Barefoot Runner's Roadmap

[zapmamak]

Zum - most of the time my

Zum - most of the time my feet feel good and fare pretty well after my runs. I'm up to 5.5 miles now. I haven't had any major issues until the last few runs. I know my form starts to suffer towards the end of my runs. Its the perfect storm of issues right how (bad form, pushing it with speed, gnarly routes, not enough time in between to heal... blah, blah, blah) I just need to be a little more conscious while I'm running.

Really though, most of the spots on my feet are old and healed and don't even bother me (except that outside pinky toe area which is the spot that ended up raw and bloody the other day.) My feet feel much better today than they did 4 days ago, but they look worse. Oh well. I'll deal.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Be proud of those feet, Zap.

Be proud of those feet, Zap. Those little boo-boos are just road markers that lead you to better running. Some are Stop signs; others are like Dead-End Signs. Each one represents some sort of lesson, a lesson that is much easier learned when it is a small boo-boo than a large injury (such as a fracture).

 

[Barefoot Terry]

Zap - Wow!  You've really

Zap - Wow! You've really beat the hell out of those poor things! I get a blister like your half moon thingy and I get lazy or tired I get blisters just below my 2nd/3rd toes on my left foot. I know the 2nd/3rd toe thing is going to happen when I start to feel hot spots on my feet due to pushing off. That's when I REALLY focus on my form ("lift the foot, lift the foot, lift the foot"). Form can definitely save you. I ran a half marathon in Nov. without tearing a week-old blister by focusing on form.

With all that being said, I have tore the hell out of my foot by kicking a metal L-bracket on a construction sign - see my blog for the pics :O

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Terry, you should add your

Terry, you should add your blog's link to your signature, so I can see those pictures too. Hee.

Zap, how are the ole feet these days? All healed up? I hope.

 

[Barefoot Terry]

Hey TJLink added!  And I

Hey TJ

Link added! And I also realized that my blogsite didn't have my short post about the injury. So, I just added it...pics and all! Enjoy!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Oh yea, I remember this. 

Oh yea, I remember this. That's a good cut. How long did it take to heal before you could run again?

 

[Barefoot Terry]

I took a week off to let it

I took a week off to let it heal a bit. Then I ran about 4 miles with my VFFs. A week after that I was back to barefoot at another 4 miles. It didn't fully disappear for about a month or so - thick dry skin.

 

[zapmamak]

TJ - so the soles of my feet

TJ - so the soles of my feet are doing MUCH better these days! I think they are pretty well healed now. Just ran 4.75 miles the other day without any hotspots or blisters, but my knee issues are coming back. I've been running more in my VFFs which throws my form off and may be what's causing my knee problems again. Just trying to be patient and not push it though.

BTW - Merry Christmas everyone!!!

 

[Guru]

Hi everyone.I need some

Hi everyone.

I need some advise. I am running for 18 years now with 12 Comrades marathons under the belt and doing a lot of endurance races and long distance running. I changed to running in vibrams for the past 7 months. I want to go completely barefoot, but the furthest I can go is about 5km. After that my feet is sore for the rest of the day. Does it get better and how long will it take for my feet to get use to running barefoot? Or must I stick to the Vibrams.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

How long have you been

How long have you been running barefoot? It takes time, but it will happen. I know lots of people who have run very high miles barefoot, marathons, ultramarathons, (Todd Ragsdale set the Guinness World record for the longest barefoot run at 102.65 miles) so yes, you too will be able to run high miles barefoot. Just keep at it. Be patient. The reward is well worth the sacrifice. Welcome!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Try running some of your

Try running some of your miles barefoot, Zap. See if that helps.

 

[migangelo]

Zap, are you relaxed when

Zap,



are you relaxed when you run? blisters gotta be from pushing off instead of lifting your foot. i know i had a hard time figuring it out but finally i understand it. slow down. bf ted talks about how caballo blanco told him to slow down. i can't quote it exactly and am to lazy to look it up to post it.

learn to make running easy. once you get the easy you'll get distance. once you get the distance and the easy you'll get faster. if you don't get faster then at least you've got it easy.



for the knee pain your likely reaching. again, slow down and relax. speed and distance will come with time. form is most important. i know when my form suffers if i can't fix it i go home.



mike

 

[zapmamak]

migangelo wrote:Zap, are you

Zap, are you relaxed when you run? blisters gotta be from pushing off instead of lifting your foot. i know i had a hard time figuring it out but finally i understand it. slow down. bf ted talks about how caballo blanco told him to slow down. i can't quote it exactly and am to lazy to look it up to post it.learn to make running easy. once you get the easy you'll get distance. once you get the distance and the easy you'll get faster. if you don't get faster then at least you've got it easy.for the knee pain your likely reaching. again, slow down and relax. speed and distance will come with time. form is most important. i know when my form suffers if i can't fix it i go home.

Thanks Mike. That's great advice. I think that may be it. I'm pushing a little too much. Trying to run faster when I should be taking it more easy. My soles are doing well these days. I'm running about 85% bf and the rest in VFF at the moment due to the weather and I'm still able to get 5 bf miles in with less issues on the bottoms of my feet. I have to admit though my last two runs have been less than stellar because of knee issues and I'm hoping this is not the beginning of a painful phase for me. Especially now that my soles are starting to become acclimated. I should post a follow up road map pic. Hee hee.

 

[zapmamak]

Guru wrote:Hi everyone.I need

Hi everyone.I need some advise. I am running for 18 years now with 12 Comrades marathons under the belt and doing a lot of endurance races and long distance running. I changed to running in vibrams for the past 7 months. I want to go completely barefoot, but the furthest I can go is about 5km. After that my feet is sore for the rest of the day. Does it get better and how long will it take for my feet to get use to running barefoot? Or must I stick to the Vibrams.

Nice to meet you Guru. Just be patient. It takes some time to condition your feet. Lessons I'm still learning.

 

[Guru]

Hi, TJI am 7 months now in

Hi, TJ

I am 7 months now in the Vibrams and try to go barefoot maybe once a week. I would like to do more, but the soles of my feet is just to tender. So I go back to the Vibrams till its better. Can it be that I run mostly on tar roads which is very rough? Are there not some kind of cream that one can put on your feet to make it stronger?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Guru, I hate to say it, but

Guru, I hate to say it, but if you are going to keep your feet covered in sweaty shoes, it will take a lot, lot longer to condition your plantar skin, so if you ever want to run fully barefoot most of the time, you should consider, at least, incorporating more barefoot runs into the mix. Even if they are short runs, you will benefit by it each time you do it, and little-by-little, you will start to build up the skin and the miles.