Barefoot beginner concerns...

[bookwyrm]

Why hello, people who are more informed than me! That would be all of you. I am new to barefooting...and to running. Nice to meet you!

I am going to jump right in: after reading some terrifying injury stories, I am now concerned about taking things too fast. I was hoping that perhaps someone might weigh in on whether I'm being an idiot etc.? (I have walked around my house barefoot for years, and for weeks before beginning, I did the minimal shoe thing exclusively when out and about.)

Since I'm not a runner already, I'm looking at a very gentle schedule: a run-walk regime that will build up to 30 minutes steady running over 8 weeks. My first day out I did 30 minutes run-walking (only 10 of the 30 were actually running). My calves were SORE......like, all the next day, I had to pay attention in order not to limp. I meant to take one day off and run again, but my calves (which are basically noodles) were still so incredibly sore that I decided to wait a second day, based on the theory that the muscles needed to heal a little bit before working them out again would be effective.

My calves were still sore on day three when I went for my second run (totally barefoot on a path that alternated asphault and concrete; a grass strip off to the side gave the soles of my feet a break for 5-15 steps at a time, a few times, during which I did concentrate on keeping in form). The second time I upped it to running 15 minutes out of the 30. Again my calves were quite sore. (The soles of my feet felt a bit abraded, but this went away quickly and I think I am ok on that front.) Calves remained sore through the next day (today), but less sore than they were the first time. I'm not having any complaints from the top of my foot or my achilles tendon.

My main concern is about the calf "pain." From other sporting endeavors, I would say that the soreness feels like the good kind of soreness: muscles building, ones that just absolutely weren't there at all. But I'm not familiar enough with beginning running, or with beginning barefooting, or the pitfalls thereof, to tell whether this could be a bigger warning sign. I think I will be okay to go out again tomorrow, judging from the calf soreness I feel now (I'm thinking asphault and totally bare feet for a while to hard-wire the form into my forming muscles), but I read about calf "pain" as being a problem with beginning barefoot runners, and I was wondering whether what feels like normal muscle sorness could be a warning sign of something more dangerous. I was thinking I'd stick to running 15 out of the 30 minutes for the next run or two, then up it to 20 out of the 30 minutes, etc., assuming I don't feel any warning-sign kind of pain. (This is not running for 15 or 20 minutes straight--this is the beginner run-walk thing where you run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute, etc.)

So, after that lengthy, lengthy (sorry) explanation, does anyone have an opinion? Is this calf soreness probably just normal muscle-building, as I suspect/hope? Or could it be a horrible symptom of something that might turn into a real problem?

Thanks for your time, and sorry about the verbosity...(Oh dear, that turned out even longer than I thought!)

 

[jschwab]

I think it is normal but if

I think it is normal but if you keep running on sore muscles you can chage your gait to adapt and end up with something more serious. Make sure you drink alot, eat sufficiently, and rest. I recently had a bout with doing dynamic squats that gave me muscle soreness for a continuous 4 days. It can definitely last a long time. I ran two hard races on those legs right after that and ended up injuring myself. Definitely take it slow and easy.

 

[Longboard]

Finding that right balance is

Finding that right balance is the whole secret to everything in life.

Most people I know either don't push hard enough with regards to excercise and are terribly out of shape as a result, or else they push far too hard and are constantly injured.

Your calf "pain" sounds like good pain to me, but just be careful and don't over do it.

30 minutes straight after 8 weeks sounds like a reasonable goal to me.

Welcome!

 

[bookwyrm]

Thanks for your

Thanks for your advice!

jschwab, I'm sorry to hear that you got hurt. Your point about a changed gait with sore muscles makes a lot of sense. I'll definitely keep it in mind, and if my muscles still feel quite sore tomorrow, I'll take another day before going back out.

Longboard, thanks for the welcome! Haha, I am not in the best shape (one of those "thin but not fit" people), but hopefully I will find a balance.

 

[miqie]

You probably need to do more

You probably need to do more calf stretching. See this thread: http://barefootrunners.org/build2/forum-topic/tofp-and-stretching . Also, it helps to use a roller on the calves. I have a metal pipe with a pvc pipe over that which I roll up and down my calves. One other thing, don't land on the balls of your feet. You should be aiming for a mid to full foot landing with your heal just lightly kissing the ground and your feet landing under your hips not out in front of your body.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

I was another "thin but not

I was another "thin but not fit" person when I started running last October! Now I'm thin and fit. It's nice.

Anyway--I had a lot of calf pain and still sometimes have some. I've been running BF for a month and a half now. Sounds like mine felt similar to yours at first, like when I've used any muscle in ways I wasn't used to using it.

It sounds like you have started pretty reasonably but I'm concerned about you jumping from 10 to 15 to 20 minutes of running so quickly. The general rule is not to increase your running distance/time by more than 10% a week (BF or shod) to prevent injury. You're talking about doubling it in a very short time! (I'll admit for the first 2 or 3 weeks of my BF running I did increase more quickly than 10% a week because 10% was SUCH a short distance. But I still wasn't doing HUGE jumps in distance except my 2nd week when I had some ill-advised 2+ mile runs I wasn't ready for.)

You might check out the Couch-to-5K plan, which is what I used when I first started running. It gets you to 30 minutes of running in 9 weeks, running 3 times a week. I stretched it to 10 weeks. I think the nice thing about a very specific plan is that it can help you not to progress TOO quickly, which can be a temptation for many runners! I have a detailed training plan now, and I'm following it closely to ensure I don't increase my mileage too much each week.

As for the calves...using a foam roller on my calves has been helping. I like my Grid roller (by TriggerPoint; get it on their website or Amazon) but any foam roller will do. (Or, as miquie said, it doesn't have to be foam. Barefoot Jason recently posted a link on his blog about using a rolling pin on your calves.) You can roll the whole calf, but focus on the areas that are really sore, and stay on them for awhile, just doing tiny little rolling motions to work out the knots. Icing the calves can be great too.

I've been wishing I'd started running barefoot instead of starting with shoes--glad you are doing that!

Good luck!

 

[bookwyrm]

Thanks for the link to the

Thanks for the link to the calf stretching post! The Soleus stretch is new to me and a great addition. I am definitely doing calf stretches and rolls--I saw the video on the facebook page, and it was very convincing (I have been using my aluminum water bottle). I should probably make myself do longer bouts of it, though...I can't seem to make myself do it more than a minute per leg.

C. Beth, I have heard of the 10% rule, and it seems like a good one. I looked at the couch-to-5k running plan, actually, as well as the Runner's World 8-Week Plan, and ended up with a kind of hybrid. (The switch between the end of week 1 and the beginning of week 2 of the Runner's World program seemed to drastic to me, hence the 15-minute go-between.) I admit to some reservations about the Runner's World plan...after all, my calves tell me that 2 days in a row of running in my first week would be suicidal. I did okay jumping up to the 15 minute one, I think because of what you mentioned--it was such a short distance that I started at, with the 10 minutes--but I may take it more slowly with the next increase. I assumed the Runner's World people weren't looking at it as more than 10% increases because the walking is decreased as the running is increased, keeping it to a total of 30 minutes...

Anyway, this may be a wimpy move, but I am not running along a long track halfway and then back to the car, or on a long loop, even. I am running short loops around a park, so that if I start to feel any TOFP or anything, I can make it back to the car without killing myself =D.

 

[Blind Boy]

Wimpy is a good thing, if you

Wimpy is a good thing, if you start "pushing through the pain" and other such nonsense you'll end up hurt fairly quickly.

About the calf pain, it could be one of two things. It's either what the others have said, your calves just need to adjust or it could be that you're a little too careful when you let your heel touch down. Trust your feet, don't try to interfere with how your body wants to move and you'll find that your reflexes will make sure you land correctly.

Also, welcome! I was a new runner myself when I started this last summer and I've had more fun running barefoot than I ever had when I tried to start in shoes.

 

[swedishpimple]

Welcome bookwyrm!I am also

Welcome bookwyrm!

I am also new to BFR and running... I started in April.

The best advice I can give you is to just listen to your body. Rest as often as you need to.... don't be so set on running at a certain pace or distance or time that you ignore feedback from your legs, and feet.

Learn from your mistakes. If you get blisters, new soreness, pain, etc.... try to figure out why it happened. Sometimes it's just being new to an activity... sometimes it's form.

You sound like you are the right track already. There are a lot of good resources out there... like this forum. Continue to use them while listening to own two feet and you should be OKAY.

BTW... In my case the initial calf pain lasted about 2-3 weeks. The stretches and rolling you are doing are the best thing.

Good luck on your journey.

S. Pimp.

 

[Norm Deplume]

Blind Boy wrote:Wimpy is a

Wimpy is a good thing, if you start "pushing through the pain" and other such nonsense you'll end up hurt fairly quickly.

About the calf pain, it could be one of two things. It's either what the others have said, your calves just need to adjust or it could be that you're a little too careful when you let your heel touch down. Trust your feet, don't try to interfere with how your body wants to move and you'll find that your reflexes will make sure you land correctly.

Also, welcome! I was a new runner myself when I started this last summer and I've had more fun running barefoot than I ever had when I tried to start in shoes.

I second everything he said. Welcome!

 

[C. Beth Run.]

The more you write, the more

The more you write, the more it sounds like you're being really smart about this. I'd just add this--nothing wrong with coming up with your own plan, kinda melding two different ones. Just make sure the plan is written, and if you need to change the plan, change it by running less, not more.

I find I have lots of little aches and pains as I adjust. I pay attention to them because I don't want them to turn into injuries. This resource, Ken Bob's website, etc. are fantastic for figuring out what to do about a little ache to keep it (hopefully) from becoming a big one. I can get paranoid about the aches, and at least I feel like I can trust my conservative training plan. Not that any plan guarantees that I won't get injured, but I know by sticking to it, I'm drastically reducing my chances of injury, and that helps me be more confident as my body adjusts.

With the sore calves, if you do two days in a row you might want to make the 2nd run a short, "recovery" run. Sometimes that helps loosen up tight muscles without overdoing it.

 

[miqie]

I've never heard anyone on

I've never heard anyone on any of the BFR forums complain that they had transitioned too slowly during their switch to barefoot running. It's usually the opposite and they end up injured. Believe me, it's a lot more fun getting out there every other day or so, than being laid up injured for several weeks cause you did TMTS.

 

[Matt]

miqie wrote:I've never heard

I've never heard anyone on any of the BFR forums complain that they had transitioned too slowly during their switch to barefoot running. It's usually the opposite and they end up injured. Believe me, it's a lot more fun getting out there every other day or so, than being laid up injured for several weeks cause you did TMTS.

Very well said. There is absolutely no hurry to become a runner. It's an activity that you can enjoy for the rest of your life, so why rush it? Actually, the initial stages of learning are to be enjoyed and savored.

In terms of calf pain, I would use the words of Barefoot Ken Bob, "Relax, relax, relax." You might be up on your toes too much. With quick, light steps, the ground really is your friend and nothing to be afraid of. I think that relaxing is sometimes easier said than done. But if you smile, laugh, and breathe deeply, it comes a little easier.

Enjoy the journey!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

It most likely is just change

It most likely is just change (a good one) taking place in your calves. Most everyone goes through this in the beginning, then in time, it decreases until one day, it's no longer a problem. I would just add that perhaps you should be taking more than one or two days off in between run/walks; perhaps sometimes you should be taking three days off in between. Let your soreness be your guide as to how many days to take off in a row. When you allow your muscles to relax fully before the next run, it will allow you to have a better run the next time, since you won't be tight, you won't be trying to compensate for one area over another, and so forth. Pretty soon though, you won't have to worry about taking days off in between runs; you'll even actually be able to have some back-to-back runs.

 

[bookwyrm]

Thanks so much for the input.

Thanks so much for the input. I think I will take off a second day between again, to give my calves time to relax out; they are still Not Happy. I don't know why I sometimes expect any pain/soreness I have to magically go away as I sleep.

C. Beth, I am totally paranoid about the aches =D, it was good to hear someone else say that. As for "make sure the plan is written, and if you need to change the plan, change it by running less, not more," you convinced me. It is now officially part of my gospel.

Swedish, thanks for letting me know how long the initial calf pain lasted for you. I hope I am so lucky as to only have it last 2-3 weeks.

I get the idea that you get calf soreness from starting to run period, and you also get calf pain from switching to barefooting, so I'm not too surprised that I'm having a lot. I will try to keep the "relax" bit in mind next time I run, and do what self-monitoring I can about not running too much on my toes.

 

[stomper]

 bookwyrm, it sounds like you

bookwyrm, it sounds like you are already listening to your body, which is the main thing. welcome!