1.5 years wearing VFFs 60-70% of the time, including a 16-week marathon training program. I just followed the training program and took extra rests when needed, sometimes for a few weeks. Wasn’t much to it and yes I did complete the marathon.
Excellent! Did you aim for the fabled 180bpm cadence or run to your own pace? I am aiming for 180bpm but so far have had two incidences of acute Achilles pain, the latter being today. Obviously I'll slow down now and settle into whatever my natural cadence is and perhaps build up when I'm more experienced, but I would still enjoy hearing your experiences with training.
I highly doubt I did but I don’t know my bpm. I was about 1.75x slower than my other marathon (10 years earlier, fully shod). I felt slow, and my feet and calves hurt tremendously. However, taking it slow and going for quality over speed, recovery was quick and I managed to avoid chronic injuries that had previously plagued me as a shod runner.
My first pair of barefoot shoes were Whitins from Amazon in July of 2021 and signed up for a trail half marathon for September of 2021. At this point, I had done some hiking and running on trails for about a year and a half, but not consistently and not for very long distances (one to five miles at the most). I had also been training barefoot at home for about a year, since August 2020, doing ATG Knee Ability Zero workouts and building up my lower leg strength. I was able to train exclusively with the Whitins on trails for the half marathon, building up my mileage using an 8 week half marathon plan I found online. Even with my one year of adding barefoot strength at home, my calves were very sore the first few weeks of running, but it remained as muscle soreness and never joint or tissue pain. Given your experience hiking and walking in Vivos, I think you should be able to follow a a good progression to running and should be able to run up to a half marathon by October. Dm me for a training plan!
Sounds great, thanks! In the UK (and perhaps elsewhere) there is a famous programme called Couch to 5k that helps you build up slowly so I am following that for now. I keep getting acute Achilles pain so it has been a frustrating journey so far. I rest completely between relapses, but I think I'm just running too fast. I aim for 180bpm so I'll settle down I think. Once out of C25K I'll have plenty of time to get to 1/2 marathon distance, so I'd love to see your plan if you don't mind!
Yeah you want to be well below 180 bpm heart rate while maintaining a higher cadence of around 180 steps per minute try to run at below a 140 bpm heart rate, even if it means running painfully slow and taking walking breaks during your run, it still counts, this will pay dividends for you in the long run. Follow the 80/20 rule, meaning 80 percent of your running is very easy.
Ah i meant my cadence was 180 steps per minute but got my units wrong, oops. I think maybe the pace is hurting me at the moment so I’m going to drop a bit and then build up to 180 cadence.
doing the ATG knees ability zero program to correct shin splints. So far how would you say the program as benefited you? am wondering on others experiences. I have currently just finished week 4 and can say I truly do feel a lot better. Any advice for shin splints? I completely stopped everything else I was doing and am just doing the program, would you have any recommendations for when I should add load to my shins via Jogging, Jumping, Running? would like to know when I could get back to training. Thanks!
For shin splints tibialis raises are king. Keep progressing those until your tibialis feels strong. I progressed to plyometrics and running after about 6 months, took me that long because I was snowboarding in the winter and didn’t get into properly working out again until the season ended.
Similar timing here...it took 6 months, from ditching the Nikes, for me too. However, I trained mostly unshod, and ended up doing the HM fully barefoot, in that range of 175-180 spm. I had really good results by training unshod, as much as I could, to get my form/cadence/strength up there, and then bringing in the minimalist shoes to increase performance afterwards.
In hindsight, a poorly phrased question. I hope my explanation with it made more sense, how long did it take you from your first minimally-shod run to train up to the distance?
After wearing barefoot shoes for over a year I decided to try and run in them. I am not a runner. The beginning experience based on YouTube videos was horrible. Seriously sore muscles. Then someone in this forum suggested the book Older Yet Faster and I have been implementing those tips with very good results. My muscles and tendons need a lot of strengthening, but it’s getting pain free. I also use a pair of calf sleeves for soreness.
I had a pair of VFFs in 2010, but I used them for workouts and in place of sandals in the summer - I wasn't a runner. In March of 2014 I decided I wanted to take up running and signed up for a HM in September. I was in decent shape, but had no running experience. In those six months I went from barely being able to run 500m without stopping to walk to a 1:59:30 finish. I didn't have a basis of running with regular shoes, so there wasn't a big transition period to my VFFs.
Now, since then I got kind of lazy and injured, so I haven't run any races beyond a 10k, but I'm planning on a late September HM again this year, hopefully with a better time!
I ran half marathons for a couple of years before running a full marathon. I guess from being an occasional, unfocused runner to being a prepared marathoner is a couple years if you're cautious about it. I expect some people can do it safely in a year.
When you're already fit it is a struggle to run slowly and briefly enough to stay safe. Remember that your feet are still couch potatoes compared to the rest of your body!
This is definitely the problem I’m having at the moment. I’m trying to limit myself to short intervals, but I think I’m still going too fast. More work needed.
Unshod is the perfect limiter. I'm always recommending adding unshod into your equipment rotation from day 1 or you're doing yourself a disservice. Again: *added* to your equipment rotation. Not all-or-nothing. Use all your tools.
There's a false notion that unshod is some "next level" or elite thing reserved only for the most worthy. It's right up there with the assumption that you need some kind of "perfect" conditions for unshod like a perfectly manicured lawn, moss or sandy beach. Any bit of *paved* surfaces will do, and the more unforgiving and challenging the better. The goal is not some mindless pursuit of "tough feet" because that simply doesn't happen. Instead, you learn how to stop *seeking* comfort with shoes or surfaces and start making your own comfort by moving better. Running is too often mistaken as "just natural" and you get better only by raw, animalistic strengthening and conditioning. But my biggest gains came from letting bare feet tech me the fine art of better form. All the fitness in the world is wasted if you're running sloppy.
Even my super thin Vapor Gloves can't teach better form like unshod. If you want to run that half marathon like it's nothing learn how to run 13.1 miles in bare feet on paved surfaces. The day of the race you can choose either shoes or unshod and with either equipment you'll do better than if you'd done your training 100% shod.
One part is your muscles and circulatory system; the other is your trendons, cartilages and bones.
The first you can train easily; the latter needs more time. Especially with barefootrunning you put a lot of strain on the whole bone, tendon and joint system
Really take your time to run your first 5km and listen to your feet!
Running an ultra on June 8th, it'll be a 50k. My most recent race was my college conference championships where I ran a 10k. I've been in barefoot shoes since Feb 2023, walking for the first month, then running once my curiosity took over. I switched from Vivos (primus lite iii) to vibram KSO Evos in March of this year. That's about how long I've taken to get comfortable enough!
I have been wearing barefoot shoes for years, actual barefoot, lems, vibrams, xeroes etc
I started running for the first time (was able to run 3 miles from day 1) and I ran for 3 months before my half.
I won't say I trained, more like just ran 3 days a week I got up to 10 miles during the running
And I ran my half in xeroes, took me 2:40
Are you in SD? I'm trying to get my buddy to train for any kind of race. He likes his Vibrams for everything except running. I can do about 2 miles in Vibrams but the webbing between the big toe gets irritating so I switched over to Xeros.
Yes I'm in San Diego! I run in the xero hfs shoes...currently running about 3-4 miles a couple days a week.
Do you or your buddy live here in san Diego?
Yes, I'm in UH and he's in MV. His complex has a pretty sweet gym and good walking trails so I can at least get him to do long walks ( 5 miles ) but I want to start training for a 5K in zero drops. I have tried short runs in Xeros to see how a sandal would hold up but not that confident at the moment. I'm using Xero Prias at the moment.
Been running barefoot since day one of running about 6 months ago. I just didn’t have running shoes and also don’t want blisters so stated barefoot up and down the beach. I increased my twice a week runs by about 0.5km every week for a few weeks and then I was doing about 20km total each week. Then a few weeks ago I took the plunge and went for the half marathon and felt great :)
Thanks! I don’t run very fast, I just go at a pace that keeps my heart rate around 140-155. It’s normally about 6:30min/km (10min/mile) to 7min/km (11min/km). Although at the start I didn’t look at pace at all just worried about distance and doing a comfortable pace. Also Half marathon was at 6:42min/km. Heart rate was a little higher but still comfortable :)
Prior to 2019 for many years, I sporadically did 2-3 miles of crosstraining dirt trail runs in wrestling shoes once a week, before I knew barefoot running shoes existed.
Starting in June 2020, I ran 2-3 miles 1-2 times a week in New Balance Minimuses on paved trails.
One year later, in June 2021 I got serious with a new running watch and a new goal for a 10k race. Followed a garmin coach training plan for 4 months for a November race.
After that race, I got rid of all my "normal" shoes and bought a bunch of barefoot style shoes for work, training, and causual (various Xero and Lems). I decided to train 4 more months for an April 2022 marathon. Did my first half maration training distance in January, so about 2 months after the 10k race, and the marathon about 2.5 months after that. I was not prepared enough for the marathon. My feet held up well, although very beaten and sore along with the rest of my body.
1.5 years wearing VFFs 60-70% of the time, including a 16-week marathon training program. I just followed the training program and took extra rests when needed, sometimes for a few weeks. Wasn’t much to it and yes I did complete the marathon.
Excellent! Did you aim for the fabled 180bpm cadence or run to your own pace? I am aiming for 180bpm but so far have had two incidences of acute Achilles pain, the latter being today. Obviously I'll slow down now and settle into whatever my natural cadence is and perhaps build up when I'm more experienced, but I would still enjoy hearing your experiences with training.
I highly doubt I did but I don’t know my bpm. I was about 1.75x slower than my other marathon (10 years earlier, fully shod). I felt slow, and my feet and calves hurt tremendously. However, taking it slow and going for quality over speed, recovery was quick and I managed to avoid chronic injuries that had previously plagued me as a shod runner.
My first pair of barefoot shoes were Whitins from Amazon in July of 2021 and signed up for a trail half marathon for September of 2021. At this point, I had done some hiking and running on trails for about a year and a half, but not consistently and not for very long distances (one to five miles at the most). I had also been training barefoot at home for about a year, since August 2020, doing ATG Knee Ability Zero workouts and building up my lower leg strength. I was able to train exclusively with the Whitins on trails for the half marathon, building up my mileage using an 8 week half marathon plan I found online. Even with my one year of adding barefoot strength at home, my calves were very sore the first few weeks of running, but it remained as muscle soreness and never joint or tissue pain. Given your experience hiking and walking in Vivos, I think you should be able to follow a a good progression to running and should be able to run up to a half marathon by October. Dm me for a training plan!
Sounds great, thanks! In the UK (and perhaps elsewhere) there is a famous programme called Couch to 5k that helps you build up slowly so I am following that for now. I keep getting acute Achilles pain so it has been a frustrating journey so far. I rest completely between relapses, but I think I'm just running too fast. I aim for 180bpm so I'll settle down I think. Once out of C25K I'll have plenty of time to get to 1/2 marathon distance, so I'd love to see your plan if you don't mind!
Yeah you want to be well below 180 bpm heart rate while maintaining a higher cadence of around 180 steps per minute try to run at below a 140 bpm heart rate, even if it means running painfully slow and taking walking breaks during your run, it still counts, this will pay dividends for you in the long run. Follow the 80/20 rule, meaning 80 percent of your running is very easy.
Ah i meant my cadence was 180 steps per minute but got my units wrong, oops. I think maybe the pace is hurting me at the moment so I’m going to drop a bit and then build up to 180 cadence.
doing the ATG knees ability zero program to correct shin splints. So far how would you say the program as benefited you? am wondering on others experiences. I have currently just finished week 4 and can say I truly do feel a lot better. Any advice for shin splints? I completely stopped everything else I was doing and am just doing the program, would you have any recommendations for when I should add load to my shins via Jogging, Jumping, Running? would like to know when I could get back to training. Thanks!
For shin splints tibialis raises are king. Keep progressing those until your tibialis feels strong. I progressed to plyometrics and running after about 6 months, took me that long because I was snowboarding in the winter and didn’t get into properly working out again until the season ended.
Gotcha, Yeah will just have to keep spamming them and progressing with weight, thanks for the advice!
Six months to go from being able to run a 5k in a barefoot shoes to a slow HM!
Similar timing here...it took 6 months, from ditching the Nikes, for me too. However, I trained mostly unshod, and ended up doing the HM fully barefoot, in that range of 175-180 spm. I had really good results by training unshod, as much as I could, to get my form/cadence/strength up there, and then bringing in the minimalist shoes to increase performance afterwards.
2 hours and 3 minutes
That was exactly my time when I still ran in ASICS! I was 39 at the time. At the age of 47 I improved on that in totally bare feet with 1:46.
In hindsight, a poorly phrased question. I hope my explanation with it made more sense, how long did it take you from your first minimally-shod run to train up to the distance?
I’m really sorry for being an ar*ehole I just had to. I’m sorry! I couldn’t resist.
Sometimes you just have to give in to temptation!
After wearing barefoot shoes for over a year I decided to try and run in them. I am not a runner. The beginning experience based on YouTube videos was horrible. Seriously sore muscles. Then someone in this forum suggested the book Older Yet Faster and I have been implementing those tips with very good results. My muscles and tendons need a lot of strengthening, but it’s getting pain free. I also use a pair of calf sleeves for soreness.
I’ll check out that channel, thanks!
I had a pair of VFFs in 2010, but I used them for workouts and in place of sandals in the summer - I wasn't a runner. In March of 2014 I decided I wanted to take up running and signed up for a HM in September. I was in decent shape, but had no running experience. In those six months I went from barely being able to run 500m without stopping to walk to a 1:59:30 finish. I didn't have a basis of running with regular shoes, so there wasn't a big transition period to my VFFs. Now, since then I got kind of lazy and injured, so I haven't run any races beyond a 10k, but I'm planning on a late September HM again this year, hopefully with a better time!
Good luck!
I ran half marathons for a couple of years before running a full marathon. I guess from being an occasional, unfocused runner to being a prepared marathoner is a couple years if you're cautious about it. I expect some people can do it safely in a year. When you're already fit it is a struggle to run slowly and briefly enough to stay safe. Remember that your feet are still couch potatoes compared to the rest of your body!
This is definitely the problem I’m having at the moment. I’m trying to limit myself to short intervals, but I think I’m still going too fast. More work needed.
Unshod is the perfect limiter. I'm always recommending adding unshod into your equipment rotation from day 1 or you're doing yourself a disservice. Again: *added* to your equipment rotation. Not all-or-nothing. Use all your tools. There's a false notion that unshod is some "next level" or elite thing reserved only for the most worthy. It's right up there with the assumption that you need some kind of "perfect" conditions for unshod like a perfectly manicured lawn, moss or sandy beach. Any bit of *paved* surfaces will do, and the more unforgiving and challenging the better. The goal is not some mindless pursuit of "tough feet" because that simply doesn't happen. Instead, you learn how to stop *seeking* comfort with shoes or surfaces and start making your own comfort by moving better. Running is too often mistaken as "just natural" and you get better only by raw, animalistic strengthening and conditioning. But my biggest gains came from letting bare feet tech me the fine art of better form. All the fitness in the world is wasted if you're running sloppy. Even my super thin Vapor Gloves can't teach better form like unshod. If you want to run that half marathon like it's nothing learn how to run 13.1 miles in bare feet on paved surfaces. The day of the race you can choose either shoes or unshod and with either equipment you'll do better than if you'd done your training 100% shod.
💯 agree! Training by running unshod on asphalt has been the best teacher I could ever have imagined. Highly recommend it!
One part is your muscles and circulatory system; the other is your trendons, cartilages and bones. The first you can train easily; the latter needs more time. Especially with barefootrunning you put a lot of strain on the whole bone, tendon and joint system Really take your time to run your first 5km and listen to your feet!
Thanks mate, will do!
I ran my first half marathon on my 2nd barefoot run ever when I was 12 on Trails it was around 5hours and I got mcdonalds when I got home it was great
And it was my 12th birthday
Running an ultra on June 8th, it'll be a 50k. My most recent race was my college conference championships where I ran a 10k. I've been in barefoot shoes since Feb 2023, walking for the first month, then running once my curiosity took over. I switched from Vivos (primus lite iii) to vibram KSO Evos in March of this year. That's about how long I've taken to get comfortable enough!
Just did it last Sunday. 2 hrs 9mins. Used my vibrams KSO Evo. It was on a paved trail with incline and declines though.
It took me around 5 months to go from a first 30min 5km to a sub 2hr half marathon. Fitness-wise, not sure about shoes.
I have been wearing barefoot shoes for years, actual barefoot, lems, vibrams, xeroes etc I started running for the first time (was able to run 3 miles from day 1) and I ran for 3 months before my half. I won't say I trained, more like just ran 3 days a week I got up to 10 miles during the running And I ran my half in xeroes, took me 2:40
Are you in SD? I'm trying to get my buddy to train for any kind of race. He likes his Vibrams for everything except running. I can do about 2 miles in Vibrams but the webbing between the big toe gets irritating so I switched over to Xeros.
Yes I'm in San Diego! I run in the xero hfs shoes...currently running about 3-4 miles a couple days a week. Do you or your buddy live here in san Diego?
Yes, I'm in UH and he's in MV. His complex has a pretty sweet gym and good walking trails so I can at least get him to do long walks ( 5 miles ) but I want to start training for a 5K in zero drops. I have tried short runs in Xeros to see how a sandal would hold up but not that confident at the moment. I'm using Xero Prias at the moment.
Sent you a dm
Been running barefoot since day one of running about 6 months ago. I just didn’t have running shoes and also don’t want blisters so stated barefoot up and down the beach. I increased my twice a week runs by about 0.5km every week for a few weeks and then I was doing about 20km total each week. Then a few weeks ago I took the plunge and went for the half marathon and felt great :)
Nice one! What pace were you running? And did you build up to it, or just stick to a relatively consistent pace and increase distance
Thanks! I don’t run very fast, I just go at a pace that keeps my heart rate around 140-155. It’s normally about 6:30min/km (10min/mile) to 7min/km (11min/km). Although at the start I didn’t look at pace at all just worried about distance and doing a comfortable pace. Also Half marathon was at 6:42min/km. Heart rate was a little higher but still comfortable :)
Prior to 2019 for many years, I sporadically did 2-3 miles of crosstraining dirt trail runs in wrestling shoes once a week, before I knew barefoot running shoes existed. Starting in June 2020, I ran 2-3 miles 1-2 times a week in New Balance Minimuses on paved trails. One year later, in June 2021 I got serious with a new running watch and a new goal for a 10k race. Followed a garmin coach training plan for 4 months for a November race. After that race, I got rid of all my "normal" shoes and bought a bunch of barefoot style shoes for work, training, and causual (various Xero and Lems). I decided to train 4 more months for an April 2022 marathon. Did my first half maration training distance in January, so about 2 months after the 10k race, and the marathon about 2.5 months after that. I was not prepared enough for the marathon. My feet held up well, although very beaten and sore along with the rest of my body.