HI folks,
Been running barefoot (no VFFs or anything, really barefoot) for 4 months now. Started at 3km run walk and currently at 8kms, but struggling with a new kind of pain.
Over the months I had an evolution with corresponding pain/discomfort: Caleves first, then abrasion on soles and blistering, then tops of feet, then ankle weakness. Now I seem to be over those adjustments and have no more issues there aside from occasional calf tenderness. Certainly abrasion/surface toughness is no problem at all.
Now I am finding that my feet hurt - on the inside, like they've just been pummeled too much. Dropping back to 5kms they rcover overnight, but at 8kms I am jjust doing more damage than I seem to be able to heal running 3x/week.
I am running faster (from 6:30/km to 5:30/km over the 4 months) but not as fast as I was in shoes (4:20/km over that sort of distance) and abrasion is not an issue, so my technique seems to be basically sound. I especially find I impact my right foot more, and am really trying to focus on lifting on landing and improving my form, but I'm feeling like I'm beating against a wall. It's been almost 5 weeks now with no real sign of improvement.
What I'd like to know is if this is part of the evolution of adapting and my feet will still continue to 'toughen up' (of course also incrementally improving form etc., I realize that's always a work in progress) or whether this sounds abnormal from others experience.
I do suffer from relatively mild autoimmune disorder symptoms, amongst which in the past has been bruising of the feet. I currently don't struggle with this symptom and haven;t for a while, but I may be findamentally limited in some way because of it.
Cheers,
Robbi
Been running barefoot (no VFFs or anything, really barefoot) for 4 months now. Started at 3km run walk and currently at 8kms, but struggling with a new kind of pain.
Over the months I had an evolution with corresponding pain/discomfort: Caleves first, then abrasion on soles and blistering, then tops of feet, then ankle weakness. Now I seem to be over those adjustments and have no more issues there aside from occasional calf tenderness. Certainly abrasion/surface toughness is no problem at all.
Now I am finding that my feet hurt - on the inside, like they've just been pummeled too much. Dropping back to 5kms they rcover overnight, but at 8kms I am jjust doing more damage than I seem to be able to heal running 3x/week.
I am running faster (from 6:30/km to 5:30/km over the 4 months) but not as fast as I was in shoes (4:20/km over that sort of distance) and abrasion is not an issue, so my technique seems to be basically sound. I especially find I impact my right foot more, and am really trying to focus on lifting on landing and improving my form, but I'm feeling like I'm beating against a wall. It's been almost 5 weeks now with no real sign of improvement.
What I'd like to know is if this is part of the evolution of adapting and my feet will still continue to 'toughen up' (of course also incrementally improving form etc., I realize that's always a work in progress) or whether this sounds abnormal from others experience.
I do suffer from relatively mild autoimmune disorder symptoms, amongst which in the past has been bruising of the feet. I currently don't struggle with this symptom and haven;t for a while, but I may be findamentally limited in some way because of it.
Cheers,
Robbi