Toe rubbing on CONCRETE

Bigwilly

Bigwilly

Barefooters
Mar 31, 2016
6
8
3
San Francisco
#1
4th time barefoot running. Love it but 2 of my toes keep Rubbing on the concrete. And it burns to the point where I have to stop. Its only on my left foot. Is that because of the way I place my left foot? I read a post that I should place and pull. My right foot glides smoothly. But my left feels awkward. It doesn't smoothly glide like my right foot does. I'm brand new to running in general. Injured myself big time running with shoes. Oh and I'm flat footed too. Every time I tried to run with asics made for my flat feet I would injure my knees. In shoes I would feel forced to forefoot strike. Barefoot running is the only way I can run where I don't have a knee injury. my knee feels super good. But my left toes keep Rubbing on concrete. Any tips to help me with my left foot striking?
 
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#3
Hello @Bigwilly !

If you have only had 4 barefoot runs then you are still likely to get blisters and maybe minor bruises. You feet and specially your soles still have to toughen up. Anyway, try to analyze the way you plant your feet on the ground when running. You should try to minimize friction.
Have a look at this thread; look for a comment by Ken Bob where he shows a video of himself running on a treadmill. There you can see how his soles seem to just "touch" the ground before being lifted again. I found it very relevant to help me improve my technique.

Cheers!
 
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#4
KTR said:
Hello @Bigwilly !

If you have only had 4 barefoot runs then you are still likely to get blisters and maybe minor bruises. You feet and specially your soles still have to toughen up. Anyway, try to analyze the way you plant your feet on the ground when running. You should try to minimize friction.
Have a look at this thread; look for a comment by Ken Bob where he shows a video of himself running on a treadmill. There you can see how his soles seem to just "touch" the ground before being lifted again. I found it very relevant to help me improve my technique.

Cheers!
Click to expand...
What he said!! You need to get some tough skin on your soles! Myself, since I'm easing into summer bare foot running, usually take my KSO's off for the last 1/2 mile or so. Gradually increase distance without shoes until I go completely without them. Doesn't take too long! As you progress, you will see that the first time takes the longest. Unless you get pedicures... God I hope you don't do that! Be patient, pick up your feet and best of luck!! Enjoy!
 
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#6
Which toes makes problems? When i 1st time did 7km with pace under 5mins/km, my 2nd toe lost skin and was bleeding.
Imho, reason of toes rubbing for barefoot running not from how you placing foot, but how you lifting it. Too much pushoff main reason.
If you running faster - more blisters, rubbing.
Its why many barefoot runners running with shoes at competitions, if going for fast pace.
 
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#7
Keep at it. As @Barefoot Ken Bob says in his book, your feet will adjust to what they feel. You will toughen up your toes, but you will also likely pull your feet from the ground quicker and more vertically as well. This should improve your stride. I have only been able to run BF outside just barely (stupid weather). I find the same tenderness. It feels like it comes less from landing and more from pulling the foot back and scraping ground as I do so. Just my experience.
 
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#8
I'd add, if possible, video yourself so you can see what your stride difference is from right to left.
 
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#9
Hard to say only being your 4th time... my soles were 'burning' for the first few months but I was learning on rougher road, and often times still do if I run on rough chip seal or something like that early in spring when they have softened up some over the winter. Could be they just need to toughen, or could be your pushing off with them. Try to make sure to lift your feet on not push off with each step.
 
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#10
BW -Purely from a perspective of sharing experiences my two penneth would be:-

I would agree that 4th time in is still really early days in your journey.
I remember noticing similar differences between each foot as my feet slowly 'conditioned' and my form changed/developed. I can't recall which one it was, but I know one of them seemed to be more susceptible to blisters, etc... than the other. I wouldn't mind betting that none of us runs with a perfectly symmetrical gait, so I guess that there will always be differences between the forces experienced by each foot.

There is a lot of useful information to take in and I know that sometimes whilst you are actually running it can seem a bit like overload -'what are my feet doing?', 'is my forefoot striking first?', 'should I try and land flat?', 'am I upright enough?', etc., etc...

What seemed to work for me was actually forgetting about what my feet were doing and instead just focusing on 'short stride', 'short stride', 'short stride' as I run. We are all different and what works for one obviously won't necessarily work for somebody else. I do recall though that once I'd managed to filter down all of the information to a single thought everything else somehow seemed to fall into place.

Keep at it -your best tool will be patience...:barefoot:
 
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#11
+1 to what KTR said about Ken Bob's soles just touching the ground before being lifted again.

When you're just starting running barefoot, you probably don't have strong enough core and hips to control your knees, nor strong enough shin muscles to support the arch and control the foot. Give it time, build slow. Your feet are probably squirming on the ground because of hip and knee rotation; that will cause hot spots on your toes and balls of the feet.

TrailDancer
 
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#12
Without seeing you it's hard to figure out. Sounds like a weak glute med not holding your hip up. Therefore you get the foot drag. Good core work and glute exercises will help. Don't be afraid to lift weights. Deadbugs, planks, birddogs, bridges, clamshells are some good body weight exercises to start with. Plenty of you tube videos but so many of them are done poorly. If you're not feeling it in the muscles you're targeting, start over.

Good luck
 
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#13
My first blister of the season! More like an abrasion. Little toe on left foot. This is about my fourth run this spring. About 15 minutes (maybe a mile and a half at the very most) all on chip-n-seal road. Much sharper and more agressive than the sidewalks. I just bit off more than I could chew this evening. Oh well. Not the first blister, and with any luck, I'll get more in the next thirty years. :) The worst is those damn little pellets of fertilizer scattered over the sidewalks. :) Let's see some nasty foot pics!!
 

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#14
In my case it is ring toe, always left foot sometimes right one. Im sure I run too fast, problem is I struggle to slow down with 'good' cadence.
;-) more and more thinking about it, it is most probably over thinking and I'm not relaxed enough
 
#15
hikerdana said:
I'm had problems with toes on both feet, but since I've been working on picking up my feet I only have a problem with my right foot.
Click to expand...
You have problems with the toes on your feet?!?! You should see the toes on my patella! Talk about a 'problem', right! Explain those lil' piggies at the gym! Lol!! ;)
 
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