:D Barefoot Running

[plodding bear]

Cos they're eighty five quid.
And I'm from Yorkshire.

...seriously though, I can't find any Trail Gloves anywhere, otherwise I would definitely have a look at them. I reckon the vibram sole would last a long time, and Merrell shoes are generally very well made.
I can't find New Balance minimus or MTE101's anywhere either.
Just for the record, at the moment I wear either my trusty wave harriers, or PB ultras if it's wet, or even some very flat river shoes if I'm running easyish trails.
Sometimes even bare feet, if it's grass or tarmac but only for a few minutes.

[Terry the Tortoise]

Cos they're eighty five quid.
And I'm from Yorkshire.

...seriously though, I can't find any Trail Gloves anywhere, otherwise I would definitely have a look at them. I reckon the vibram sole would last a long time, and Merrell shoes are generally very well made.
I can't find New Balance minimus or MTE101's anywhere either.
Just for the record, at the moment I wear either my trusty wave harriers, or PB ultras if it's wet, or even some very flat river shoes if I'm running easyish trails.
Sometimes even bare feet, if it's grass or tarmac but only for a few minutes.

What size are you?

[plodding bear]

five foot eight.


...sorry, a ten!

[Terry the Tortoise]

five foot eight.


...sorry, a ten!

..that's a shame. Got a size 8 in Merrells that I'm not using.

[plodding bear]

Oh well, ta anyway! I suppose eventually all these models will be back in the shops, at least if they're all out together I can try them on and compare them. The Merrells would be my first choice, if money isn't an issue.

[ba-ba]

'Yorkshire' off-road shoes? Don't know if anyone's mentioned Decathlon's new-feel many shoe range yet?
Cheap, very minimalist shoes. They're not designed primarily for running (I use mine mainly for dossing about in; 'summer shoes' is mentioned on the website) but I've seen on another forum people discuss using them for 'barefoot' running (road/trail only really though I'm affraid). I sort of see them as a cheapo Vibram 5-finger.

Basically you buy the insoles (£8) and the outers (£8), put the 2 together and voila - 1 pair for £16, 2 pairs for £24, 3 pairs for £32. If you want really barefoot/are really stingy, forego the insole! Not sure how resilient the uppers are but for £8 you can't moan too much.

And for all you fashion victims, there's a load of different styles and colours, and you can even accesorise the laces :closed:

[molehill]

I've only just had a brief look at this thread, as I started wandering about "barefoot" a couple of weeks ago on walks. But have I got the wrong idea - it seems everyone is wearing trainers and I thought the whole idea was that one didn't . Because my main question is how long does it take ones feet to harden up enough to run comfortably (barefoot) over rough ground and can one run over rock on fell races, which must be pretty tough going for bare feet?

What is feasible barefooted (not in light trainers) and what isn't?

[Rob Furness]

I've done that much barefoot stuff this year (keep meaning to do more actually) but I found a couple of months toughened up my feet adequately to run over quite rough surfaces, the worst being the odd small pebble on tarmac or concrete. Nothing's gonna stop that hurting I'm afraid. I didn't do any fell type terrain though, my running was done over farmland with a mixture of grass fields, mud, tarmac/concrete broken up lanes and the odd bit of gravel. All of which I found tolerable after a bit of getting used to. I did find it slowed me down considerably whilst barefoot, but this strangely translated to getting quicker when in shoes provided I did enough hard sessions in shoes to keep my fitness levels up.

[bfluc]

[...]But have I got the wrong idea - it seems everyone is wearing trainers and I thought the whole idea was that one didn't . Because my main question is how long does it take ones feet to harden up enough to run comfortably (barefoot) over rough ground and can one run over rock on fell races, which must be pretty tough going for bare feet?[...]

Well, I made road races up to Half-Marathon distance. Did my fastest time on 10 km barefoot in 2010. I agree with Barefoot Ken Bob that it's better to start full monty e.g. barefoot before running with minimalist shoes.

So for my part I had to forget my time for a year and did lotta barefooting running even including on the dread mill in Crazy Canucks Land winter. The important thing is not so much toughening, actually most folks are amazed by how much my feet do not look so tough. Your skin is getting thicker though looks more like a smooth leather. You should build up your barefoot running form very slowly, and probably the most importanting thing is avoiding over exuberance. As soon as you'll start overdoing it you'll end up experiencing issues that could lead to injuries easily.

A good source of information if you're willing to fully commit to barefoot running is Ken Bob Saxton's book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Boo...3709576&sr=8-1

After you've honed your technique you will probably be a better runner even with shoes and believe me you won't run again with over-built shoes though I'm not sure most fell runners are using those kinda shoes and you'll probably won't miss some injuries you were experiencing prior to transitioning to barefoot running.

If you want to see what 3 years of transitioning can do to an atrophied foot look at the animated GIF picture of my foot on this blog post

http://www.adventureinprogress.com/l...transformation

[MorganW]

I guess these will make an appearance in due course:

http://www.irunfar.com/2011/08/inov-...in-review.html

Foul colour, even worse than my Slab 3s.