Blisters

[ladycheshire5]

I am very new to BF running. I have only been doing it for a month or so. I had plans to ditch the running shoes after my last event (1/2 marathon, June 5) and try minimalist shoes such as Vibram Five Fingers. After moving to a new city I found myself tight on money so I continued to run in my old shoes. I pushed myself too much for the event and ended up with what I'm pretty sure was Hip Bursitis. I tried many things to alleviate the pain, Advil, Ice, rest, start again slow. Nothing helped. I figured my shoes were worn out but not having extra money to buy a pair of minimal shoes I decided to just go barefoot! I went through the expected calf pain that a newbie would, now I'm passed that and low and behold no hip pain! That got me even more excited about BF running so I have continued. However, the blisters on the bottom of my feet are starting to bug me. I have some pictures I can upload if that would help. But, I don't know if it's just a matter of time? It seems like as one heals I get a new one along with discomfort. How long does it take to get past this phase? Does the skin on your soles get thicker eventually? I have been running on a predictable route, concrete and asphalt, that is smooth with minimal pebbles and debris. Much of it is up hill then down again. Max distance I've gone is 2 miles. I've cut it back to about 1/2 a mile because of the blisters/pain. Today I developed a pain in the ball of my foot on the left, but that's a different story and I saw another similar thread on that so I'm just going to take it easy and see what happens with that. But, blisters! What to do? Am I doing too much too quickly?

Thanks for any help.



Laura

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I'm not a doctor, and I'm

I'm not a doctor, and I'm sure the docs will be along shortly to answer your question/s, but blisters are an indication that you are pushing off, grinding, or shearing. Could the ground have been to hot for you on the days you got blisters; that's another way people get blisters on their feet when running barefoot. If not, then concentrate on lifting your feet and not pushing off.

 

[The Ramzev]

   I agree with TJ, normally

I agree with TJ, normally blisters are a form issue, next run take a very close look on how your foot touches and comes up.

 

[ladycheshire5]

Thank you to both of you who

Thank you to both of you who replied. I will look more closely at my form next run. Would the fact that I'm going uphill and downhill be contributing to this? The idea of "lifting" more than pushing off sounds counter active to propelling yourself forward but I will give it a try. I'll try looking for intructional videos on the net also. I watched the few that Merrells had on their website but that was all done in a minimal shoe. :-/



Thanks again for the insight.

 

[The Ramzev]

  I think you'll be

I think you'll be surprised, if you focus on lifting you foot straight up it'll help your form, you really want to try to get away from pushing off. Pushing off will leave DNA evidence on the road and you will be easily tracked down.



I can't talk to hills, I live in southern Delaware, the closest thing we have to hills are the raised septic systems.

 

[ladycheshire5]

OK. I took today off from

OK. I took today off from running, needing to give my new pain on the left time to heal. I've looked at some videos on YouTube and found a lot on the Pose method of training. I think I might do better with an actual coach since it's hard to really see what is going on in some of the videos - some are pretty poor quality. I just joined the California-Los Angeles chapter, not sure if they ever put together workshops or training type meets though? I don't give up easy, I will keep trying.



I never answered the question about heat... I usually run in the mornings and being very close to the beach it's usually pretty cool here. I have not run on hot surfaces yet, so the blisters are not from temperature. I'm amazed to read about people who have done marathons etc., on rocky trails and such! I hope I can do that too, one day.



Thanks again guys.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

DNA!  You crack me up, Ram. 

DNA! You crack me up, Ram. So good to have you back.

Laura, you're in the best location as far as learning how to run barefoot. Ever hear of Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton? He's known as the Master of the barefoot running movement, the Guru, the Sensei, the Godfather. He just recently released his book titled Barefoot Running Step-By-Step, so be sure to get that. BUT, most importantly, he's your Los Angeles Chapter President, and he holds runs twice a week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays). His clinics are FREE! Go to either the Calendar tab/link above or your Chapter's home page to get the details. No one can teach you how to run barefoot better than your own two bare feet, well, except Ken Bob that is. ;-)

 

[ladycheshire5]

Never heard of Ken Bob until

Never heard of Ken Bob until I signed up for that chapter of Barefoot Runners. Now I feel blessed to have such a wonderful resource so close to me! I'll be scoping out the calendar to see when I can make it to one of his meets.

The DNA comment made me giggle too. :bigsmile:



The statement "No one can teach you how to run barefoot better than your own two bare feet... " resonates with me. I ususally have a natural ability to have good form in many different activities. The blisters on my feet are on the ball and the toe pads, if you could see my profile photo well enough you can see what I mean, and a friend of mine who also recently started running in minimalist shoes said that I was doing it right because you are supposed to grip with your toes... I'll admit I've not done that much reading on this subject, I tend to just get out there and try it then later I read/educate myself, so I don't know what's good advice and what's not. I heard blisters in the beginning are common, but I guess it'd be common only because your form isn't perfected? Anyway, I'm eager to learn and excited to run farther!



thanks again.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

You're going to get the right

You're going to get the right answers when you talk to those who have actually run barefoot. Been there, done that, all that.

Your friend saying that gripping with your toes is the right thing to do was the wrong thing to say. Your friend is able to grip in with "their" toes because they are wearing "shoes." I'll bet your friend won't want to do that with bare skin. Just look at your toes. There's a huge difference in the way you approach running and form when you don't have the layer that prevents you from feeling the run. That's what is so amazing about running barefoot; you truly do FEEL the run. With shoes on, you don't get the necessary feedback from your soles to tell you if you are running with proper form. Shoes mask bad form; bare feet expose it.

About blisters. I believe the blisters we develop in the beginning stages of barefoot running are both part of the normal skin conditioning process that takes place and part of a form issue. It makes sense in both cases. In the first, our skin is pretty unexposed to the terrain, virgin-like, so it's natural that it will be susceptible to blistering. In the latter, it makes sense in that once you shed your shoes to run barefoot, you have to relearn how to run all over again (since wearing shoes robbed us of our ability to run naturally, with the biomechanics God gave you).

Now, if you've been at this for awhile and are still getting blisters, then it's definitelty a form issue.

Think of blisters as little lessons. After a run look at your feet, study them. They will not only tell you where you've been but how you got there.