Hi! I'm a homeschooling mama of 4 (ages 9mo - 6 yrs) who just started barefoot running. I used to run fairly prolifically in high school, but then I stopped for some reason (even I don't know why I stopped). I've recently found myself really missing running. I came across barefoot running while researching running shoes. Since I hate shoes as it is, it wasn't hard to convince me that I didn't actually need them to run. So, all that to say, I've been barefoot running for less than a week, and loving it so far. Though I'm still worried about stepping on goat heads...
The Goat Heads hurt, no doubt. I used to step on them all the time when I lived in Southern California out in the hills and the canyons, barefoot, of course.
Quote of the Day: I came across barefoot running while researching running shoes. LOVES IT!!!!
Watch the 8 feet ahead of you like a hawk. Welcome to the family, and enjoy; just take it slowly as you transition to BF running. It took me about 4 months to be able to run 5k regularly without any difficulty.
Yeah, I've been concentrating on going slow, though at first I felt kinda silly turning around at the stop sign down the street. My goal is to be able to run a 5k by the end of August, so it's sounds like I'm not being too ambitious, and if I have to wait a bit longer to do so, I'll live.
Don't worry about feeling silly doing u-turns to get your distance just right (I did that & still do sometimes) -sounds like you've got a good approach to me!
I started out with 0.25 mile, then bumped it up slowly to 0.5, taking 3 months to get up to 3 miles, just for reference from another person's experience. It may not take you that long.