I posted some of this on the New Members forum, and TJ told me to post it here for advice, so here goes...
Prior to even knowing about BFR, I've been scampering around barefoot for the past 3 years or so, as a lifeguard, a hiker, and all around the house. Because I'm barefoot most of the time anyways, I figured I could skip the whole "walk around barefoot for a few days before you even think about running" stage of easing into BFR. (i've been adapting Jason's plan from barefootuniversity.com)
I've been BFR for just over two weeks now. During the first week I was so excited and not so informed about going snail pace slow for transitioning to barefeet and changing from a heel strike to a forefoot strik. I ran a mile on the track with my hugely heeled running shoes, but all with a forefoot strike. And then I ran a lap, walked a lap until I both ran and walked a mile barefoot. I did this two days later again during that first week, with some calf soreness, but no foot pain.
For my second week of barefoot running, I decided to scale back after learning about all the acronyms of BFR like TMTS and TOFP. I ran 1 mile barefoot on the track. Two days later I ran 1 and a quarter miles on the track BF. I developed more blisters, and unfortunately, some pain in my 4th met on my right foot. This also requires some back story. Back in the 10th grade I fractured my 4th met during a soccer game. I got a medical shoe (not a boot) with a rigid sole. And then around 6 weeks later was declared healed, with a bump of bone mass on my foot that ached whenever it rained. Skip ahead a year and a half, on an afternoon following a morning 6k I fractured my 4th met again while doing the Electric Slide at a Senior Citizen prom, in flip flops. Should have been barefoot! Feeling the exact pain from before, I skipped the doctor’s visit, dug the good ol’ recovery shoe out of the attic, and limped around for a month until I decided that it was healed.
Fast forward two and half more years and you have me here now: starting to run barefoot and totally excited. But then a couple mornings ago, I found myself discouraged by some pain in the exact spot where I fractured my foot twice before. Now, I’m hoping this is because of all the rain we’ve been getting here. It doesn’t hurt to touch and press and move around. But it hurts when I walk and when I run in place. I did some googling and looked at a ton of BRS forums on stress fractures. Could this be the origin of a stress fracture? How can I keep injuring this same metatarsal when it is supposed to be getting stronger each time I break it? I’m at a loss and I am looking to y’all for some advice. Meanwhile I’ve stopped running and once again I am only swimming and biking.
Prior to even knowing about BFR, I've been scampering around barefoot for the past 3 years or so, as a lifeguard, a hiker, and all around the house. Because I'm barefoot most of the time anyways, I figured I could skip the whole "walk around barefoot for a few days before you even think about running" stage of easing into BFR. (i've been adapting Jason's plan from barefootuniversity.com)
I've been BFR for just over two weeks now. During the first week I was so excited and not so informed about going snail pace slow for transitioning to barefeet and changing from a heel strike to a forefoot strik. I ran a mile on the track with my hugely heeled running shoes, but all with a forefoot strike. And then I ran a lap, walked a lap until I both ran and walked a mile barefoot. I did this two days later again during that first week, with some calf soreness, but no foot pain.
For my second week of barefoot running, I decided to scale back after learning about all the acronyms of BFR like TMTS and TOFP. I ran 1 mile barefoot on the track. Two days later I ran 1 and a quarter miles on the track BF. I developed more blisters, and unfortunately, some pain in my 4th met on my right foot. This also requires some back story. Back in the 10th grade I fractured my 4th met during a soccer game. I got a medical shoe (not a boot) with a rigid sole. And then around 6 weeks later was declared healed, with a bump of bone mass on my foot that ached whenever it rained. Skip ahead a year and a half, on an afternoon following a morning 6k I fractured my 4th met again while doing the Electric Slide at a Senior Citizen prom, in flip flops. Should have been barefoot! Feeling the exact pain from before, I skipped the doctor’s visit, dug the good ol’ recovery shoe out of the attic, and limped around for a month until I decided that it was healed.
Fast forward two and half more years and you have me here now: starting to run barefoot and totally excited. But then a couple mornings ago, I found myself discouraged by some pain in the exact spot where I fractured my foot twice before. Now, I’m hoping this is because of all the rain we’ve been getting here. It doesn’t hurt to touch and press and move around. But it hurts when I walk and when I run in place. I did some googling and looked at a ton of BRS forums on stress fractures. Could this be the origin of a stress fracture? How can I keep injuring this same metatarsal when it is supposed to be getting stronger each time I break it? I’m at a loss and I am looking to y’all for some advice. Meanwhile I’ve stopped running and once again I am only swimming and biking.
