BF Running on a treadmill?

[jmbrimley]

Hey guys, kind of a simple question here, might sound dumb but here goes: I'm just getting into BF running, and my feet can't really take the chip-and-seal asphalt roads by my house, much less the 20 degree weather. Would it be smarter to start running barefoot on my treadmill, or wear my KSOs outside? I would like to get some mileage under my belt, but I don't want to kill myself over it. Thanks for any advice!

[Eric_W]

have you tried running outside in your kso even when its that cold?  i find that my feet warm up and they are fine as long as i keep moving

[jmbrimley]

I can run in my KSOs fine in the cold, but I would rather run total barefoot.

[JasonFitz1]

A good idea might be to try a mixture of both - a little bit of barefoot running on the treadmill combined with some running outside in your KSO's. If you're just getting into barefoot running, you want to be really cautious about overdoing it. Your feet and lower legs need time to strengthen and recover, so it's best to run barefoot or in VFF's only 2-3 times per week to start.

It's harder in the cold, so you may need to start by wearing VFF's and then make the transition to totally barefoot in the spring when it's warmer.

Cheers,
- Fitz.
www.strengthrunning.com

[Jason]

I would recommend a mixture of the two, also.  It IS important to exercise caution... patience is a good thing.

As far as barefoot running on a treadmill, it requires a slightly different technique.  The moving belt can interfere with the normal vertical movement of the feet.  If you run as you do on flat ground, it can cause undue friction which can lead to blisters.  The trick is to begin moving your foot backwards immediately before it touches the belt (what we call paw-back). 

Also, be weary of treadmills that develop too much heat.