Another TMTS in vibrams?....arch pain :-(

furious_angels80

furious_angels80

Barefooters
Dec 19, 2010
16
0
1
#1
Well i decided to give my feet a rest all through january and start back up running again from stratch in my Vibrams, canceled all races and focused on enjoying running again...

So started off with 1mile run 2x a week, sore calfs but no shin splints (yay!), a slight niggle in the arch didnt think much of it. carried doing this distance for about 2/3 weeks untill i would have no arch pain or sore calfs for more than a day after the run...

Upped the millage to 2 miles, 2x a week....this is when i started to get some arch pain in my right foot, it would niggle me for the day and then the next it would be better and i wouldnt feel it. Been for another run on sunday and now its abit swollen, but its more on my right foot, this pic below shows the area when its hurting..

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andy.robson/foot/footpain.jpg

As im quite flat footed am i rushing it abit to much and should stick to 1 mile untill i have no pain whatsoever before moving up a notch?
 
#3
when the swelling goes down,

when the swelling goes down, get a golf ball and roll your foot on it. They are great for stretching and strengthening feet, as as a 1 foot lenght of 1" PVC.
 
#4
Ditto Sara!I had this same

Ditto Sara!

I had this same thing in both feet after a 10k just over a week ago. My feet were so sore I could barely walk. I took a look at a graphic and concluded that I simply worked the plantar fascia a bit too much. Not only that, but the surrounding tendons and ligaments too. Everything from both ankles down was jacked!

So, I picked up one of those roller pin foot massager thingys and went at it. I just took it slow and keept kneading and massaging and rolling and in a few days, the discomfort was completely gone.

Give the golf ball a try and see if it helps.

Hope you feel better soon.



NYAB
 
#5
I was really flat footed when

I was really flat footed when I started BFR, but now I have a nice arch, so I can't say that your having flat feet contributed to this. I wouldn't think so, but the jury's out.

If you have swelling, then that's definitely an injury, but of what and why? Your mileage seems very low, which is good.

Also, that area in the picture isn't the plantar fascia, right?
 
#6
Ditto the suggestion to ditch

Ditto the suggestion to ditch teh VFFs at least some of the time. I run in both now (BF and VFF) and know that my feet get more beat up in the VFF's. Not badly more these days, just differently more.

As far as rollers and massage goes, don't forget to give yourself some attention before you go out to run, too.

Good luck and run well!
 
#7
I've had arch pain issues

I've had arch pain issues barefoot or in minimalist shoes. I second the golf ball. Also roll out your soleus; it can pull on the arch.



But the best advice I have is to RELAX your foot, and try to think about a whole-foot landing, instead of trying for a forefoot landing. Now, that doesn't mean you'll actually land on your whole foot--you can still land on your forefoot or midfoot. But by thinking "whole foot" and sorta shooting for that, your foot is closer to parallel when it hits the ground. It seems that most of my arch issues are from OVER-flexing my foot. When I heeded some good advice to have my foot more parallel to the ground before landing, it got rid of most of my arch issues.

In fact, the specific advice I read was that it's even okay to lightly brush the ground iwth your heel before really putting your weight down on your whole foot/midfoot. Not sure if you want to do that or not, but having that in my head seemed to help get me away from over-flexing my arch by focusing TOO much on my forefoot.
 
#9
thanks for the replies guys,

thanks for the replies guys, today the pain has gone abit, but i still feel it niggling there slightly, ive stretched my calfs 4x today, rotated my feet while at my desk and rolled my foot over a deoderant can to stretch it out. Was thinking about a run but i dont want to be injured for my swimming tomorrow (last time i had terrible cramps in my arches and calfs)

As for ditching the VFF its abit to early for me at the mo as in the morning the concreate is sooooooo cold, i can only last about 400m and have to put my vibrams on and even then thats a struggle :-(.

I think C. Beth Run. maybe right and im too focusing on getting a forefoot landing as im scared of getting my shin splints back when i was heel striking and rolling my foot in from the heel as i landed. im going

Im just curious as i only get this injury the most on my right foot or shins, when i went to physio she said i had a weak right glute, think i still need to keep up these exercises or will the barefoot running help correct this naturally?
 
#10
Do you have muscle activation

Do you have muscle activation therapist in your area ? It sounds like you have some deactivated muscles that need reactivating. Those deactivated muscles are what cause other muscles to tighten. Massaging them will only hide the issue to recur at some other time. You can read about it more here. I've expereinced this first hand. Yes I get tight muscles, but I have not massaged them, or strecthed in years. MAT corrects it as needed. This process is more natural, and actually gets to the root of the imbalance/deativated muscle tissue.
 
#11
Well the other day i decided

Well the other day i decided to go for a run on my lunch break to see how it would be this time....even though i was increasing the distance to 3 miles/~5km....and im surprised i have no arch pain at all!! now i dunno if this could be down to a few factors...

On my way to work i did a hard cycle and really pushed myself, maybe this could of warmed/stretched my legs abit? I did my usuall stretch and warm up session but had to cut it down as i only had 40mins to run and have a quick shower.

While running i thought i must be trying to hard to forefoot strike to i just relaxed abit and stuck to a more midfoot strike...and low an behold not arch ache! :D.....BUT.

As i have never been 5km in my vibrams i got some blisters on my feet which was quite painful...i put my socks on next time, ooo and my calfs and started to adapt to the running, i dont get the DOMS so bad and feel i can run every other day.
 
#12
Angel, do you suppose you

Angel, do you suppose you were experiencing extreme soreness and not pain? Perhaps your arches just got a really good workout, then needed time to recoup as do all of the muscles after a good workout.
 
#13
Angel--I don't get blisters

Angel--I don't get blisters in my VFFs but they do CHAFE me. That can really hurt! I have to put some sort of tape on those areas before my long runs. I'm actually okay for shorter runs but if it's maybe 8+ miles, ooh, that chafing hurts.
 
#14
I think you could be right

I think you could be right TJ, plus the last two times i was running i was timing myself so prob just pushed abit to hard? im still about 3 mins behind my 5k PB in trainers, but im just glad i can run without getting them shin splints.

ive got some tape i can put on my blisters so ill do that for my next run and wear my finger socks...see how i get on :)
 
#15
Maybe once it warms up for

Maybe once it warms up for you, Angel, you'll be able to store the VFFs in the closet along with the toe socks.
 
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