Why did I start running barefoot or with minimal shoes?

I consider myself a "late" adopter to barefoot or minimalist running. My journey to minimalist started at the Xterra World's in Hawaii last December when I first saw the Vibram FF's on a fellow runner. I personally thought the guy was nuts, he said they "changed" his running style, his form, and he could never go back. I listened but considered it a fad, and still a bit "out there". At the conclusion of the race I was in pretty rough shape, and for the first time I was having some serious knee and hip flexor pain, my recovery was "rougher" than normal. I attributed it to my age (45), the distance, and difficulty of the event in Hawaii, but later learned how wrong I was. Two months later I'm back on the trails in New Mexico and once again run into another Five Finger guy, he tells the same story, the change to his style, distance, comfort, and most important to me recovery. I start to think that this is something I should consider, at the conclusion of the race I really quiz the guy on the transition. He tells me the formula to success from his experience is 1 mile per day week 1 then back to shoes, 3 miles per day week 2 then back to shoes, then 6 and decide on the shoes. At this point I was a 6 miler per day runner. Anything more than that really was to hard on my "old knees". I thought what the heck why not try it.

In March I order my first set of VFF's. I began the transition, week 1 goes by, yah baby my calves are alive, week 2 goes by not so bad, week 3 - 6 milers and the shoes are now collecting dust in the closet. Since the transition I've only run "shod" twice, two very technical high backcountry runs.. My experience is simply this... I moved from 6 milers per day, to 8, to 10, to 16. My recovery time post marathon is about 1 day, no more hip or knee "issues". I now find myself removing the VFF's and running barefoot even in the cold snowy conditions here in Utah. I once again feel like a 20 yr old on the roads and trails.

Bottom line... Listen to your body, heed what it says, but don't give up. I started this journey to reduce pain and recovery time between running events. I'm now converted, and really subscribe to the natural approach to running.

Pain free, shoe free, and NikeFree.

Congratulations, and thank you for your post...

I still have a lot to learn... and I cann't take any risk as I need to coach

Last week, I ran 6,5km on track with some accelerations, and I have experienced 2 blisters on each foot, that I didn't feel because of the cold (almost freezing).... Maybe caused by the 10x100m speed drills???

Last Sunday, 66km trail in the forest with hills, and on icy ground... VFF was not an option... too slipery...

Need to test it on shorter distances first...

But I'm convinced that my VFF training helped me to finish this 66km race, even though I was not well prepared for the donwnhills...

Bernard