My interest in running didn't really start until about 2002; however I had been running on and off since my days in the United States Army (1992-1995). During my years living in Massachusetts, I had been creeping up weight-wise to my all time high weight of 185 lbs. Now that doesn't sound like a lot, but my frame is small to medium and when I got out of the Army I was only about 150 lbs. This was a very comfortable weight for me and... Let's just say that I wasn't bulging over my waistband anywhere.
Now, I have always been somewhat interested in nutrition and fitness; since my high school days. I even pondered studying biology for a short time. The one thing that I couldn't seem to do consistently, however, was exercise. I mean... I would exercise on and off, but never really stuck to a routine. The "life-style" change that you always hear about as being necessary just wouldn't stick. My love of fast-food still remains today!
Sometime around 2002, I decided that I needed to get my weight gain under control. I had been steadily gaining pounds for many years. That is how it happens, right? Two to five pounds per year is hard to notice until the day you step on the scale and remember that you used to weigh 150. So then it began.
Pretty much instantly, I started losing weight. I reached a mile... then two... then three. I wasn't going for distance. I was training for speed. Three miles was my longest run for many years. I would shoot for a 7 minute pace (I know... not light speed or anything). During my lunch break, I would drive the eight miles home and knock out a couple miles. Some days I would run in the evening too. I was actually enjoying it for once in my life. Soon I began adding gadgets to my runs. This spiced things up and made me like it even more. Music player... check. LED lights (for evening runs)... check. And then, my beloved GARMIN... check. The Garmin was the greatest thing ever. It made me want to run... just so I could collect the data. I am an engineer, remember? Oh, I didn't mention that before now.
So, how did I discover barefoot running?
About October of 2009, I developed shin splints. The pain was intense and really made running unpleasant. This was the first time I had EVER had a problem running. I was miserable, but continued to run through the pain for weeks. It was simple because, typically, after the first mile or so... the pain subsided. It would return later in the day though and really started getting depressing. I started doing some research and concluded that since I had recently jumped my mileage up (abruptly) to 6 miles and then 8 miles; this was likely the main culprit behind my pain. At this point, I had never pondered that people were running around barefoot. I hadn't even pondered that my running form was flawed. I say this because I have always been a heel-to-toe runner. With all of the shoe advertisements talking about heel padding, I thought this was proper form. Boy was I ever WRONG.
One day I was out running with my son; whom I had been trying to get interested in running. He was clomping along basically landing, from my perspective, flat-footed. It didn't look comfortable or even natural to me. As it turns out, he had a very natural running gait... with shoes on.
So, I asked... how did I discover barefoot running?
In December 2009, my wife handed me the Parade (newspaper insert). It had an article about barefoot running and even mentioned the book Born to Run. I was intrigued. The article jarred a memory from a couple weeks before. One morning, I had been out running. At the beginning of my run, I was approaching another runner from behind. Usually I never bat an eye; however this guy... he wasn't wearing shoes. I thought he was nuts! The article was a short read and I was so interested that I started searching the internet for information. To my surprise, there were dozens of blogs about barefoot running and even a forum on the Runner's World website. One site stood out from the others. It belonged to Ken-Bob Saxton. Without going into a lot of detail, I will just state that the site was FULL of information about "how to" run barefoot. Besides those blogs and Ken-Bob's site, I discovered that there were different running techniques! Really? OK... so POSE running and CHI running both talk about fore-foot/mid-foot strike. (Yeah, I know... we don't like to call it a strike). I was hooked. I had to try this. To my surprise, the different foot landing felt extremely natural. It felt even better without shoes.
All of the sites that talk about barefoot running mention the rate at which a person should transition. SLOW was the key descriptor. I ignored this somewhat. I went out and ran a quarter mile barefoot. My feet were hot, but overall it was FUN. I started doing this over and over without more than a day between runs. Soon I was up to two miles within the first two weeks. Here in lies my mistake. TO MUCH TO SOON...
For the next seven weeks, I could barely walk without shoes. I had to wear cushioned shoes to work because my second metatarsal head was severely injured. Now, I never got diagnosed, but my internet searching abilities bordered on Jedi-like. I soon decided that I either had a stress fracture or capsulitis. I was leaning toward the capsulitis though... nobody likes broken bones. Did I mention I didn't run for like seven weeks? It was miserable. I thought I had really made a fatal mistake with regard to my running.
Nonetheless, I tried again and am now up to about 8 miles barefoot. There is more to this story, but this is enough for now. Relax and run people!
Now, I have always been somewhat interested in nutrition and fitness; since my high school days. I even pondered studying biology for a short time. The one thing that I couldn't seem to do consistently, however, was exercise. I mean... I would exercise on and off, but never really stuck to a routine. The "life-style" change that you always hear about as being necessary just wouldn't stick. My love of fast-food still remains today!
Sometime around 2002, I decided that I needed to get my weight gain under control. I had been steadily gaining pounds for many years. That is how it happens, right? Two to five pounds per year is hard to notice until the day you step on the scale and remember that you used to weigh 150. So then it began.
Pretty much instantly, I started losing weight. I reached a mile... then two... then three. I wasn't going for distance. I was training for speed. Three miles was my longest run for many years. I would shoot for a 7 minute pace (I know... not light speed or anything). During my lunch break, I would drive the eight miles home and knock out a couple miles. Some days I would run in the evening too. I was actually enjoying it for once in my life. Soon I began adding gadgets to my runs. This spiced things up and made me like it even more. Music player... check. LED lights (for evening runs)... check. And then, my beloved GARMIN... check. The Garmin was the greatest thing ever. It made me want to run... just so I could collect the data. I am an engineer, remember? Oh, I didn't mention that before now.
So, how did I discover barefoot running?
About October of 2009, I developed shin splints. The pain was intense and really made running unpleasant. This was the first time I had EVER had a problem running. I was miserable, but continued to run through the pain for weeks. It was simple because, typically, after the first mile or so... the pain subsided. It would return later in the day though and really started getting depressing. I started doing some research and concluded that since I had recently jumped my mileage up (abruptly) to 6 miles and then 8 miles; this was likely the main culprit behind my pain. At this point, I had never pondered that people were running around barefoot. I hadn't even pondered that my running form was flawed. I say this because I have always been a heel-to-toe runner. With all of the shoe advertisements talking about heel padding, I thought this was proper form. Boy was I ever WRONG.
One day I was out running with my son; whom I had been trying to get interested in running. He was clomping along basically landing, from my perspective, flat-footed. It didn't look comfortable or even natural to me. As it turns out, he had a very natural running gait... with shoes on.
So, I asked... how did I discover barefoot running?
In December 2009, my wife handed me the Parade (newspaper insert). It had an article about barefoot running and even mentioned the book Born to Run. I was intrigued. The article jarred a memory from a couple weeks before. One morning, I had been out running. At the beginning of my run, I was approaching another runner from behind. Usually I never bat an eye; however this guy... he wasn't wearing shoes. I thought he was nuts! The article was a short read and I was so interested that I started searching the internet for information. To my surprise, there were dozens of blogs about barefoot running and even a forum on the Runner's World website. One site stood out from the others. It belonged to Ken-Bob Saxton. Without going into a lot of detail, I will just state that the site was FULL of information about "how to" run barefoot. Besides those blogs and Ken-Bob's site, I discovered that there were different running techniques! Really? OK... so POSE running and CHI running both talk about fore-foot/mid-foot strike. (Yeah, I know... we don't like to call it a strike). I was hooked. I had to try this. To my surprise, the different foot landing felt extremely natural. It felt even better without shoes.
All of the sites that talk about barefoot running mention the rate at which a person should transition. SLOW was the key descriptor. I ignored this somewhat. I went out and ran a quarter mile barefoot. My feet were hot, but overall it was FUN. I started doing this over and over without more than a day between runs. Soon I was up to two miles within the first two weeks. Here in lies my mistake. TO MUCH TO SOON...
For the next seven weeks, I could barely walk without shoes. I had to wear cushioned shoes to work because my second metatarsal head was severely injured. Now, I never got diagnosed, but my internet searching abilities bordered on Jedi-like. I soon decided that I either had a stress fracture or capsulitis. I was leaning toward the capsulitis though... nobody likes broken bones. Did I mention I didn't run for like seven weeks? It was miserable. I thought I had really made a fatal mistake with regard to my running.
Nonetheless, I tried again and am now up to about 8 miles barefoot. There is more to this story, but this is enough for now. Relax and run people!
