Walking harder than running!

Neil_D

Neil_D

Chapter Presidents
Aug 30, 2010
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Adelaide, South Australia
minimalistrunning.blogspot.com.au
#1
Well, you would think that in the natural progression of things that we all start off walking barefoot to strengthen our feet before moving on to the more advanced running.

Well after well over a year of barefoot running, getting through all the transitional aches and pains and now being quite confident with my running form on the pavements, I manage to get a pair of nice blisters aarrgg.

I didn't get them from running though.

MY feet were in top form, looking good feeling good. Last monday, it was a warm 32C day I decided I needed to get some milk from the supermarket and I loathe just getting in the car to drive a couple of km, if I have the time I'll always walk.

I set out for my barefoot walk along concrete and brick footpaths to the store, as it had been a hot day the pavements were still warm but not painfully so. I walked at a fast pace there and back then noticed when I got back I had blisters on both feet.

It seems that as walking is different to running and there must be more push off or heel-toe motion that the friction must have been greater and caused the blisters. It is quite difficult to replicate a forefoot landing while walking fast unless you want to look like a chimpanzee. Heels were made for walking.

You all must know how hard it is once you have rubbes up blisters to train. I ran 7km yesterday without irritating them too much but a run of 14.5km along wet san and road was a bit too much, wow they were painful by the end. Now I'm home and cleaned up they are feeling better, maybe I should have a rest for a few days

I never burst blisters as the fluid cushioning is doing a job of protecting the new skin underneath.

Anyone else blistered their feet walkiing!



Neil
 
#2
Yeah, I agree barefoot

Yeah, I agree barefoot walking is haaaaaard (!!!!!!) when you first start. Once you get going it becomes easier - second nature.

I started walking before running (for about a month, following Jason's Barefoot Running University plan) so I got the walking down before the running started.

It's weird form (at least the way I walk barefoot) and different from the way anyone walks in shoes - knees bent more, feet LIFTING just like in running. When I walk barefoot especially on rough surfaces my back straightens instantly and my arms swing like mad. I take a million tiny little steps instead of striding like I have been used to. I've never experienced blisters, but I did start walking straight out on really bad, rocky, old worn sidewalks & gravel, which made me step very gingerly. At least, that's my experience with it. Now it's become a joy. I intend on traveling everywhere barefoot in the spring/summer/fall of 2011.

P.S. You should try walking barefoot at an indoor mall sometime. PURE BLISS to have your soles on the marble floors! :)
 
#3
I was in prime barefoot

I was in prime barefoot walking condition a little over a year ago when I started adding real BFRunning to my routine. Before that, just little short bursts of running were standard for me.

I walked gravel and everything, and was fully conditioned.

After building up to running 30 minutes straight, aside from the typical calf, soleus, and achilles aches, I found that my soles were sore and in need of rest on my runnuing days off. When the spring race season began, and all of a sudden I felt the competitive urge, I pretty much stopped real walks and let my feet rest between training runs. I got to the point that I could run BF on anything, but lost my walking toughness. By Decenber I started slacking off in the running, but deliberatly walked as much as possible, and by the Holidays was ready for 5 miles a day walking on rough FL Keys coral. Ran 30 minutes a few times while down there, but realized that I was back to tough as nails walking feet, but not in my prime sole conditioning for running.

The two activities condition the soles very differently, at least in my case.
 
#4
Barefoot Mary wrote:p.S. You

Barefoot Mary said:
P.S. You should try walking barefoot at an indoor mall sometime. PURE BLISS to have your soles on the marble floors! :)
Click to expand...



Museums are even more fun.
 
#5
 Makes me wonder, in the

Makes me wonder, in the midst of all our paleo-man musings, if the rudimentary shoes/mocassins that have been found in archeological sites were worn for walking, and if they kicked them off when they started to run. I've also found it much harder to walk barefooted than to run, at least if trying to maintain a mid-foot or forefoot strike.
 
#6
I have more difficulty

I have more difficulty walking than running too. Heal-to-ball is normal, but for me, I actually seem to strike my heel when I walk. It has made getting over PF a beeatch. (The PF is something I developed after having MN surgery inside the balls of my feet, since I couldn't put weight on the balls of my feet). I can't walk for long distances, like through stores and stuff without feeling a great deal of PF pain afterwards; however, I can run seveal miles and not have the same problem.

Perhaps the pavement was hotter than you thought it was and caused those blisters.
 
#7
It's comforting to know that

It's comforting to know that others have found that there is a difference (other than the effort involved) in ground contact between walking and running.

I am leaning more to the fact that walking is harder due to the time the feet are in contact with the ground per unit of distance compared with running.

It may be that over a 100m distance, walking, the foot is in contact with the ground 200 x 0.4S = 80s but while running it may be 100 x 0.25s = 25s that is a whole lot more ground contact, add to that as TJ says the temperature of the ground then it can be seen that barefoot running could be far less damaging than walking.

Has anyone out there done any definitive study of this?

Neil
 
#8
It's true that one of the

It's true that one of the reasons why walking barefoot is more difficult than running barefoot is because our feet are in contact more with the ground for a longer period of time when walking than running.
 
#9
Have'nt seen any definitive

Have'nt seen any definitive studies, but anecdotaly I believe:

- When walking a heel pad fully settles in, but while running it just lightly touches, resulting in less deep tissue trauma and conditioning.

- Toes are only for balance when running with proper form, but do push off when walking normaly.

-1'st metatarso-phalangial joint extension is a big aspect of gait while walking at any decent clip, but is not needed while running.

- 1'st metatarsal pad is used for walking much more than for running, same as the heel pad is, but to a lesser extent.

- Someone who walks on rough coarse pavement with a few stones scattered about three hours per week will be much more comfortable during that activity than someone who runs on hard surfaces nine hours per week but never walks while attempting to do the same.
 
#10
I was just thinking about

I was just thinking about this today after my run. I stopped about half a mile away from my house and walked and noticed the extreme difference. What I noticed most was the way I pushed off on the balls of my feet more. I definitely land on my heel, transfer to the ball, and then slightly push off. Way different than the way I run. I could actually feel the amount of friction between the balls of my feet and the ground. No blisters or anything, but I was paying very close attention. I wouldn't call it a heel "strike", more like a heel "landing" followed by the transfer. But I definitely found it harder to walk "softer" and a mid/forefoot strike is out of the question for me. I tried and it felt really, really weird! /build2/sites/all/modules/smileys/packs/Roving/smile.png

I thought it was interesting...
 
#11
When I walk barefoot, I fall

When I walk barefoot, I fall into a midfoot strike - just. My heel lands a fraction of a second after the rest of my foot. This feels comfortable and easy. But...

as soon as I put anything on my feet - no matter how minimal, I start to land on my heel, and it gets incomfortable after 10 minutes or so without a padded heel in the shoe. Trying to emulate my barefoot stride feels awkward and uncomfortable in any kind of shoes.
 
#12
not as much experience with

not as much experience with running, but I have barefoot walked for YEARS.. and I know that I get callouses doing that which seem to a) be disapearing with the running and b) be in places that don't get the pressure when running- big toe and heel more than the rest of the foot.

walking for me is definitely heel-toe.. heel strike and not soft... DH said when I run on the first floor vs walk (I ran some laps) while he is in the basement he notices that the walking makes more noise down there.
 
#13
I notice walking ball to heel

I notice walking ball to heel that, at first, I landed on the outermost portion of the ball of each foot then pronated inwards while letting the heel touch briefly. I couldn't move the initial landing point any further in unless I bent my knees. But after many weeks of walking ball to heel every chance I got, my tendons and ligaments have adjusted or loosened up, and I can walk with my landing point just about the middle of the ball of my foot. I can even pronate all the way to letting the 1st metatarsal land first without any discomfort or need to bend my knees more. Just takes time loosen things up I guess. Kind of like undoing all the years of walking in shoes.

Walking ball to heel does sap some of the speed at first, but you can get faster.. to a point, then no more. It just seems easier to hustle walking heel to toe. Go any faster ball to heel and you have to start running slow. Wearing minimalist shoes I don't have a problem either way of walking, but I am sure that I would have to watch it barefoot.
 
#14
If I'm walking alone and at

If I'm walking alone and at my own pace, it's a piece of cake to walk comfortably for miles barefoot. I concentrate on lifting my toes slightly before making contact with the sidewalk. This spreads the skin on my forefoot BEFORE it contacts the ground instead of after, which causes the friction. It's important to relax the rest of your foot, ankle, and calves while slightly lifting your toes..this can be tricky if your concentration slips.



I run into a problem when walking with my wife and trying to keep pace with her giant, heal-striking strides. My strides are significantly shorter to ensure that I'm contacting the ground in the right spot. As a result, my cadence is like Fred Flintstone getting his car up to speed. It takes a ton of focus to match her speed and keep my feet contacting the ground at the right spot and in the right position.
 
#15
That was very informative. 

That was very informative. Thanks for sharing. I tend to heel-strike when I walk, and I can't seem to get away from walking that way. I wonder if it's because of the neuromas in my fore-feet. I wonder if after I have the surgery to remove the neuromas if I will be able to walk with less of a heal strike, or will I still heel-strike so heavily out of habit. Hmmmm.
 
#17
I will definitely do that. 

I will definitely do that. Thank you.
 
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