WHY DO I DO IT?!?!?!

[Barefoot TJ]

Yes, some of us have to take

Yes, some of us have to take a beating in order to save others. That's the way it's been throughout time, and sadly, that's the way it will always be.

What would be helpful is if those who were "saved" would come to the defense of those being bashed and confront the attackers.

Sorry, watching Kung Fu Panda 2 and getting a little philosophical. ;-)

 

[Chaserwilliams]

F' RW!!! Lol!I stopped

F' RW!!! Lol!

I stopped lurking awhile back. Its pointless since I can't post, plus its just boring now... And if theres nothing entertaining and I can't help out newbs, why waste my time? Yes, there are a number of people that I miss from there, but most of them have followed, err.. Moved over here, which is great!!!

 

[talonraid]

Chaserwilliams wrote:F' RW!!!

F' RW!!! Lol! I stopped lurking awhile back. Its pointless since I can't post, plus its just boring now... And if theres nothing entertaining and I can't help out newbs, why waste my time? Yes, there are a number of people that I miss from there, but most of them have followed, err.. Moved over here, which is great!!!

Dude...I'm gonna put on my serious hat for just one minute.

I think I was more pissed off about you being banned from RW than you were. I long ago gave up on reposting the same messages to answer the new folks there. It seemed like anytime a barefoot runner suggested new folks take of their shoes, start slowly, point to the stickies about "guidelines" etc., the more we would get attacked by others there about being zealots....baffling. I had this discussion several times with some of the "others" about why they were suprised and offended that a skin to ground barefoot runner would suggest running barefoot in a barefoot forum....

Anyway, you...ChaserWilliams were continuing to offer advice, encouragement and personal experiences long after I had given up on doing anything other than just trying to offer some comedic relief and spar with buddies over boobs, beer and national origins. With that being said I am still not over your banishment. The biggest travesty is the disappearance of all the good advice, stories, etc. that disappeared when you left. Every time a barefoot runner gets "banned" from the place it removes those comments forever and just leaves more and more shoe discussions.

OK, propeller beanie is back in place. Chaser....Go "eff" yourself! If you remember this is the comment that earned me a week off from RW.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Knowing how I worked my ass

Knowing how I worked my ass off establishing that "other place" as a BAREFOOT RUNNING forum, it both sickens me and saddens me that the blind are now leading the blind, as all the seeing eye dogs have been forced out or ran away from home.

As long as we ignore the distinction between bare feet and "barefoot shoes," we're going to continue to have (perhaps the majority) of minshoe runners talking shoes in the barefoot running forum and thinking it's perfectly "natural" to do so.

Some of our best debates "over there" came from the simple question "Should we rename the Barefoot Runners Forum to the Minimalist Running Forum?" Time and time again, even the minimalist runners would say, "No. Keep it the BFR Forum." Perhaps it's time for another poll. Or perhaps it's even time to just shut it down; after all, why would they possibly need TWO Shoe forums?

 

[talonraid]

Barefoot TJ wrote:Knowing

Knowing how I worked my ass off establishing that "other place" as a BAREFOOT RUNNING forum, it both sickens me and saddens me that the blind are now leading the blind, as all the seeing eye dogs have been forced out or ran away from home.

As long as we ignore the distinction between bare feet and "barefoot shoes," we're going to continue to have (perhaps the majority) of minshoe runners talking shoes in the barefoot running forum and thinking it's perfectly "natural" to do so.

Some of our best debates "over there" came from the simple question "Should we rename the Barefoot Runners Forum to the Minimalist Running Forum?" Time and time again, even the minimalist runners would say, "No. Keep it the BFR Forum." Perhaps it's time for another poll. Or perhaps it's even time to just shut it down; after all, why would they possibly need TWO Shoe forums?

TJ,

First, thanks for your work not only in RW, but also here. I don't participate as much as I used to on either forum, but I do appreciate the fact that there is a place where I can come to ask questions when I run into a new hurdle or just to read up on various opinions and discussions about barefoot running.

Concerning the RW board being split into BF and another for MR or whatever. I saw that topic come up every few months and I don't know if it will ever end. There was a time when I thought it should be BF in one area and MR in another and fought to make it that way and was branded a zealot. I found this sort of funny since I had no problem with shod runners, but by my Aggie reasoning...wearing anything on your feet is not barefoot despite what the shoe box says. Hell, I even run in shoes sometimes if the situation requires it...I just don't usually talk about it in a BF forum.

A few others who are present here and RW (and well respected in the running community) made good arguments for keeping BF & MR in one place and I changed my ways to support the idea that BF and MR go hand in hand, foot in foot....or hoof in hoof in PilotRunner's case. Anyway, I think that may have been a HUGE tactical error. It appears to me now that skin to ground barefooters are being displaced slowly and efficiently in the RW forum. Maybe that's the ultimate plan, who knows? Regardless it's not much fun to go there and try to answer questions about BFR only to be knocked around for promoting, well, um...barefoot running.

Wow. That's another book written by your's truly. At least some of my nemesis will not take the time to read it because it's too long.

Again, thanks TJ.

 

[talonraid]

Ahhh, crap!  Before I get

Ahhh, crap! Before I get blasted....I think the BF & MR thing works here. But, this is a different atmosphere.

I still don't have a problem with shod runners. Sure, they run a little faster and they get all the really hot chicks, but they have no soul. Kind of like red headed kids and PilotRunner.

 

[pilotrunner]

As much as it pains me to say

As much as it pains me to say it, I must agree with my misguided USAF buddy. About the whole RW forum, not my lack of soul... That's an entirely different thread.

Strange as it may seem, I felt more accepted in the Marathon portion of the website than the Barefoot side. Funny, huh?

Yes, my name is Pilotrunner and I am a zealot. At least branded that way from the posters at RW...

I started weaning myself off the site a few months back and the bannishment of Chaser pushed me the rest of the way. It's now a shoe forum which, I believe, was the ultimate goal.

Cheers,

 

[Haselsmasher]

You know - it wasn't until

You know - it wasn't until these last few responses did I go back to the Barefooting forum and really look at what is there: Pose, I Finally Read Born To Run, Compartment Syndrome, Watch Recommendation, Photo Taken During A Run, Leg Length Difference.......

 

[Barefootandagel]

Pilot,I thought it as my

Pilot,

I thought it as my banishment that drove you here????

 

[Barefoot TJ]

No, no, no, PR, having a Shoe

No, no, no, PR, having a Shoe forum was never our ultimate goal, and as easy as it it to believe RW would have wanted it that way from the start, that's just not the case. Mark knew what the intent of the forum was, running without shoes, it's our fault that it's become the mess it is now, not theirs. He even took some heat in the beginning for listening to me and warned me to keep it active or it would be his butt! Ha!

TR, the reason it works so well over here is because we DO have a separate Shoe forum (Gear & Footwear). All shoe talk goes there. It's that simple. Jason, the other founders, and I understood long ago that the two styles of running are very closely related (as you stated), and that there would be a lot of cross-over, especially when winter hits, so we knew we could combine Barefoot and Minimalist Running and not suffer from the same misquided, clouded crap that's taking place over there. We also knew that the barefoot runners would help keep the minshoe runners on course, and we knew that the minshoe runners would suffer more injuries than the barefoot runners and need our support, perhaps even more so. This setup has worked well.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

How many people do you know

How many people do you know have been banished from "over there?" Names please.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I ask 'cuz I need to keep an

I ask 'cuz I need to keep an eye on them over here too. (Thanks for the heads up, RW!) ;-)

 

[Lomad]

First Talon; how did you know

First Talon; how did you know I was a redhead?

in all seriousness, though, the world needs zealots. It keeps everyone else honest. That said, i do understand why so many min-shoe questions take ofer the RWbf forum. I've spebnt time in the shoe forum and any serious talk about minshoes is derided and no one can get a serious answer. Even among the zealot purists in the bfr forum there was information and knowledge made available (with advice to just go bare..it IS the bf forum, after all). Google search VFF or any other minshoe of note and the RWbarefoot forum scores high in the results, so more minshoe seekers go there. having the zealots stick around there keeps the barefoot voice alive, like jason stated in his posts about "the message."

It's just a shame that the voice of experience has left that place; it leaves people at a disadvantage. As I have no credibility as an injured, reasonably short-term bfr guy, i don't offer much to the populace other than a cautionary tale. Plus, all the fun people are over here now.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I hear you.  I hated having

I hear you. I hated having to leave home too. I had planned to keep both communities active or keep active in both communities, however you want to look at it. It just got so I couldn't keep up with both places, and I feel bad about that. We had some good times "over there."