Hello from Los Angeles, CA

Hi All,

I started barefoot walking on my son's first school day, which about a 2 miles walk round trip. I plan to walk for another week before switching to running.

Any suggestions for newbie barefoot runner will be welcome.

Welcome! I was born in Hollyweird! Probably why I am the way I am.
 
Welcome to the family, Swire. We're glad you've joined us. Rule Number One, don't do Too Much Too Soon (TMTS). Why is that rule number one, you might ask? Because you'll hurt yourself and have to take time off to heal, only to return to start back over at Rule Number One. Start barefoot (BF), not in minimal shoes, on hard, smooth surfaces (concrete or asphalt work just fine if you don't have a track or similar surface available); BF will help you start off right by teaching you the right form. I'd suggest running 1/4 to 1/2 mile BF on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving the interim days for your feet and legs to adjust, adapt and consolidate the gains you're making slowly and steadily. As you feel better and get the hang of things, add a little distance at a time, and add one of the weekend days into the mix as well. Before you know it, you'll be running several miles BF, getting odd looks like the rest of us from passers-by.

And TJ - that little revelation does clear up a lot of questions I've been pondering.
 
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Speaking of Hollywood, my cousin lives in South Carolina. They have a safari park for retired "actor" animals there called Hollywild. Sweet. https://www.google.com/#q=hollywild
 
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If you've already got a good bit of sole conditioning (where they are somewhat leather-like and thicker), you may not need as much recovery time for them as those of us who came to this fresh out of shoes. You may also have a good head start on lengthening (actually just normalizing) your Achilles tendons as well as strengthening the muscles and connecting tissues in your feet.
 
Welcome! I'm a "neighbor" to the south in Orange County. Just go shoeless at home as much as possible, and your feet will slowly get stronger. I did a lot of hiking on local trails (are you near the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains?) to begin the shoeless transition; I still enjoy alternating barefoot hiking with trail running. Keep it fun . . . and go barefooting with your kids!
 
I have been running barefoot with my son (him with his school shoe) to school for 2 days now, and we both are having so much fun. I would like to run with him and train him for a 5k, do any of you know good ways for running with kids and get them ready for a 5k?

Thea my son is in the cub scout so we do a few camping per year, and our family like to go hiking near the Malibu Canyon.
 
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Swire typed:
"I have been running barefoot with my son (him with his school shoe) to school for 2 days now, and we both are having so much fun. I would like to run with him and train him for a 5k, do any of you know good ways for running with kids and get them ready for a 5k?"

I'm not a kid-running or any other sort of guru, but I'd suggest that running with him a mile to school every day would be excellent prep for any sort of 5k. You don't want to really race, just to have fun and finish gracefully, no? If you keep on with the weekly mileage as you are doing, and maybe throw in a few longer, confidence building runs before any scheduled event, you'll be just fine. With good quality, relatively long term building of stamina and muscle, 3 miles isn't that much of a stretch, especially when you throw in the adrenalin that a first race will bring you. When you actually get to the event you'll see that there will be people running and finishing who don't look like they're anything like ready to run.

Oh, and welcome! You get extra points in my reckoning for running with your boy. Good for you both!