The Bare{foot} Essentials
August 15th, 2010
Howwwdy!
I’m currently watching The Blind Side, so I am imagining that I have a southern accent.
Let’s jump right into this, k?
Barefoot Bit: The Run
Truth be told, ya’ll, I don’t have much to report on the Barefoot/FiveFinger running home front. Since I was sick this week and ridiculously busy this weekend, I only ran once in my little “toe shoes”.
Monday night, Dave and our friends Gary and other-Dave went to the local high school track to play frisbee. I went in my FiveFingers and logged a solid three miles. My calves hurt for about 3 days. One day per mile, perhaps?
…and then the rest of the week passed in a blur of the couch, HBO, and antibiotics.
Did I ever really make a training plan to transition? Yup. I did. And it served it’s purpose well for the first few weeks. Now I think it has given me enough of an understand of how my body responds to barefoot running. I know how I feel when I push too hard, I know how I feel when I don’t push hard enough.
Now it seems to be no different than shod running when I am training or increasing my mileage.
Barefoot Bit: Nike Free
One thing I have noticed since transitioning is that shoes are HEAVY. Maybe it’s my head but I feel slowed down by my Brooks.
It’s kind of funny because before I bought my Brooks I was running in Asics. I didn’t realize that I had been running wearing anvils for 4 years until I put on the Brooks. It’s funny how different experiences change your perception.
Now I want real feather –weight sneakers as I continue to build my mileage in my FiveFingers/barefoot.
The problem is that I’m nervous about the Nike Frees for the same reason I am skeptical about the Bikilas. More natural is great, but the thin sole of the FiveFinger Sprints that I wear insure that I won’t be striking the ground too hard because I can still feel the ground and everything on it. I fear the the Nike Frees would take away both my foot’s ability to regulate how hard I strike AND the support to protect my feet if I do strike too hard. PLease keep in mind, though, that my Brooks are neutral NOT stability/motion control. So they already lack the added support in many (if not most) running shoes.
BUT I might just wear my Brooks to death until I’m ready to say goodbye to conventional sneakers all together.
If I were a prudent runner like Ashley, I’d give up running as cardio exercise as I transition to barefoot running. But, remember, I’m not prudent. And since running, not exercise in general, is my stress reliever, I think that both Dave and I would be driven out of our minds by my demeanor if I don’t get my normal runs in. It’s happened before (when I had the stress fracture).
Does anyone have any experience with Nike Frees at all? I need some help!
Barefoot Running Q & A
(recently updated!!)
The Bare{foot} Essentials I
The Bare{foot} Essentials II
The Bare{foot} Essentials III
The Bare{foot} Essentials IV
The Bare{foot} Essentials V
The Bare{foot} Essentials VI
The Bare{foot} Essentials VII
Categories: Uncategorized
I am loving these barefoot posts! I haven’t taken the plunge yet, but it is so interesting to follow your experiences.
Love them. All I run in is the Nike Frees! My feet can’t handle more than about 10 miles the basic Frees though. I get super bad blisters, that may be a training issue on my part rather than the shoes
Nike just came out with a specific Nike Free Run, which I love! I haven’t done many long runs with the Free Run but it has a bit more cushion than the traditional Frees. And they felt great when I wore them for the first time on a 10 mile race!
Good morning! I saw your post on Ashley’s blog and loved it. When reading ‘Born to Run’ they talk about wearing old tennis shoes until they fall apart. The naturally breakdown over time, so its probably better you run in you old neutral brooks than purchasing new Nike frees.
Just thought!
i haven’t personally tried the NIKE free shoes, but a good friend has them and loves them! she’s actually doing the same thing as you as she builds up in the 5fingers. the only thing she said is that you want to make sure you use some kind of foot powder in the nikes since it’s likely that your foot will sweat badly since you’re not supposed to wear socks.
let me know how you like them!
I own a pair of the Nike Frees. I only have been using them for 2-3 weeks now, but so far I love them. I always ran in Asics in the past so the Frees are so much lighter. I cut back on my mileage though until I am used to the Frees. I really want a pair of the Vibrams, but was afraid of not having enough protection on the bottom of my feet so I went with the Nike Frees. So far they are working really well and I haven’t experienced any problems.
I wish I could help, but I don’t have those. I run in pumas. I love all your updates with this, I really find it super interesting. I hope you are feeling better.
I don’t run in my Nike Free sneakers. Occasional cardio on the elliptical or stairs. but I wear them all day for work. Up and down walking around the gym. They’re really comfortable. Other sneakers make my feet tired and back sore by the end of the day but the Free’s have been great.
So I don’t know if I can give any true advice. But the Free’s would be good as non-exercising footwear that would get you closer to being barefoot or allow you to wear socks in cooler weather.
I’m thinking of getting some vibrams so I can barefoot run in the winter. I’s skip on the nike frees for the same reasons you mentioned.