I wish Ken Bob's book came out 1 year earlier ...

[Barefoot YOW]

I got a foot-o-graphed version of Ken Bob's book, Barefoot Running Step by Step, as a Christmas gift. There is a wealth of information in his book. It conveys a lot of the same information that can be found on barefootrunning.com only a little more concisely. I guess that means that the free advice on his website is as good as that in his book. I enjoyed sitting down and reading his book.

I've struggled a bit in my barefoot adventure, over the last 18 months. I've been plagued with minor injuries. (calf tighness, pulled calf muscle, hip tightness, tendonitis, etc..) I've tried ART and physio, just as I did when injuries popped up as a shod runner. I'm an experienced shod runner (10ks, 21.1ks, 42.2ks for 25 years), and now I really enjoy barefoot running. The sensory feedback is wonderful. I run in all weather, as the Winter barefoot Challenge can attest to.

The thing is that as I'm reading his book I'm getting these light bulb moments. I see the error of my ways. I've been going about this all wrong, and here is where:

1. I set my running expectations too high (completely based upon my shod running distances and times)

2. I've been avoiding gravel and running primarily on paved surfaces.

3. I have not listened to my body

4. I've concentrate on conditioning my feet not my mind

I know that I could run a marathon barefoot, but I want to be able to run in another 30 years. So how do I change:

1. Find gravel or the roughness trails so that I have to be aware of the feedback and learn to relax

2. Bend, Bend, & Bend my knees to relieve the stress on my calf muscles and reduce the touching down forces

3. Put my ego aside by concentrating on technique rather than mileage

I'm not sure how many of you are in the same boat, with minor injuries. According to Ken Bob, if there's any pain then it is time to review your running form because FORM is KING.

PS

I'm sure that Jason and other instructors of barefoot/minimalist running would give me the same advice. It's just that I thought running = pain. I had to expect pain in my running adventures, because that was normal. (all my shod running friends get hurt ... why not me while barefoot.)

I think I will take the advice of my barefoot friend Lou (in Peterboro). Stick to the gravel or trail less travelled.

 

[jldeleon]

I did was halfway through

I did was halfway through reading Ken Bob's book, when I went barefoot. Didn't finish it for awhile, and had similar lightbulb moments.

Luckily I was NOT a marathoner before. Though I had ran shod before, it was no more than a mile and a half. So I had no "need for speed." I think it is an unusually tough transition for formerly shod marathoners, in that respect. I have a marathoner friend who just transitioned to minimalist and I warned her about the "surprise speed decrease" -but also emphasized that running competitive marathons (minimalist or barefoot) has been done multiple times. I have another marathoner friend who flat out told me that no matter how much better minimalist or barefoot running may be for her body, she will not "compromise" her time, even though it would only be in transition.

I ran for a long time on smooth cement, then moved to rough nasty road, and then trails.

What caught my attention more was a part of the book about bending the knees, was where Ken Bob said to think about lifting your feet before they even touch the ground. So I focused on foot lifting, and not so much knee bending, and that worked better than when I had just been concentrating on knee bending - mainly because it decreased my push-off.

And yep, got on some evil gravel one day on purpose and it instantly knocked out the push-off and knocked in the knee-bend. Lol.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I have no advice for you,

I have no advice for you, YOW. I think you've thought this out pretty well. At least you've figured out, with Ken Bob's help, that it's time to re-evaluate.