Questions & Answers

My name is Sara and I head up the NM contingent of the Barefoot Running Society. We have a small but most excellent group of barefoot and minimalist runners. I'm on my way to the Chicago Marathon in October.

New Mexicans - give a shout!

I know Tandy leather is a source, but the minimums are pretty high for a "first shot" project.

I'm looking for a reasonably priced source of shearling, for some DIY mocs. I've decided that winter is just going to an exercise in futility, trying to find appropriate minimal footwear to buy, so I'm going to DIY.

Thanks! ;)

Hi, I need Adams!

Hiker, Gear Maker, Big-Haired Lunatic.

Not really a runner, but obsessed with LW minimal footwear that actually lets my toes splay (yeah not you Inov8), and doesn't have any useless heel rise or arch destroyers.

Currently wearing Soft Star RunAmoc lites, but the toe box still isn't really wide enough. I'm thinking about killing a goat and making some of these to get me through the winter: http://www.womenofthefurtrade.com/wst_page11.html

Although I am a vegetarian, which makes it harder. ;\

I've been running in VFF Sprints for the last two years and just started to run in KSO Treks. I will be running my first trail race this weekend. Hope the Treks will be up for the task. Hope to run more trail races and a few ultras in the future. I would like to try other minimalist shoe and plan on reading a lot of reviews on this site. Any other AZ runners out there?

Good Morning. I have been a runner for over 20 years and am new to the barefoot movement. Since I have switched to a minimal shoe my running has improved greatly and I feel more free. I hope to run barefoot this summer for some training runs.

Hopefully less fighting here.

Hybrid runner, both barefoot and minimal.

My current favorite shoe is zero dropped Zoot Ultra Speeds.

Hi All,

I have been as close to barefoot as possible since the spring of '08. I began with wearing Vibrams and being completely barefoot as often as possible. Much to my surprise being barefoot helped with ridding me of lower back pain, foot, and knee problems. Up until this point I have done everything barefoot but run.

Running for sports and hiking long distances always left my feet and knees in pain. As I grew older I sadly accepted the fact that these activities would always be a painful experience for me. However, after experiencing all the benefits of being barefoot I now have hope that I can explore running again without the pain of wearing shoes.

I am starting very slow and adopted the "Couch to 5K" training program to get my feet and legs in shape to run a 5k by April/May.

I haven't decided if I will wear Vibrams, huaraches, or barefoot it the whole way. I will see how these choices work out during my training and go from there.

Wish me luck!

Mo

I am new to barefoot running and am very excited to go far without shoes!

Looking forward to frequenting this site---after years of getting stress fractures, I'e decided to make the switch to minimalist shoes.

http://birthdayshoes.com/2011-fall-vibram-fivefingers-boots-laces-leather-and-more

The boots don't do much for me personally, but the laced KSO Treks (Trek LS) are interesting. The Bormio looks cool, but I am not sure where you could wear it. It definitely isn't for running or exercise of any sort - ankle movement is to restricted. I guess in place of KSO Treks where your ankle would be a bit chilly.

Too bad there is no KSO with laces. I like the ultra-thin sole of the original KSO but laces would be nice vs the current slipper model.

I'm happy to be joining up with this (currently small) community. I've never made a lot of time to join sites or forums, so I thought getting in on one that is taking off would be a great place to start.

I'm from South Florida and am lucky enough to be able to handle heat, so rain is my only real battle with getting out to run. I am currently in the stage of falling deeper in love with running, and I'm having a great time doing it.

I'm hoping to learn about everything; cool new products, tips for running, maybe even events.

Thanks for having me, Ben

I am not affiliated with ZemGear in any way. I do have some experience with their footwear and plan to be putting them through the paces with regards to running. With that said, I think it is important to keep in mind that the current offerings of ZemGear were designed as a beach shoe, not a runner. This site is not a barefoot minimalist running specific site but a minimalist shoe site in general. Different minimalist shoes have different applications or purposes, and it may be helpful to review them in that light... just saying.

I'm Jon from the Norfolk, VA area. I'm a marathoner with a working problem…I work too much and don't get to run enough. I wore custom orthotics for over 10 years and became so reliant on them, I hesitated to walk around the house barefoot but instead, wore my running shoes with orthotics in the house. In January 2010, I had a very bad day at the Disney Marathon and realized that my running style and training was on the wrong track. After a lot of reading and several weeks of healing, I bought my first pair of VFF KSOs and began the search for the Kenyan inside all of us.

Almost a year later, I have sworn off orthotics for good and am not afraid to tell my story. Before getting sidelined with pneumonia earlier this year, I mad it up to 22 miles in minimalist shoes during my latest marathon training program; that was less than 8 months after I mustered the courage to ditch my orthotics. I've looked at POSE and Chi running and believe that most adults have forgotten how to run properly, even though we did it instinctively in our youth.

I'm just getting started on my barefoot journey. A few friends around the office started wearing Vibrams for running and every day use last year, and I was intrigued. I'm an active basketball and ultimate frisbee player, but general knee pain has always kept me from doing any serious distance running.

I'm hopeful that my FiveFingers will help me change my stride enough to let me get into distance road running without tearing my knees to shreds. I literally started running in them today for the first time. The plan (fingers crossed) is to train for the Wasatch Back edition of the Ragnar this June. Bring it on!

If people ever tell you that walking in the mountains with bare feet is impossible just tell them about Martl Jung. This german crossed the Alps in 32 days from Munich in Germany to Verona in Italy. About 200km including walking and climbing on ice, rocks etc. And he took no shoes with him at all. Not even for emergency. Though he used some snow and ice grippers on some slopes.<br> His website is in german so you should use Google Translate to read it. But there are also al lot of pictures to see. These are also impressive. Martl has very big feet. Probably well trained and with a thick skin. I don't think my feet will ever be like that. But it is nice to see what others can achieve with bare feet.

For more information visit: http://www.alpen-barfuss.de/ http://www.travel-fever.com/script/parsesets.php?sdir=0808002&set=01 http://www.travel-fever.com/script/parsesets.php?sdir=0807001&set=01 http://www.travel-fever.com/script/parsesets.php?sdir=0808001&set=01

Hi,

I've heard that feet can change due to barefoot running. Has this happened to anyone? Feet getting shorter or toes splaying wider. There are some very interesting / disturbing photos in this article and I'd like to believe I can get my feet to look like the feet of the never shod guy.

Niki

I thought this was interesting

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/health/nutrition/18best.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

I've been wondering this lately. I'm deciding to go barefoot (potentially - and hopefully - for the rest of my life), but I'm curious to know if I should perhaps go through minimalist footwear first? or if I should go directly to barefoot?

For those that don't know, I'm training for a barefoot hike soon that should last 2 and a half months over all sorts of Canadian terrain. My worry is that If I go to minimalist footwear first, my skin wont toughen up as quickly as it would simply going barefooted. I realize that it will help in many other ways, however.

Take note that I have a year and a half until my trek. Should I go with minimalist footwear first to help build proper muscle structure and so on? or Should I go directly to barefoot?

Just stopped in to say hello and introduce myself.

I have been running barefoot or in minimalist shoes for a little over 6 months... and loving it! I am now a midfoot striker. I ran cross country and track in high school and college, but that was 15 years ago. Back in the day I was a heel striker. I am now running longer distances than I ever ran in my younger years.

You might enjoy reading my barefoot race report from the John Holmes 16 mile trail run which turned out to be a very educational experience: http://thatlinuxbox.com/blog/article.php/20101009204257420

I'm on dailymile: http://www.dailymile.com/people/danstoner

I have a blog with a running section: http://thatlinuxbox.com/blog/index.php?topic=running

Cheers!

• Dan Stoner

Hi all barefooters and minimal-footwear lovers!

I'm physiotherapist, CST-instructor and Kettlebell instructor... And of course barefoot enthusiast. My development from MBT-shoes to barefooting and minimal-shoe lover has taken nearly 2 years - no regret!

I'm keep my self fit with training - and all those times, when I'm not training unshod - I'm using minimal-shoes (Feelmax Panka, Osma, Kuuva, FVV-Classic, Vivo Terraplane...Grappling shoes)... I have reviewed almost every pair above above - just click and read on my sites www.FunctionalTrainingPro.com.

I hope this is going to be good place to shear our experiences!