Why do you run barefoot?

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Barefooters
May 13, 2010
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#1
I was asked this the other day and I honestly could not come up with a serious answer? I thought, it's fun, I hate shopping for shoes or it's free. Then I realized I don't know why I run barefoot?



I definitely prefer to be barefoot now. I run better barefoot. It helped me heal from ITBS. But none of these really are the reasons I run barefoot. They are the results. When I started reading about barefoot running did I really believe it would help my ITBS go away? Why didn't I just listen to conventional wisdom about fixing ITBS? Seriously why did I listen to the writings of an odd bearded barefoot runner over the professionals.



I think the reason I run barefoot is because there is no reason why I shouldn't. Not being able to run barefoot is a weakness in my book. Why would I care about how much I can deadlift but not how far my own body can travel?



So that is why I run barefoot, because I am supposed to.

Yes I am a dirty cross poster... and I need a prettier answer for an interview tomorrow :)
 
#2
I am in this same

I am in this same prediciment.. Come to think of it the reason I started was because it's fun and I wanted to try something more natural then shoes
 
#3
Because it's punk rock.

Because it's punk rock.
 
#4
I run barefoot because I run

I run barefoot because I run lighter, smoother, faster over distance but mostly because I enjoy it much more than I do running shod. Because I want to run barefoot for the rest of my life and I am in my mid 50s I run every other day for now. The days in between are brightened with glimpses in my mind's eye of tomorrow's run. I started because one day I was running on the beach in running sandals. One of the shoes came apart. I kicked off my shoes and started running barefoot and it was like having wings.



Barefoot Marc

...looking forward to running tomorrow
 
#5
I run barefoot because I

I run barefoot because I don't get shin pains now or knee problems and I just like the feeling of sensing the surfaces I'm running on. It's a great guessing game, will it be warm, cold, soft, hard, rough or smooth, all sensations that shoes would eliminate.

Or maybe I'm just too mean to buy running shoes
wink.png




Neil
 
#6
I started it out of injury

I started it out of injury and curiosity, and when I found that it helped, I kept it up because it's "weird". I'm one of "those" people who wants everyone to think I'm weird (even though I'm really not). But then again, I grew up in Florida (and still live there for now), so we're a bunch of barefooters all the time anyway. ;-)
 
#7
It's more fun.  But why? 

It's more fun. But why? That's hard to explain, but I think it comes down to the nerve endings in my feet. It just feels good. Back when I started in 2007, it was an experiment to see if it would help my knees. It only took one run to see that my knees felt better running barefoot. But I think it took months before I really started appreciating the physical sensations of running barefoot.

I can run in shoes if I have to, but why would I want to do that if I don't have to?
 
#8
Purely and simply because its

Purely and simply because its fun. Unlike alot of people here I really think I run better in my frees than I do in truly minimal shoes or barefoot. I can't run as far bf as I can in shoes, I can't run on as many surfaces bf as I can in shoes and I've had more injuries from TMTS bf than I ever had running shod (which was very nearly none).

I can run faster given very very good surfaces bf than I can shod, but honestly I don't care about speed in the least. I just really enjoy the barefoot running. I tend to do most of my "serious" morning running in my frees nowadays (oddly enough after I managed to fully transistion to all bf or minimal for a few months). Then at night I go out and do short speedy (for me) bf runs because they are fun and I like the feeling of the ground under my feet. Honestly I've started to look at running shod and running bf as two completely separate things. The former I do for fitness, endorphins ect... the second I do to clear my mind of the day, relax and feel connected to something.
 
#9
I found bfr when I was trying

I found bfr when I was trying to figure out how to engage my foot muscles (during a really nasty bout w/tendonitis). I read BTR and bought some "barefoot shoes". Then found the BRS and after listening to all you crazies I ran some bf. I continue to do it as much as I can, although I am a professed weather weenie (when it comes to cold). I "don't" always like to feel the ground, 'cause sometimes it freaking hurts! But I keep plugging along, because I think, long term, it is the best thing for my feet. And the more I learn about being bf, the happier I am that I have started down this road. And I am so glad I found you all to be on the road (or trail) with me! :)
 
#11
because it's fun. i never

because it's fun. i never liked running before. ok, i liked it when i got my vffs and i never thought that i would go bf. thank god i did because i love it.



Mike
 
#12
I runbarefoot because it's

I runbarefoot because it's real and because it means more to not just follow the masses (shod as they may be). I run because it empties me out.

I also run barefoot because one day I figure it will give me a nice ass.
 
#13
I run BF because I loves it

I run BF because I loves it and it's much easier than shod running.
 
#14
Sara,  as TJ says, we need

Sara,



as TJ says, we need pics. One before and many during until your happy. /sites/all/modules/smileys/packs/Roving/wink.png



Mike
 
#15
You know, it's funny -- I

You know, it's funny -- I first thought of running barefoot because I thought I might HAVE to - it shows more how fuly committed I was to being a running being than a barefoot being. After my second was born, I wanted to run (physically felt like I needed to run) and had never done it before, even as a kid. I had had alot of skin rashes from the chemicals in foam athletic shoes over the years so the first thing I did before I even started running was research alternatives to regular running shoes, which landed me on Barefoot So and So's website. I filed it in my brain under the category of "if I can't find shoes, I can always run barefoot". Eventually they discontinued my shoes and I never wanted to go through that again, so I transitioned. And it's fun. I am probably in the minority in that I just think I'm a regular runner - I don't think running barefoot or in minimalist shoes really separates me from the running community.
 
#16
Ah, no pics on the nice ass. 

Ah, no pics on the nice ass. Thanks.
 
#17
It is certainly more fun,

It is certainly more fun, lighter, and more free. But a huge thing for me is that it is the best. I've royally screwed up my knees my whole life and had surgery after surgery from injuries and got where I couldn't run. I was told not to anymore and I started looking at how much money it would cost to get enough technology in a shoe that I could run again and found.... barefoot. It's biomechanically correct, your body was Designed for it, it's more efficient, and I can run barefoot and have NO pain in my knees (where as if I tried to run in "corrective running shoes" I couldn't make it a 1/2 mile, my knees would ache, and would be swollent the size of basketballs for days!)
 
#18
  I am a barefooter by nature

I am a barefooter by nature (hence nature runner), and for me being barefoot all the time is just naturally comfortable. I have always been awkwardly unbalanced in running shoes, and about 5 years ago I started having ITBS issues in my right knee. I didn't run for a long time til I took up barefoot running by googling it out of curiosity. I figured I am already a barefooter, wonder if anyone runs barefoot? That is when I found you guys, first on bfr RR page and now here at BRS. I love just feeling the connection with the Earth beneath me, it eases my mind and puts me and keeps me in a sense of calmness being barefoot. I can't explain it, it's just a feel good type of thing ya know?
 
#19
Second Wind wrote:It is

Second Wind said:
It is certainly more fun, lighter, and more free. But a huge thing for me is that it is the best. I've royally screwed up my knees my whole life and had surgery after surgery from injuries and got where I couldn't run. I was told not to anymore and I started looking at how much money it would cost to get enough technology in a shoe that I could run again and found.... barefoot. It's biomechanically correct, your body was Designed for it, it's more efficient, and I can run barefoot and have NO pain in my knees (where as if I tried to run in "corrective running shoes" I couldn't make it a 1/2 mile, my knees would ache, and would be swollent the size of basketballs for days!)
Click to expand...

I second this, I also have done the knee surgery route (with number 8 completed last year), since I started running barefoot, I found that the stress and pain in my knees that usually follows a run have almost completely disappeared. I still have the occasional twinge, but in relation to what I used to go through, its like pricking your finger with a thorn, a irritant but not something to write home about. Plus running barefoot brings me in touch with the earth below me and allows me to take in and enjoy my surroundings.
 
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