New Barefoot running Mileage
2009 November 3 (15:27)
categories: Sensitivity, Tough Soles
Dear all,
I have been running for ~ 6 years & finished 10 marathons. After reading Born to run wanted to try running barefoot. Yesterday was my first barefoot run, ran 5 miles on a cement surface & definitely loved it. Could feel barely any leg lift , better turn over. Luckily no blisters but for being poked by a sharp stone.
like to know barefoot running plan:
- My base mileage is ~ 25 miles. what sort of a mileage plan is recommended for a new bare foot runner?
- can i mix bare foot running & running with shoes untill I switch over completely to barefoot running?
- I am in SF bay area, Any local bare foot running groups around here?
Thanks for the pointers
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Comment from Barefoot Ken Bob
Time 2009 November 3 Tue at 4:25 pm
Rajesh,
Did you start running shod at 25 miles a week, or build up to it gradually?
Actually, there’s a bit more to it than just “building up”. There is another, and probably more important, part, which is re-learning…
But, seriously, it looks like you already have some of the answers, hinted at in your post…
However, if you aren’t having any chronic pains and injuries running in shoes, you can continue to run in shoes, and just start out with some short bits, barefoot, which you should use to figure out, how much more you can improve your running technique.
Do not rush to match your current milage, and you may find you will be able to run further and faster, barefoot, much sooner.
Those who try to rush, often just repeat the same mistakes they make in shoes, and have to back-track a few times, before they GET it.
Think of an infant, first stepping out of the womb – well, an infant isn’t even ready to take step one for a while. And before they take their first steps, the spend a lot of time feeling and experiencing their environment, and discovering their feet, something sadly lacking from those whose feet have been imprisoned in shoes for most of their lives…
So, take the time, to let your feet experience a variety of terrains, for very short distance (even, just standing at first), so that your body learns to understand what your soles are trying to communicate to your brain – a connection that is, sadly blocked (or, at least, muffled), while wearing shoes.
Take advantage of this time, use it wisely, to re-learn, to listen to what your soles are ready for (rather than going by some mathematical model, which may not fit your individual tastes), and by the time – which will be much sooner, the less you rush it, you are running further and faster, you’ll more importantly be running BETTER, more gently, more gracefully, more efficiently, naturally!
When you can run over pokey stones, and realize they are pokey, without being horribly irritated, then you are ready to leave the temple… oh wait, that’s a different training program – oh well…
More info at RunningBarefoot.org, Beginning:
http://runningbarefoot.org/?page_id=455