Deep Thought

[Larry]

I was always concerned about someone seeing where I left my shoes and stealing them, thus stranding me far from home so I would ask different homeowners about leaving my shoes on their porches, hidden in their shrubs, etc. It became like a game to see how people who never met me before would react to this strange request. I did meet alot of nice people along my route though that remain friendly to this day! I think I also might be converting one of them to barefoot running.

Did you check the size of their feet before making your request? Possession is 9/10ths of the law, you know.

Good idea about leaving the shoes and running a loop - I'm occasionally taking my shoes off and running with them in my hand - don't know why I didn't think of this.

 

[scedastic]

I also didn't want to give up my mileage so I transitioned by starting my regular runs and somewhere along the way, leaving my shoes by the side of the road and running increasing distances in a loop back to my shoes, putting my shoes back on and finishing my run.

I was always concerned about someone seeing where I left my shoes and stealing them, thus stranding me far from home so I would ask different homeowners about leaving my shoes on their porches, hidden in their shrubs, etc. It became like a game to see how people who never met me before would react to this strange request. I did meet alot of nice people along my route though that remain friendly to this day! I think I also might be converting one of them to barefoot running.

Hah, I never even thought of asking permission to ditch my stuff. Out in the countryside, I do lots of out and backs. If I get too warm, or the road surface improves, I've been known to set all kinds of gear off to the side of the road/in trees/on trailsides, like extra top layers, shoes (huaraches? Who steals those???), jackets, extra mittens, anything I no longer feel like carrying or wearing. My biggest problem has been remembering where I stashed the stuff.
It also gave me a great retort this one time when I got asked "where are your shoes" I was ready with a very honest "about half mile up the road"

 

[Bare Lee]

That is a great point JT! That is probably a number one concern for long time shod runners, knowing they will have to cut back on mileage, speed, etc. Knowing that I wanted to start barefoot running, I looked at it as starting all over again like I never ran before. It was a new beginning running without shoes, so the thought of starting from zero was kind of fun and exciting.

I was lucky. I started barefoot running again when I was out of shape, but already had well-developed soles, because I'm a barefooter, so building up mileage slowly wasn't an issue--I had/have no choice!

 

[inakilt]

The other thing longtime shoddies are cursed with is expectations. It takes a good deal of self knowledge and discipline to dial back one's milage and speed as much as a BF reboot requires (for most people, anyway, BF Gentile)

This describes me to a "T". I started bfr over the summer and thought I could just pick up where I left off. Boy!, was I wrong. First of all, it took me some time to find surfaces that are suitable for a "beginning" barefooter, and then I am more deliberate (read slower) in how and where I put my feet. I just recently worked up to a barefoot 10K in under an hour, which, given my age and relative fitness level, was where I was (shod) a year and a half ago.

 

[JosephTree]

Good on you, Kevin. 56 is a great year to be BFR!

 

[inakilt]

Good on you, Kevin. 56 is a great year to be BFR!

Thanks JT. Just wish I'd started earlier

 

[spoonerweb]

I knew I had to start over, but didn't want to waste any more money on buying shoes. Trying to get back to a certain level did make it harder to get there since I kept pushing myself too much.

 

[ThomDavid]

I'm still new enough at barefoot running to agree w/ Jen's original (and deep, deep) thought, but I think that, in addition to shod-running years, there's something of an ego factor involved as well. It's hard for a person who's been running for decades, probably raced, maybe even won a few times, to come to the realization that they really don't know HOW to run. Of course I know how to run, they reason, been doing it for years (mostly grudgingly). Take off those shoes, though, and put sole to street and it quickly becomes apparent that there's precious little you can carry over from your shod experience. It's a whole new ballgame. The notion that running is not just something you do but a skill that you develop and acquire is humbling at the very least. Maybe it's just a male thing, I don't know. But I know that the few times I've talked about my own experiences with shoddy runners, as I secretly call them, the guys all seem to fall under the category of "why would I waste my time learning to do something that I already know how to do," while the females seem at least intrigued (maybe it's the nail polish).

And I agree also that 56 is a great year to be bf running!

 

[Mike R]

Good on you, Kevin. 56 is a great year to be BFR!

Yes it was! 57 is a great year also!
You're in good shape if your 10K time is lower than your age.

 

[JosephTree]

It's going to be an interesting "56" for me. Last yearear I took big bites out of my previous year's race time, as I went from 2nd to 3rd year of running. But last fall, the day before Sandy arrived here, I fell out of a tree onto my butt, and am only just now starting to feel whole and capable of maybe racing again. So, I'm just now getting up the nerve to sign up for a few of my schedule anchoring races. We'll see. (The pic I recently posted was of my last race, one week before I fell. In that 10K, my first BF at that distance, I ran 47:54, which pleased me. I could have run it faster in VFFs, but that was a peak BFR experience for me.)

 

[Longboard]

I turned 59 1/2 yesterday. It's the only 1/2 year birthday that has any significance legaly. Too bad I'm in no position to take advantage of it!
Can't wait til July though when I get to compete against the 60-64 year olds as the kid.

 

[JosephTree]

Lucky you, LB. 55-59 is a tough AG!