Hey runners! I was happy to join 30BaD until I saw this group… now I'm more happy! Its like giving a child not one, but two lollypops! Hahaha!
Ok, i will try to be fast but understandable, and sorry about my english!
I've been running for about.. all my life (non professional) but in barefoot just a few months.
What i want to know about you guys, its the transitions period. I injured two of my ligaments in the knee when i was 14 (now I'm 25), i broke them and i didn't want to make any surgery, so here i am, i feel pain on them.
What i understand about the transition its that should be for a long period of time (it depends in many facts), progressively more time in barefoot. So i started running 4k (2.5miles) the first week. I had muscle pain and i thought it was normal. So i continue increasing the distance. After a month, i was running 12k (7.5miles). I use to run 25k (15.5miles) so i said -ok, two months or three its ok for the transition. And that was the moment when i felt my ligaments again.
I was so worried, i felt like when i broke them. If someone of you guys knows which pain I'm talking about, you know its far from been a broken bone. You don't believe in any god when you break them!
I stopped running for a month and now, I'm thinking to run with 2 or 3 drop shoes for at least 6 months.
What are your thoughts, experiences or suggestions?
I need more info through internet, because were i live there are no barefoot runners, i swear I'm the only one! Hahaha
Thanks a lot! and have a great raw\vegan\barefoot day!
CHEERS!
Replies
Well i think your doing fantastic! 2.5 is great for starting, i ran like 2 when i was starting and i got massive blood blisters! I find that the easiest way to learn is to watch videos, so ill give you some that helped me :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSIDRHUWlVo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGNUV3h44kc
oh and the idea that you have to run fast is bringing you down! run at whatever speed you feel like, also don't be afraid that someone will look at you and be like hahaha he's running slowly, because they are you ;D
Zeus, it is great that you are trying barefoot running!!
Most of the "experts" that I have read suggest starting out VERY slowly. I know that is subjective, but that usually means less than a mile at first for probably longer than a month. How were your soles after running 12K?
I was never a runner prior to starting barefoot so it was very easy for me to go slow and pay attention to what my body was experiencing. Mostly for me, I needed to toughen my soles (even though I walked barefoot for years before running), and lengthen my calf muscles and achilles tendons.
For avid runners who want to transition, many will do some barefoot training and then finish their run shod so that they can go longer, all the while trying to do more barefoot miles and less shod ones. Just be careful of doing "too much, too soon".
If your ligaments hurt, back off, and let them heal. When you start up again, go slow and listen to them. You may need to adjust the way you are running (you cannot/do not run the same barefoot as you do in shoes). Sometimes when I am on the trail I will start feeling a pinch in one of my knees, if I check and adjust the way I am running the pinch goes away, if I don't it will get worse. It is similar to what we do with our diet--we are constantly seeing which foods work well for our bodies -- cut out the bad stuff and leave in the good stuff. For me, it is a fun experiment that is never-ending :)
I am also the only barefoot runner out on my trail. I used to be self-conscious about it but now that I have been doing it for almost three years, it just seems natural.
Good Luck with your journey!
Well, my soles after 12k, like almost every muscle underneath my hips, were hurting a lot :). Actually, that was the moment when i felt my ligaments.
Then i spend a bit more than a month without running and now I'm running with a very, very short drop difference.
So far, the muscles hurts, but everything seems to be right.
Im doing between 6 and 9k, around 4min50sec per km (because running in barefoot seems to make me run faster and i get tired faster when I'm running slower).
About walking in barefoot, do you walk in the same way? When i finish my training, i feel i shouldn't touch the ground first with the heel, but its quite hard, or at least weird, to do it with the front part.
Sorry about my english, and have a great HCLFrv day!