Barefoot Running Advice » Beginners' Corner

Frustrated beginner

(4 posts)
  • Started 1 month ago by smm11166
  • Latest reply from Ultimate Russell

  1. smm11166
    Member

    Here is some background: I am 44 and lost 60 pounds that I have kept off for 15 months. I want to run the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2010. I want to switch to barefoot minimalist footwear running after reading born to run, seeing the hbo real sports segment, and reading 3/4s, so far, of michael's book. I am using the galloway run/walk for the marathon. Since beggining the switch to minimalist footwear, i have a pair of VFF bikilas, i am having really bad calf cramps after running 2-3 miles in my new balance running shoes on the long runs. I think this is due to switching to a forefoot strike from an extreme heel strike on my old stride. I currently wear my VFF 4-6 days a week most of the day. after reading most of michael's book i am going to start running 1/4 a day 2-3 days a week and add a 1/4 mile each week for the rest of te summer and see if that helps with the calf cramping. I would like to do 2 runs during the week and keep up the long runs on the weekend with my shoes on bbut i am having so much difficulty with that now that my frustration levels are getting the best of me. I know michael and most of the posts on the site recommend starting completely barefoot but i live in the city and i am just not comfortable running barefoot due to the area i live in which is why i bought the VFFs. I wanted to get as close as possible to being barefoot. so i ahave a couple of questions:

    1. what does micheal use for electrolyte replacement?
    2. should i just give up on the marathon for this year?
    3. what about barefoot/minimalist walking? I find that I heel strike hard when walking in VFFs.
    4. use a foam roller everyday? has anyone had experience with this?

    i used to love runing everyday in the marine corps and would like to accomplish 2 things with the switch to minimalist running - 1. i want to run an ultramarathon and 2. i want to get to a point where michael is at where i can run 10-20 miles a day with a smile on my face.

    sean

    Posted 1 month ago #

  2. Ultimate Russell
    Member

    Well all I can do is speak from my own experience. Before I really started to get into minimalist footwear like the Five Fingers I started by dropping down to a cushioned racing flat, the Nike Lunaracer 2. I had a lot of problems with the shoe but that's beside the point. Also about this time I started to really make an effort to run with good from and started studying Chi and Pose running to use as a base for my transition to fully barefoot. And yeah, for several weeks I had sore crampy calves, but you just gotta work through it. I drink a lot of water and that seems to help. But for example, this Saturday I ran 15 miles with a combination of Five Fingers and Barefoot, and then piled another four barefoot miles on top Sunday. So even after working barefoot training and form drills for 3 or 4 months I'm still getting a little sore and crampy from time to time. If it was me, I'd say running a marathon in my Five Fingers or barefoot this year would be out of the question. I do plan on doing a half marathon in my KSO's in November and a 5 mile trail race in them in October and I'll see how I feel. My goal is to run a either a trail marathon or 30 miler next year. And yeah, like I said, I've been doing barefoot training for about 3 or 4 months and I'm up to about 5-7 miles depending on the heat of the surface. I myself am working to the 10-20 miles a day that Micheal gets, because the 5 or 7 miles just fly by without shoes. It's like a frickin party every run!

    Posted 1 month ago #

  3. smm11166
    Member

    ultimate Russell, thanks for the advice. I think i am just going to back off a little and go very slowly to build up. I also think i am going to go to the local high school track and go completely barefoot while i work on my form. I have also ordered the chi running and chi walking dvd's and i am hoping that will help as well.

    Posted 1 month ago #

  4. Ultimate Russell
    Member

    Hey, good luck! I know my form was pretty decent before looking into the chi and pose running forms but they really helped me make big strides quickly in locking everything down. As long as you're trying you're doing good. I wish my local high schools track was decent, it's really abhorrent. At a local 10k a week or two ago the last 1/8 of a mile was on it and it was like old, broken up blacktop. There was only one safe lane to run on. You'll be fine, give it a little more time to develop and you'll get that Marathon soon enough.

    Posted 1 month ago #

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