinkler incident..

Don't get me wrong I will always run barefoot, because it something that I enjoy and I love to push the boundaries to see how far and what type of surface I can run on, but sometimes you have to use the shoes for what they are, TOOLS........

 

[flammee]

I realized I had transitioned when I had a 4 mile trail run to do and decided to wear my old running shoes instead of going barefoot. By the end of the run, I had pinched some nerve in the top of my foot and had to take a week off of running. That's when I realized I couldn't run in running shoes anymore.

I think you could run with shoes if you gradually transitioned into shoe running...

 

[Bare Lee]

So combining Mike R and Spoonerweb's insights, you've transitioned to a barefooter when, like a vegan who's become gastro-intolerate of animal products, you've become locomotion-intolerate of shoes.

Speaking of shoes, it's funny, but I bought some a few weeks ago when I mistakenly thought I had provoked a stress reaction in my left foot and could use a little cushioning while it heals. A day later I found out the real cure, and so I've been toying with ways to use my shoes on a run anyway, to get some value for the $90 I put out for no reason, but I just can't seem to leave the house for a run unless I'm barefoot.

 

[Bare Lee]

When you're heading out for a run and it doesn't even occur to you to grab some shoes.

By this criterion, I completed my transition on the first day!

 

[migangelo]

why worry about labeling yourself? i just tell people now "i'm a human being who loves to run and prefers to be bf".

don't worry. when people see you they will have plenty of labels to call you by.

 

[Bare Lee]

why worry about labeling yourself? i just tell people now "i'm a human being who loves to run and prefers to be bf".

don't worry. when people see you they will have plenty of labels to call you by.

My question was addressed more to self-perception/impression/experience. No worries.

 

[migangelo]

that is how i "try" to see myself now. i think it's funny we want to label everything and then we go and say someone is racist or discriminating for using those labels. we human beings are a funny breed.

 

[Bare Lee]

then we go and say someone is racist or discriminating for using those labels.

You can't exist linguistically without 'labels', but what you choose to label and what those labels mean to you says a lot about your perception of the world. A simple distinction is meaningless without a history of use.

 

[Zetti]

that is how i "try" to see myself now. i think it's funny we want to label everything and then we go and say someone is racist or discriminating for using those labels. we human beings are a funny breed.

Wait.....Mike is a human being.....I thought you were from Oregon????

 

[rickwhitelaw]

This is not directed at anyone, just my opinion (can we assume all posts are opinions so I don't have to open every post with this?)

I dislike labels, but it is inevitable that it will happen. Weather or not you choose to wait to label yourself, others will label you the minute you step out the door barefoot.

What I dislike even more is the criteria for which you earn a label. There shouldn't be a set number of miles or percentage of time that you spend barefoot to call yourself a barefoot runner. As far as I'm concerned, the minute you run a little barefoot, you are a barefoot runner. You can even barefoot on a treadmill or run in place indoors barefoot if you want. If there is criteria, then "runner" comes into question. What defines a runner. If you are above a certain pace you have to now call yourself a jogger or a fast walker? If I have been doing most of my runs at a very slow pace am I no longer a runner? This is such a small group anyway, we don't need to divide ourselves with criteria. Otherwise I will have to start the group "The Barefoot Joggers Society on Gravel at a 12 Minute Per Mile Pace Society" BFJonG@12mmPS, and that would just make too confusing of a t-shirt.

That being said, as mentioned above, there was a huge mental and physical transition for me when I decided to do most of my running without minshoes this year, so I do get a little preachy about going bare only in my recent posts. So I see the other side of the argument also.

 

[Bare Lee]

Right Rick, I never intended for this to be a discussion on who's barer than whom (not that I'm trying to control the ensuing thread line; I'm just trying to make sure my own intention/perspective is clear). I'm interested in how people feel about their own running, not other's. To reiterate:

Is there a point where you felt the 'transition' was over, and if so, how and when?

Was there a point at which you felt something to the effect of, "OK, now I'm a barefoot runner," and if so, how and when?

I'm just interested in other people's experiences, and expect many or most of them to be different from my own. I'm not interested in any kind of bfr gate-keeping or in dismissing other people's preferences or goals.

 

[Barefooting Bob]

Is there a point where you felt the 'transition' was over, and if so, how and when?
I believe there is a point when the transistion is over, when you are not concerned what over people say or think of you. You just run barefoot becasue you enjoy it.

Was there a point at which you felt something to the effect of, "OK, now I'm a barefoot runner," and if so, how and when?
I pretty much decided I was a 'barefoot runner', once I realized I could run on my terms and not someone elses. Basically, I could go out and run, have fun and run till I decided I wanted to stop and not be restricted by the knee aches, etc.

 

[barefootandagile]

I decided I was a barefoot runner when I got stung by a bee while running barefoot in the grass.

 

[migangelo]

what? i got stung walking in huaraches in grass. does that count?

 

[migangelo]

i live in Oregon, i'm from SoCal.

to answer the question. i honestly don't remember exactly when. it had to be after a year of running bf/min. when i was able to go bf more than min. now that winter is over i go mostly bf, occasionaly in huaraches.

like bob said. i no longer care to be labeled bf runner but just runner. one who can hopefully share the message of fun, free, proper form running.

 

[scedastic]

Foo-ee on all of you. I have considered myself a barefoot runner since last year, and i've never been hard core enough to do all my miles bf (cold, winter, snow, gravel rough stuff, just sometimes because I'll wear minimals-ish).
The first week I did ~14 mi pure bf. That was fun. and slow.
I've learned a LOT along the way. And still get tweaks and minor injuries. BUT I'm also doing way way more experimenting and pushing myself than I ever in my whole life would have thought about as a thickly shod recreational runner. So I refer to my days as a non-bfer as "when I used to run in thick thick padded shoes" vs. "now when I run....."
In other words, I think of myself as a runner now, a slow, but progressing, sometimes achy, often purely barefoot, sometimes not, always happy, runner. The before just seems like it was so not running in comparison. So instead of upgrading myself to bf runner bona fide, I down grade the past to "my cushioned thick shoe running days"