Who are you descended from?

[nature runner]

Nyal wrote: I am descended

I am descended from the oldest WASPs, the originals, including one documented ancestor on the Mayflower. When beginning to study Scandinavian history years ago I got it in my head to see if I had any Nordic blood and so delved into the family's genealogy work (we are Mormon and Mormons are obsessed about this even more than jello and the Osmonds) and found we were also descended from nearly all the principle families of the New Amsterdam colonies as well. I eventually did find one Norwegian in the early 17th century who married one of these Dutchmen. That was it. Lame.

My ancestors originated from Northern Sweden, in the viking territory. My cousin has researched the family geneolgy for 25 yrs. She may be kidding but she said that Eric the Red was a descendant of ours. Can't never tell with her she is so goofy, and my name is Eric. My full name is a scandinavian name. I am not sure if that was intentional or what?

 

[dirtdemon77]

I'm the love child of

I'm the love child of barefoot Jason's barefoot university and his ultra marathon calander. While searching for an ultra to run last fall, I stumbled onto this crazy guy's website. Not only did he run ultra's, he does them barefoot!? When I grow up I wanna be just like Dad!

 

[BFWendyBird]

   I first learned about

I first learned about barefoot running when I saw Rick on the news (before NY I think) Started researching and ended up on Barefoot Ted's and KenBob's forums. Ted's was too busy, but BKB's was great and I learened a ton. Also listened to Born to Run on audio book (still need to get a hold of a hard copy

I love being barefoot and spent much of my childhood that way. One of the most heart breaking issues of developing rheumatoid arthritis was that I had to wear soft shoes all the time. It took a while to get the RA under control and desensitize my feet again, but it was well worth the battle!

 

[sole_foot]

+1  I think I stumbles across

+1 I think I stumbles across his first site the Ultra Marathon Store looking at the ultra calendar for races in the midwest. Not sure about wanting to do a 100 miler like LPJ yet but I have a 100K itch I think I need to scratch in 2011.

I'm the love child of barefoot Jason's barefoot university and his ultra marathon calander. While searching for an ultra to run last fall, I stumbled onto this crazy guy's website. Not only did he run ultra's, he does them barefoot!? When I grow up I wanna be just like Dad!

 

[blue]

 Born to Run started me

Born to Run started me seriously running (I had tried and injured myself the previous spring) and convinced me to go barefoot - no more hamstring injury/issue! I literally put that book down and went outside and ran 5 miles Tarahumara style.

 

[capmikee]

About ten years ago there was

About ten years ago there was a guy in my neighborhood who went everywhere barefoot, in all seasons. He was well known by the neighbors and I used to see him all the time but I never met him in person. Then jschwab told me about her discovery in 2004 and I thought that would be the way for me - I'm a cheapskate and I like sports where you don't have to buy equipment. Of course we have plenty of running paraphernalia now...

 

[Blind Boy]

My barefoot lineage starts on

My barefoot lineage starts on Runner's World. I've looked at other sites but it's been the main source for barefoot stuff so far. Now that everyone I knew over there is here there's little need to go back there though.

As for biological lineage, it's nothing special. I'm part Sami which isn't that uncommon over here. My great grandfather on my father's side used to have reindeer but decided to quit for some reason.

Nature runner, where in northern Sweden is your family from?

 

[Nyal]

 Sami as in Lapp? Like we

Sami as in Lapp? Like we have over here?

 

[Blind Boy]

Exactly, Nyal.

Exactly, Nyal.

 

[Greginator USAF]

 My first forays into the

My first forays into the arena of BFR were of my own imagining. This was many moons past and I had a thought that if I took away the support and cushion of my Nikes, I'd be forced to run with a gentler, more efficient stride, and that I could then translate that stride into my shod running. I only did it a few times, maybe 4 or 5, and it was only 1/4mi on the track each time, but it did give me better form in my shoes. But more importantly it opened my mind to the possibility of barefoot running.

The next stage of my barefoot transition was back at the Runners World forums. I know I'm not supposed to use the actual name of that place, but this was not the barefoot forum over there as it did not yet exist. This was on the Letters and Opinions board over there. In those days, the L&O was basically a mix of sarcasm, angst, tempers, and innuendo (oh, how I miss those days). One day someone posted a picture of the Vibram Five Fingers Sprint (in red) as a kinda, "What the hell are these? They look like toe socks dipped in tar!" but I was fascinated by them. At first I took issue with the $80 price tag, but then I found $65 worth of change that I forgot I had, and my rule is: "Any money you find or win should be spent frivolously on whatever catches your fancy." That meant I only needed to pony up an additional $15 to get my shoes. I ran in them about once a week off and on for a few years.

The final stage began when I had another flair up of IT band pain last spring. Some Google searching later and I noticed a statement about BFR being the magic bullet for chronic running injuries. I remembered when I was researching the VFFs that I'd come across the likes of Barefoot Ted, Barefoot Rick, Barefoot Ken Bob, etc. More searching led me to "the other forum." Some of the members over there (most notably Victor, but also TJ, Jason, and some others) got me all fired up to try the BFR thing for real.

So in some ways, I figured out BFR on my own. In another way it was the "legends" (Ted, Rick, Ken Bob) that inspired me. And in yet another way it was some of our local "legends" (Victor, Jason, TJ) that got me into this thing. So to answer the OP's question who am I descended from:

I guess it takes a village to raise a child.

 

[GeorgesRun]

(direct repost from...

(direct repost from... elsewhere... where the quesion was also posted)

- - - - - - - - - - - -

I stopped wearing shoes to stop being in pain, and then was given a copy of Born to Run. Until then, I had just assumed I had to choose between being barefoot or running. Now, with a rocky transition, I'm just starting to think I can have it all. I am so grateful to my brother for buying that book for me. (I think he bought it before he knew I'd stopped wearing shoes - the serendipity is mind-boggling.)

So, does that make it Christopher McDougall, my brother, Jon Stewart (where my brother found out about BTR), or the incessant pain that made me stop wearing shoes in the first place?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - But I like Greginator's answer best, and I'm glad to have found some other villagers!

 

[peacekaren]

Here's my BFR lineage...1)

Here's my BFR lineage...

1) In 2007 Surteg Sandhu, an Egoscue practioner, helped me recognize that my posture was badly misaligned.

2) The writings of Pete Egoscue helped me better analyze and improve my posture.

3) In May 2009 a post on the exercise forum at MyFoodDiary.com introduced me Vibram FiveFingers. I realized that shoes like that might help me with my on-going effort to improve my posture so immediatly went out and bought a pair. I never intended to become a runner. They were just for walking.

4) My second day in VFFs I tried a few running steps, just out of curiousity. I immediatly fell into a natural BFR form, even though I never heard or read anything about it. My feet taught me all I needed to know. It felt strange and I was sure I looked ridiculous, but it was exhilirating and I was hooked! I had never enjoyed running before (which is why I wasn't a runner) -- but this was FUN!

5) I immediatly started looking on-line for more info about running in VFFs and found a wealth of info at BF Ken Bob's web site.

6) After a few more days (and, as it turns out, way too many miles in VFFs) I had questions. I did a google search for an on-line BFR forum and found RWOL. The most common advice I received was to ditch the VFFs and go completely barefoot. I did, and I've never turned back!



Peace,

Karen

 

[inbetweenmytoes]

 Graham, Inov8 designer, was

Graham, Inov8 designer, was the one who put me onto the idea of 'letting feet do what they were designed to do.' He got me into a pair of light, off-road runners. A year later, Georgia Shaw of Vibram, gave me a pair of Flows. Two years later, I ran my first Marathon (shod). After finishing that 'bucket list' item I remember thinking that I should put a barefoot half marathon on the list. I really don't know where that idea came from, but it found a quiet little corner in my head and nestled in. That year, around Christmas, I picked up the inspiring tale of Born to Run. A scheme of wearing FiveFingers exclusively for a year hatched shortly after. While blogging about my experiences, I ran across Jason Robillard's sites and read his eBook, and he was the one that got me hooked up here.

More of a Barefoot Family Bush than a Tree, but there you have it... and the family keeps growing.