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@whatfriends
start real real slow. go out for ten mins then rest a few days and then a little longer next time and repeat. the point is not that you are simulating barefoot so much as trying to eliminate the heel strike from your running style, and 5 fingers help as they have no cushioning. when i started i was right up on my balls of my feet, now im more used to it i land slightly further back and occasionally my heel touches the floor but not before the rest of my foot. ive got so used to it now that i can run in shoes again (trail shoes off road - neutral, definately not corrective and with the thinnest padding i could find), as the fingers dont work so well in the mud round here.
I have read that you should expect to take 8 weeks for the transition from corrective footwear/heel strike running to barefoot/minimal footwear/forefoot landing running. 8 weeks to get back to the same level. thats a long time. so take it slow. lots of small quick pitty patty steps so your heels flick up to your ass then come back round to land just slightly in front of your centre of gravity so you are never putting a striking force through your heel like supportive shoes encourage you to do. .
another benefit of the fingers/minimal footwear is that they help to strengthen your ankles so they actually get back some of their flexibility and support that they lost from wearing shoes all the time. i fond myself wanting to walk in them more and more as my feet and ankles get stronger and stronger. initially i only ran in them and walking was no fun.
i may have said this already but the fingers forced me to change the way i ran and i enjoy running now whereas i never did before. ever. and i always wanted to. i used to get shin pain, quad pain, knee pain, groin pain every time i ran and it would last for days after. now i can go for an hour, not warm up, or warm down, or stretch and i dont hurt. this is what i always wanted from running and i love it now. if i really do a hard run, especially off road with a lot of side stepping and jumping i can feel it the next day, and if i dont run for a month its the same thing. but not at all like with my old heel strike first running style.
you know that beautiful feeling you get when you havent ridden for a long time and your bike feels light and quiet, riding hills like it aint no thing, like you're flying and it makes you smile? well i finally found that with running. its made me so happy.