I have been running for 15 years now in regular shoes and I have recently discovered barefoot running. From my research I have been going slowly since the beginning (about a month now). I have noticed that my feet are getting wider and the space between the toes is increasing (spreading out). I have read and heard online that this is natural and the bones and tendons in the feet will spread out to where they should naturally be and as a result some discomfort will occur. Other than a few blisters here and there, everything has been going great. I live in a small rural town and the roads are anything but ideal for barefoot, at least starting out. Last weekend I invested in a pair of VFF KSO's and so far really love them. I wore them to work and walked around the office in them all day. (I sit in front of a computer all day and walk to copier, bathroom, etc, etc.)When I got home and took off the VFF's I noticed a slight swelling in both of my feet, nothing major, just a puffiness. I had a slight dull ache in my right foot nothing that altered my stride or anything, more of a nagging discomfort. As a precaution I wore regular shoes the next two days and iced my feet in the evenings, and the slight swelling went away. My feet are feeling really good, and I am wearing my VFF's to work again today to see if the swelling comes back or not. I was able to do a 1/2 mile run this morning with zero pain or discomfort
I am wondering if the dull ache and minimal swelling is a result of my feet and bones adapting to this new barefoot world? It seems logical that this would happen, but I wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience. As I said before, I'm taking everything slow and steady forcing myself not to just ramp it up. Could someone give me an overview on what transformations happen over the course of transitioning to barefoot running and if the symptoms I have described are perfectly normal or not. I'm looking forward to re-discovering running through this barefoot/minimalist technique, so far so good!
I am wondering if the dull ache and minimal swelling is a result of my feet and bones adapting to this new barefoot world? It seems logical that this would happen, but I wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience. As I said before, I'm taking everything slow and steady forcing myself not to just ramp it up. Could someone give me an overview on what transformations happen over the course of transitioning to barefoot running and if the symptoms I have described are perfectly normal or not. I'm looking forward to re-discovering running through this barefoot/minimalist technique, so far so good!