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>Should I just walk the driveway every day until it feels OK? Once I want to try running, does one suggest the dirt/gravel or paved roads? Also, we have some two-tracks in the woods behind us. How long, generally speaking, does the process take? Do your feet really communicate everything you need to know?
Stuart,
If you are currently wearing shoes indoors, you can start by going barefoot inside the house; no gravel, tree trunks, etc.
You can also drive barefoot or with minimal shoes to places nearby that may be more barefoot friendly than the land around your house.
Your first few walks on your gravel driveway may be as short as a few steps as your feet and proper walking form allows you to gradually walk farther and farther on what now you concider to be rough painful surfaces.
Do not go too far too soon. The process takes as long as needed. Each of us are different.
Have fun and relax! :o)
Mike R
Over 583 barefoot running miles since January 1, 2009.
Over 1473 barefoot running miles since June 5, 2007.
2009 goals:
1. Give more praise and glory to YHVH.
2. Run at least 800 barefoot miles during 2009.
3. Run at least 1 Half-Marathon race barefooted.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed. - Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
1Peter 4:8 More than anything, keep loving each other actively; because love covers many sins. (CJB)
James 5:20 you should know that whoever turns a sinner from his wandering path will save him from death and cover many sins. (CJB)
Isa 44:5 One will say, 'I belong to Adonai.' Another will be called by the name of Ya`akov. Yet another will write that he belongs to Adonai. and adopt the surname Isra'el." (CJB)
I belong to YHVH and I am now an adopted (grafted) family member of Isra'el!
From: Stuart <bythedeepwaters@...>
To: RunningBarefoot@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, July 5, 2009 3:22:39 PM
Subject: [RunningBarefoot] Advice for beginning barefooter?
Hey all,
Just curious to know what others think. I'm a 42-year-old shoe addict. I have been enamored by barefoot running for about ten years now but feel like I can only now finally begin my attempt with it in earnest. I recently read BORN TO RUN and even bought a pair of VFF's. But I have yet to really begin my barefoot adventure. (Oh, and my wife doesn't know I bought the VFF's...and it might be better if she doesn't for now...shhhh)
Briefly: I live out in the country. I am surrounded by farmland, with paved and dirt/gravel roads criss-crossing it. I'd love to have some advice on how to begin working up to jogging barefoot. I have NO GRASS anywhere near me. All wild vegetation around me is tough, weedy, clumps and the rest is domestic agricultural. Also, i live at the end of a long, dirt/gravel road. I wear sandals when i think of it, and my feet love that. There is very little automobile traffic out here as it is at the end of a
peninsula. I have tried going for short walks on all these surfaces and most hurt like hell. Even small pebbles under me hurt so bad I wince like mad. Just walking the driveway is an immense journey. Any suggestions? Do I just keep making short trips until it gets more tolerable? DOES IT get more tolerable? I assume it does, but wow...
I've read through some of the "beginner's" info at sites like runningbarefoot. org, but I notice that I have no grass anywhere near me and the nearest park is at least 6-8 miles away. Should I just walk the driveway every day until it feels OK? Once I want to try running, does one suggest the dirt/gravel or paved roads? Also, we have some two-tracks in the woods behind us. How long, generally speaking, does the process take? Do your feet really communicate everything you need to know?
Any other general advice is appreciated as well. Don't worry, I'll let the VFF cat out of the bag soon enough...(I just could
not resist them after trying them on--sad fact is, I had JUST bought a pair of Merrell hikers...). Any articles, books or anything else is appreciated.
Thank you so much!
Stuart
PS. I'm currently 40 pounds overweight. But I have run off and on in my life and ran two marathons in high school.
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