I am giving away a free copy of The Barefoot Running Book to one lucky reader!
All you need to do is leave a comment below sharing your experience (or lack thereof) with barefoot running.
You have until Tuesday evening (July 13, 2010) at 8:00 pm EDT to leave your comment, after which I will choose somebody at random. Only 1 comment is allowed per person and is subject to any applicable laws where you live.
You can purchase the book for yourself at Amazon, or read my review about what the book contains and what I think of it.
If your comment doesn’t appear right away, then it is probably because this is the first contest you’ve participated in here.
First time commenters are moderated to help keep spam from overtaking the site. So…welcome to Run to Win, and thanks for your patience, I’ll approve it ASAP!
Update: Contest Winner Announced
I have no experience with barefoot running at all. I am intrigued, but also worried and scared.
still waiting to get my VFFs! maybe in the fall. I’m in!!
I have run on the treadmill barefoot, on the beach and when playing backyard baseball….I am toying with some actual real running barefoot but I suppose I should read more about it first so I don’t end up with injuries. The book would come in handy.
I also haven’t yet, but I’m intrigued. Particularly seeing how well some people are doing while running barefoot.
I love doing barefoot strides on the infield at the track. But other than that I prefer to wear a light weight trainer for my normal runs.
I’ve read some about barefoot running, but haven’t tried it. I did try on a pair of VFFs. I think they would take a bit of getting used to.
I like to run barefoot on soft grass infield of the track as a cool down after a track workout (with shoes). It feels great and am considering adding more barefoot/Vibram running to my weekly training.
My coach for cross-country always let us do a few barefoot strides when we were in season. It felt pretty good (except for the times when they flooded the field, haha). Honestly, other than that, I haven’t barefoot ran, but it sounds very intruiging.
Iām halfway there. 300+ miles in VFF, but only 3 barefoot. BF in grass is fine, can even go a little on super smooth asphalt, but older roads hurt just walking on them.
Hey Blaine, I ran Pinelands Barefoot 5k, sorry we did not meet. i ran Providence marathon barefoot this year, broke down after mile 17, but finished at 4 hours 23 minutes, a course record for barefoot! You havn’t lived till you have run your feet bloody!
Hi Blaine,
Did an about face after reading the Bill Bowerman chapter in Born to Run. Have now decided I’m going to try a little grass running at the end of my workout this morning. Looking forward to it.
I have considered running barefoot as part of my training in my overall running experience particularly since I live next to a beach. I think I will try it when I get my weight down some more … like others my biggest concern is not getting hurt doing so because I am currently staying healthy while logging 40 to 45 per week and have up to that range for about 12 weeks now.
I love running barefoot. I used to run because I told myself I had to do it, but now I run because I get to do it.
It’s surprising how much I keep learning along the way; what the human body is capable of, how to listen to feedback from the feet, and the character of people with their comments, both positive and negative.
I hope to see you at Pineland Farms next year.
I tried barefoot running on grass about 3 years ago when I had achilles tendinitis so bad I couldn’t run w/ shoes. My heal was so swollen, it hurt just to walk in running shoes! I’d like to try more of it!
I’ve done plyometrics barefoot and have toyed with the idea of running barefoot some when I am able to start running consistently again.
I’ve started doing some barefoot running in a pair of bikilas. Trying to balance desire to get in mileage with some VFF running. Hoping to eventually do a good bit of speed training (track/shorter tempo) in just the Bikilas.
My only experience is running around the house…If I run outside, I’m afraid of stepping on a rock; ouch! Oh yeah, its too hot here in Texas to run barefoot!
I’ve been running in VFF for the past 2 years and have just recently taken them off and started going completely barefoot. I’ve currently got some nice sized blisters on the undersides of my big toes. I plan on running my first marathon in October, and would really love to do it completely barefoot.
I have made the transition to minimal shoes, and would be willing to do some barefoot running. So far, have been concerned with the ouch factor from rocks, glass, debris. Thanks for the review.
I have no experience with barefoot running, except when I go to the beach. However, since I live in AR, my time time there is rather limited.
I’m curious about what is the right time to experiment with barefoot running: should I have years of experience first, so that I have a better understanding of my gait with shoes?
erik said barefoot running would help my arch (separated navicular) stop hurting, and would allow me to run more than 5 miles at a time without icky bad pain. i’m guessing this book would help me try!
I am intrigued by barefoot running. I don’t know if I would ever want to do totally barefoot due to concerns about being cut by glass, etc. but I would love to try running minimally, with some vibrams or something – and who knows where it could go from there.
I have been running barefoot now for about 5 months. i am slowly building my mileage up and am at 4 miles.
Ok, so I just started barefoot running on my treadmill & wish I would have read this book ahead of time. The first attempt was a disaster!! I cut my normal runs (4-5 miles) in half and ended up with many blisters on both feet. I have since slowed down & cut the runs to 1/4 miles and worked on form. I would still like to read the book to help make adjustments to make a smoother transition.
I live in the city and I’ve been dying to try barefoot running, but I’m so nervous about the streets!!
I started to run (with shoes) a little last year but didn’t stick to it much cause of pains in my lower legs. In May this year i started again more seriously, but i had difficulties running more than 1 km (0.6 miles), again cause of pain. Still i continued after walking a while, thinking it was just because i was out of shape and not used to running. In late June i could run/walk 3 km (1.9 miles) in around 22 minutes, but i just couldn’t seem to improve further. The pains kept me from doing so. One day i read something about barefoot running, and i thought “hey, why not try it, it can’t be worse than this”. So i did and it was quite an experience, i felt like i was flying! That day alone i ran/walked around 7 km (4.3 miles), and gained some huge blisters, i couldn’t walk the next day. But i was hooked right there. This was around early July this year. Since then i have been running barefoot almost every other day, keeping at least one days break for the feet to recover from blisters and cuts, and i’m loving it! My shape is improving like i would have never believed, just 3 days ago i ran 15 km (9.3 miles) without having to walk, took me 1 hour and 39 minutes so it’s not that fast. But still, when i consider that i’ve only been running seriously for less than 3 months, more like 2 months actually, then i can’t complain. And this time, for the first time, the reason i stopped was because i felt tired, not because i had pains. Yesterday i ran 7.2 km (4.5 miles), but had to stop cause of pain in the feet upon impact with the surface, which i think is because i just stress myself too much. Nevertheless, i can recommend anyone and everyone to try it for themselves. Yes you get blisters, at least in the beginning (i don’t get them so much now), and yes you can cut yourself, even though it only happened to me twice so far, and nothing serious. It stings a little, and it bleeds a little, and thats it. You stop running, go home, shower and put a little band aid.
The surface does matter though, i like asphalt, but my preferred place to run is on a 400 m track not far from where i live. There’s also a football field where i can run intervals on grass. I’ve gained a little callus under the feet, but not much. I do however look forward to gaining more and try other kinds of surfaces.
What else can i say.. i’ve tried the five finger shoes, which are ok but i’m not too comfortable with the slapping sound when the rubber hits the asphalt. I’ve tried the Newton Gratitas, which are much better than regular running shoes for me, but still exhaust me quickly. And i’ve tried the typical running shoe of course. If i could avoid ever running without shoes again i would, but i’m not too sure what will happen when the winter comes. But for now, i’m just enjoying every minute of it. š
Sorry for the gramma, i’m from Denmark, english is not my first language.