News and articles from Running Training Plan
Between July 2009 and April 2013 we ran a project here that welcomed runners to document their experiences of running barefoot.
Twenty six people participated, some wrote only an intro and maybe a post or two, others contributed more detailed reports. One in particular, Soul Man, wrote 74 entries on his journey into running barefoot.
There is no doubt the Christopher McDougall's book, Born to Run, created a huge interest in barefoot running and a major shake-up within the running community, from beginners, to coaches, to shoe manufacturers. Whilst much of the hype has now diminished, the legacy has been a re-evaluation of what it means to run naturally. These posts in this section provide a glimpse into the lives of just a few runners who tried it.
After a very long layoff from barefoot running, and quite a break from running in general, I’ve now managed to get back on track.
Winter is always going to present challenges for the barefoot runner, last year did, but this winter was even worse.
After the prolonged cold weather I was then really quite poorly and didn’t run for about a month at the beginning of the year. Even when I did
i had the severe aches last night from some hard climbing and realy wasnt looking forward to my morning run. then i thought about doing it in my VFFs and suddenly I was looking forward to it , weird i know but I dont think I can dread it the same way as I sometimes do with trainers on. anyway this morning i was up at 6 after little sleep from the baby and off i went 7.30 pace all the way loved
did another 6 miles in VVFs yesterday , im still suprised at teh extra energy you get from being barefoot. you can feel quite tired and lethargic but a few strides and youre suddenly dancing unlike wearing trainers. thought about using the VVFs again this morning but my legs are so tired from climbing I thought it best not to just in case. I had hoped to do the forest of dean half marathon in
No picture this time – I daren’t look.
So, of course I decided to go for ‘minimal barefoot’ shoes and have ordered some Vivo Barefoot Evo IIs, which will arrive tomorrow – I’ll let you know how I get on.
Even without the beach shoes I still wanted to go out at lunchtime today, buoyed up by last week’s 9-miler. As it wasn’t too cold or wet decided I
after 2 weeks of the worst flu ever I was back running, I slowly built up my miles then this morning went out in my VVf’s. I was worried that i was too tired but I felt so energised! It’s not the fact that your feet are lighter without shoes, its just the extra feel that gives you a delicate stride and then a more energetic run. I actually feel more lively after Ive run barefoot than
Great 9-mile run today – the furthest I have been in transition shoes, as such. The only thing is, there’s not much shoe left.
Sooo, do I buy more beach shoes and accept that they will fall apart after six or seven runs?
That works out at about £1 a run, which isn’t that bad compared to £100 minimal shoes.
Well I know what I’m like with fads, so we’ll see…