Journey to minimalist running: first steps.

I was very eager to get started with minimalist running, but wasn't quite sure with what distance to get started. I'd read a few different thing start with no more than 200 yards, start with 1/4 mile max. I went for 400m, which is about 1/4 mile. I did this twice after my regular jogs: once on my bare feet and once in my minimalist shoes. Here's how this went, what I learnt from it and how the following jogs have been.

First run
I've done loads of reading on the subject lately and one thing I read was that nothing can prepare you for running barefoot. I see what was meant by that, you simply have to give it a go! Once I'd done that I did some more reading. My calves were rather sore for two days after that first barefoot jog. So I tried to find some info on that, and learnt that usually this means that you're not allowing your heel to contact the ground.

Second run
After the second jog, in shoes, my feet felt very tense. I was focussing on trying to do it right so much! Since then, I've come across Jason Robillard's book: The Barefoot Running Book 2nd edition online. (It's available for free here!) This book has taught me a lot of new things! Here's a few things that were most useful for me at the time:

• Relaxation is important! 
• It's important to lift your feet up from the ground rather than pushing them off. There are useful drills in there too and the ones that I needed especially were walking in place whilst focussing on lifting one foot rather than on placing the other on the floor.
• You don't have to lean forward, but if you do it should come from your ankles, not your waist or hips. In order to get this right, there's this exercise: go and stand in front of a wall, about 15cm away from it. Lean forward from your ankles until your head touches the wall. 
• Cadence is another important aspect that he gives advice on. It should be around 180 foot strikes per minute. You can download an mp3 file from http://metronomer.com/ with the right tempo and listen to this on your mp3 player and try to lift one foot up on every beat.
• I also like how Jason stated that what you need to do is listen to your body.

Third and fourth runs
After another of my regular jogs, I did a jog of about 500m whilst trying to focus on the things I'd learnt from what I'd read. This felt much more comfortable than the previous attempt! It did make me unsure about how my feet land though. But then again, my calves were fine and my Achilles tendon wasn't bothering me as much afterwards. Two days later I did the fourth run. I jogged about 600m after which I clearly felt my Achilles tendons. It didn't really hurt though, I could just feel that I'd used them.

Runs five through eight
These jogs were 700, 800, 900, and 1000m. The fifth run was a special one for me as my achilles tendons haven't ached since then! On some jogs I focus too much on my feet and running feels weird, but on others, especially the last one, all is great! I do start too fast because I try to run with a high cadence, but it's okay because I automatically slow down when I grow more tired.

So far so good! I'll just keep on adding 100m to every jog. If I feel I need more rest, then I'll take an extra day off, and there's always the option not to add the extra distance until I'm comfortable with it.

Well this is my plan in theory, we'll see how it actually works out in practice!
Sincerely,
R.