Questions & Answers

Wonderful to read Renee's FIMBY post about this!

Me, I am a mom, a birthworker, and an artist, children's storyteller (yes, indeed under the name "The Barefoot Storyteller"), a part time purveyor of childrens books that are also "Barefoot"...

Barefoot, is sort of a way of life and living for me... barefoot we are truly in touch with the aerth, the textures and tempeture...cool green grass, soft mud, sand at the beach, gentle treding across autumn leaves. Barefoot is carefree. Barefoot is my son's bare feet softly set upon mine under the quilt as we read to each other, and leaving footprints in paint across the kitchen floor when we didn't mean to.

Hi Everyone,

I'm Tina from LivingBarefoot.info and sometimes wish that I lived somewhere where you could go barefoot more often in the year. But until I move to someplace more tropical, I'll continue to wear my multitude of minimalist footwear.

Tina

Hello, all. What a great site! I'm excited to see what I learn from here.

I think I have a slightly different background that quite a few of you. I'm not a runner, nor have I had health problems that I seek to rectify through the wearing of minimalist footwear. I'm just a gal who loves going barefoot. And as a stay-at-home, homeschooling momma, I get to do just that quite a bit of the time. I have known for years that when I have to wear shoes (i.e. have to leave the house) my feet would start to hurt, and I couldn't wait to shed my shoes. I drive my husband nuts because the moment I get in the car, I take my shoes off.

I've only just recently discovered the world of minimalist footwear. My go-to shoes right now are a pair of Northshore water shoes, which I love. Winter has been a challenge though. If it's cold, a pair of wool socks usually does the trick. But I have yet to find a solution for snow.

Excited to see where this journey leads.

I'm chris and i run and jump and ride and eat like a caveman.

Marathon this year, first.

Hi

Hi Damien, Looks like you've created an awesome site. Good job as usual!

I live in the high desert of Southern Utah where I love all the outdoor recreational opportunities. I love outdoor activities of nearly all sorts including hiking, biking, rock climbing, snowboarding, kayaking/canoeing, canyoneering, etc. And, of course, anything minimal footwear/barefoot. I am the creator of Unshoes sandals.

After a few months of VFF running I decided to see what all the true barefoot fuss was about and took the ten minute plunge. I like it. Sure, it the sharp pointies hurt, and the blisters do too at first, but feet toughen up. Makes you (me) feel kinda special and more connected to the world around me when I'm barefooting it, or going hobbitt-style as I called it on my recent trip to New Zealand. What a great way to mix up your run and re-energize that last mile or more than to take off the shoes, even Vibrams, and finish naked foots.

I'm a relatively new barefoot runner, although I lifelong barefoot-lover. 2010 marked a wicked trail-running ankle injury (8 weeks to walk without pain, 6 more months before I could walk down stairs normally) and the end of my irrational love of high heel dress shoes. I'm 5'10", did I really need to wear 4 - 5" high heels?

I'm barefoot 90% of the time now and am delving into the minimalist shoes for going to the store, etc. Frustrated that Zappos doesn't carry any minimal shoes. Hoping to take some BFR workshops during my travels. I'm also on BFT's hauraches/minimalist google group.

Bounding along, Darcy

Howdy howdy howdy, this is Doug checking in from the little island of Oahu, floating out here in the middle of the ocean.

My name is Corey, and I have been running since February of 2010. I started out doing the Couch to 5K on a treadmill, and now almost a year later, I do almost all of my runs outside. Even in the cold. Since I began running, I have lost about 80 pounds, run 5 or 6 5Ks, started a running club in my little town, and have started two "classes" with beginners to get them in to Couch 2 5K.

I do the majority of my running barefoot, but I also run in Invisible Shoe Huaraches, and Sockwa Amphibians. I can't use Vibrams for two reasons; I have Morton's Toe, and 1 foot is a full size larger than the other.

That's about it, I like to run. And I like to encourage other people to run too.

Just wanted to see what experience others have had with having shoe repair shops cut running shoes down to be zero drop. I started getting my shoes zeroed out at the suggestion of Runner's Corner in Orem, UT to take my shoes to Village Shoemaker, also in Orem. I run either in VFF Bikilas for road runs or in zeroed out trail running shoes for trail running.

It took some trial and error to figure out what works for me. I learned that Brooks Cascadias have a big cushioning gel pod in the heel, and when the heel wedge got sliced out, I ended up with a lower heel than forefoot. I always hurt when wearing them and took them back to get a slim wedge put back in so they would be truly zero drop. My current favorites are La Sportiva Fireblades. Since they don't have too big a heel to begin with, it's not as much of a change to the shoe structure to bring the heel down by 10mm. I ran Rim to Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon a couple months ago in the zeroed Fireblades and had no issues except for my cramped toes due to the somewhat goofy pointed toe shape. If La Sportiva would continue in the minimalist direction (remember the Slingshots that Krupicka used to whittle down?) and also make their shoes foot-shaped, they would have a killer trail shoe.

Hi, I recently started adding some barefoot running into my schedule this past summer. I run in minimalist shoes on the others days. Now that it's winter though I have been forced into running in minimalist shoes all the time. I can't wait for it to warm up so a can do some runs barefoot again.

I've been a runner for about eight years (5K - marathon distance), currently rehabing from a tibial stress fracture. I've become more and more interested in the minimalist shoe concept the more I read about it, and am hoping that the combination of less shoe and proper midfoot striking can help prevent future injuries.

I've also been a musician for 25+ years, and I know very well how important it is to play with good technique. No matter which instrument you play, bad form can lead to all sorts of injuries. I've known my share of musicians who actually can't play anymore, or have to severely limit their playing, due to injuries sustained by long term performance. It makes sense that running would be the same way... you don't just go out and do it, mindless of technique. Well, you CAN, but... it likely will catch up with you. I want to be that 65-year-old you see running around the park someday. I hope that becoming mindful and aware of good running technique, and incorporating it into my own running, will allow me to get there someday!

Found the site by way of Peter's excellent blog - runblogger.com

Good to find a place for like minded runners with shoe addictions to co-habitate :)

I'm a huge fan of barefeet! Having three kids and realizing that "normal" is really uncomfortable, expensive, and just plain exhausting, I have been doing my best to unlearn the way I was taught to do just about everything! That includes ditching the shoes most of the time - for myself and my boys! Who's idea was it anyway? Shoes on babies? Come on... Let's all start examining why we are doing what we are doing!!

I'm new to running

and have had orthopedic troubles all my life. Discovering barefoot style shoes has made an incredible difference for my walking! I spent the summer walking extensively and was amazed at how my feet no longer hurt.

The transition to learning to run has been more difficult. Looking forward to some good insight and useful advice from this new community :)

New to running but have been wearing vivobarefoot for years. Just got a pair of the Neos last month and love the barefoot running method. Can't wait for the snow to disappear so I can enjoy a good outdoor run. Looking forward to the Altra Adam.

I've gotten back to running recently (did it in high school with various types of injuries). Since I'm older and heavier now, I feel I need to work harder at staying healthy and injury free. So I can keep running. Till I'm an old lady.

Thanks to a cold wintery blast of air, we got a nice heavy snowfall here in the Ouachita mountain region of SW Arkansas, which gave me the opportunity to try out my newly found love of barefooting in the snow....I've been living a barefoot lifestyle since June, and this was the first time in my life I went walking in the snow in bare feet. All I can say is "I loved it".....the snow was far softer and more cushy then I ever expected, and not near as cold as I thought it was gonna be. I even found that I had a flat tire on my truck this morning and went outside and changed my tire in 24 degree temps and 4" of snow....Took me about 30 minutes I suppose, not counting the time I was visiting with my neighbor about the fact I was barefoot on such a frozen day, but I was fine...my feet were fine, and I loved the feeling. I wear shoes when I must, but barefoot is the best way to go.

Hi all-- I am new to minimalist footwear, but have been loving my Vibram Classic since last spring. I am a writer, mom to two little boys, wife and outdoor enthusiast. More a rambler than athelete, I spend as much time as I can hiking and cross-country skiing. I blog about connecting kids with nature at www.yourwildchild.com and you can follow our family's follies at www.travelingmel.com.

I'm a 53 year old male, living in the mountains of sw arkansas.....I recently took up a barefoot lifestyle change this past June, and have been loving every minute of it since, but as you all probably know,theres times we need to wear some type of shoe, so my current minimal style shoe is a generic brand water shoe I believe they're called. Very light weight and flexible, but its still got alot more sole then I'd prefer, but much less then the typical tennis shoe so for now they are what I've been using when I must wear something. So naturally I've been on the lookout for other minimal shoe options which is how I ran across this website...I hope to gain alot more info here before I spend anymore cash on shoes.