I Curved-Up My Toes!

[DavidP]

Five miles this morning, my longest barefoot run of the year! I've been plagued with blisters on my right 2nd & 3rd toe pads for several months. I've been concentrating on bending my knees more, lifting quickly, increasing my cadence, and relaxing, etc., none of which has helped much with my toes. I was given a revelation yesterday reading Barefoot Ken Bob's book, curve up your toes before foot landing! (p100). He calls when he discovered it an epiphany and it really is. I really concentrated on this and it made a huge difference! My feet are a bit tender, but no blisters today!
After a year of running BF I am realizing I have so much to learn and practice.

5mi, 12:00 pace, Asphalt chip seal, 70 degrees, 60% humidity, Sunny. Happy.

~David

 

[Gkikas]

David, that's great news!  I

David, that's great news! I can't wait to read Ken Bob's book, too... sounds very informative!

As for curling-up the toes... I don't recall where I read that, but I too, applied this little trick and haven't suffered any of the abrasions I previous did on my 2nd and 3rd metatarsals (I have Morton's Toe). Excellent to hear your corroborate!

Cheers

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Wonderful, David.  Glad to

Wonderful, David. Glad to hear of your progress. It can only get easier now.

 

[DavidP]

Gkikas, I have Morton's toe

Gkikas, I have Morton's toe too, big time. It is interesting you had the same problem with the second and third toes. Happy running! ~David

 

[Nyal]

How does curling help with

How does curling help with the MT patches? What does the foot look like? Shouldn't your foot be relaxed?

 

[Phil Hart]

For me, my feet are totally

For me, my feet are totally relaxed except for slightly pulling up the toes. It works like magic for me too.

 

[Abide]

Nyal wrote:How does curling

How does curling help with the MT patches? What does the foot look like? Shouldn't your foot be relaxed?

I'm a little leary of this advice as well and I am actually surprised to hear it recommended in his book. If you physically curl your toes there will be tension in your foot at landing. For short distances it's not a big deal but over time you are asking for trouble.

My thoughts are (excluding any unusual issues like MN) that your toes only come into the equation when you are trying to establish balance. If you are running on a flat smooth surface they will barely touch ground since your balance should be pretty stable if you are landing under your center of mass and are not over striding. I might recommend actually focusing on your posture more, make sure it is upright and pull your shoulders back a little.

 

[Abide]

Ok I got it and that makes

Ok I got it and that makes sense. There is some minimal tension from lifting your feet up and naturally that will cause your toes to curve up. I read your original post as you were exaggerating the toe curve, my bad.

 

[DavidP]

Abide, you really need to get

Abide, you really need to get BFKB's book, I have learned so much that I just would never figured out on my own. He explains discovering curling up his toes while running his 20th something marathon if I remember correctly. The theory behind this is that as a totally relaxed foot lands the arch compresses and the heel and toes move forward and backward respectively causing a small amount of friction. By lifting the toes this "prestretches" the foot and prevents the friction. It may be more common with Morton's Toe, he does not address this.

This is not new info and I doubt much of the book has info that was not on his website in some form. The curved toes recommendation is on his here under the "Bent" heading.

What is new is the background behind what he recommends. It has some wonderful stories and explantions that give perspective. BF running may come easily to some gifted folks, but there is a science and technique to it that us less gifted folks can gain much by learning. In the preface, he states a big reason for writing the book at this time was because of the explosion in BFR folks are getting hurt and frustrated because they are doing things wrongly.

~David

 

[migangelo]

i learned to pick up my toes

i learned to pick up my toes while running in vff. after kicking things twice i have never done it again. i now have kicked many things with the ball of my foot exactly where my toes would've been and am glad for that. it's a lot denser than my toes.

that's how i came across the info to pick up your toes. so that you don't kick things with them.



Mike

 

[lparker]

Yup, curling the toes is

Yup, curling the toes is about the only way to reduce injury especially on rough surfaces like rocks and gravel. It allows the ball of your foot to form around irregularities as it relaxes, as well as keeps your toes elevated slightly as you make contact.

 

[zapmamak]

Funny. I actually discovered

Funny. I actually discovered this a few months back. I have webbed toes (my 2nd and 3rd) and they tend to hang and drag the ground. I kind of naturally curl my toes up as I run to avoid getting the blisters on those weaker toes. Its something that I do intuitively on more abrasive terrain like asphalt and cement. I did it one time when I ended up on a newly paved road that was extra sharp and jabby. Worked like a charm. I notice I don't do it all the time, only when things start to get more abrasive.