I've read all I could on blisters and form on these forums, but still have a question: Are blisters always a sign of bad form, or are they possibly just a rite of passage?
I have been running all summer in VFF's with very little full barefoot. Then last Saturday, I was running with my wife, but since she is coming off a muscle pull, she wanted to run slowly. So rather than run alone, I decided to work out my feet and ran 4 miles barefoot at about a 10 minute/mile pace. These were pretty harsh suburban streets and bike trails. When I was done, I had no blisters (in fact, I felt great!) except I was bleeding on the pad of the toe next to pinky toe, where the skin had been ripped off most of the pad. Again, it didn't seem like a big deal. I was aware of this the whole run, but it wasn't very painful.
Then on Monday, two days later, I ran 4 miles at a nine minute pace with some colleagues at work through city streets, full barefoot again. Same toe was a little bloody again at the end, most likely since it didn't have time to heal. It seems I also may have a blister behind the middle toe (on the main part of the foot). It doesn't feel bad, but there is a dark spot there.
So again the question: Is there really a problem here? Part of me says that this is just a rite of passage, I should give my toe a little more time to heal next time, but otherwise just get out there and run. My feet will toughen up. But from what I'm reading here, it looks like this could also be indication of a form problem.
So what do you recommend? Forge on, or analyze?
I have been running all summer in VFF's with very little full barefoot. Then last Saturday, I was running with my wife, but since she is coming off a muscle pull, she wanted to run slowly. So rather than run alone, I decided to work out my feet and ran 4 miles barefoot at about a 10 minute/mile pace. These were pretty harsh suburban streets and bike trails. When I was done, I had no blisters (in fact, I felt great!) except I was bleeding on the pad of the toe next to pinky toe, where the skin had been ripped off most of the pad. Again, it didn't seem like a big deal. I was aware of this the whole run, but it wasn't very painful.
Then on Monday, two days later, I ran 4 miles at a nine minute pace with some colleagues at work through city streets, full barefoot again. Same toe was a little bloody again at the end, most likely since it didn't have time to heal. It seems I also may have a blister behind the middle toe (on the main part of the foot). It doesn't feel bad, but there is a dark spot there.
So again the question: Is there really a problem here? Part of me says that this is just a rite of passage, I should give my toe a little more time to heal next time, but otherwise just get out there and run. My feet will toughen up. But from what I'm reading here, it looks like this could also be indication of a form problem.
So what do you recommend? Forge on, or analyze?