Help me figure out this problem?

[nature runner]

I am having trouble still on my right foot landing. I seem to be developing a hard callus below 2nd toe about 1/2 inch down beside ball of foot. It is quiet bothersome when running short distances. I am picking up my feet faster, but it still seems to be there. What can I do to avoid this. It's on my right foot only?

 

[Jimmy Hart]

 have tried removing the

have tried removing the callous? the problem with a callous is that it breeds itself. you need to gently remove it with something like a pumice stone or pedi egg, shoot a cheese grater is what we used back in the day. bottom line is that the thick skin that may have developed during your form development period wont just go away on it's own. at least not all the time so you have to help it along. try getting rid of the skin and see if it comes back. if so then you need to spend more time on your form otherwise you're already there

 

[barefoottyler]

I have callusses from when I

I have callusses from when I was burned from the hot asphalt. At first they bothered me, but I don't feel them anymore. I would try to just leave it alone unless it really hurts.

 

[Nyal]

 Is your 2nd toe longer than

Is your 2nd toe longer than the big toe? I am an expert now on Morton's toe.

 

[BFwillie_g]

As to why it's appearing

As to why it's appearing where it is, if I'm understanding you correctly, it's exactly because you're picking your feet up while your toes are splayed out on the ground. I think this is right, anyway. And it's how we run barefoot, isn't it? Comes with the territory.

That area under the toes is a spot that "normally" (meaning, "shod" - of course barefoot is the real "normal") would never come into contact with anything other than a sock, and possibly not even that, so it's especially sensitive.

Perfect leg balance is an ideal few of us will ever achieve, there'll always be differences between the right and left sides. You can work on balance, and come close, but it would be very unusual, for example, to develop this callous in the same spot on both feet.

 

[nature runner]

Nyal, my second toe is longer

Nyal, my second toe is longer than my big toe. J Hart, I have already scraped it off once, but it came back. I try to land outside on midfoot, but it's hard to do and concentrate on running. It seems like I am over pronating on my right side only. I ran 1.5 miles bf today and ran through it. When I was done, it was sore there and no where else. I have been walking bf, alot longer before I started running. I wanted to toughen up my soles 1st and then dive in. It almost feels like a bone coming up through the bottom of my foot. If I land outside of my foot, it is ok but then my ankle gets tender from all the weight shifting around the problem Area. Walking doesn't bother me, maybe I am not lifting enough on the right? I am not sure. I went off the pavement onto the grass and got bee stung in middle of foot that doesn't touch. I am not allergic so it was all good. I had stingers in my soles but none of them penetrated lol. So, I guess in that respect, I have tough soles there. I am guessing it must be a form issue. I have a 165-170 cadence, so I am picking up my feet ok, just not sure. It may be the camber in the trails. I appreciate the input, if I can figure this out, I will be well on my way to a 5k soon. Hopefully I can get past this and move forward. Keep giving me ideas, it really helps me think of what I haven't tried.

Thanks, Eric

 

[Barefoot TJ]

A callous and a bee sting! 

A callous and a bee sting! OUCH! Try to make sure you are not scraping/sliding that toe across the surface as you are running. You could be scraping the ground on either and/or both the lifting or the placing of your feet. I have really long toes, and when I run uphills, I have to really pick my feet up, or I end up scraping the tips of my 2nd and 3rd toes across the ground. My callouses don't bother me though; in fact, I believe they protect me from pain there.

 

[Nyal]

 Welcome to the Morton's Toe

Welcome to the Morton's Toe Club.

Here's the scoop. Your first toe metatarsal is shorter than it should be. Normally, that 1st metty takes up most of the workload, but since yours is shorter, it is forcing the 2nd metty to do the work. I bet it feels like you are walking on gravel sometimes, too.

You have 3 options to fix this:

1. You NEED to up the cadence to 190 minimum. Other BF runners can get away with going slower than we can. Seriously, go up to 200 if you can. This will show you where to put your weight naturally that will fix it. Remember, run light.



2. Make one of my BF orthotics, see other thread.



3. Be patient. It will click.



Bonus: Up your cadence as high as is not humanly possible. Get a free metronome MP3 and practice.

 

[Jimmy Hart]

 umm can i say to try and

umm can i say to try and forget all this stuff you're thinking about when you're running? it seems to me, mortons not withstanding, that you're just thinking all the time. try relaxing and just running. we can easily over think this whole running thing shod or not and it can create more problems than needs be. you're getting good advice from everyone in here right now so that's a good thing but something's not clicking for you and you might benefit from trying to let go a little.

 

[nature runner]

   Thanks for the insight. I

Thanks for the insight. I will try and work on all these things. Especially the not overthinking it too much. I am a little nervous, cuz I don't want to hurt my foot. I will try relaxing more and focus on lifting faster. Hopefully it will click and everything will come together. I have sprained the right alot when I was younger and ran shod, probably about five sprains. It may be a balane issue too? Thanks, any other ideas will be greatly appreciated all.

 

[Shacky]

I too have Morton's Toe and

I too have Morton's Toe and developed an identical callous. Other symptoms included pain in the toes if I ran to far as well as numbness.

I just took it easy and gradually built my mileage up and everything seemed to correct itself.

The only issue I have now if the numbness of the toes if I run too many miles on asphalt. Other then that, all is well. Just take it easy and keep working it.

 

[Shacky]

I too have Morton's Toe and

I too have Morton's Toe and developed an identical callous. Other symptoms included pain in the toes if I ran to far as well as numbness.

I just took it easy and gradually built my mileage up and everything seemed to correct itself.

The only issue I have now is the numbness of the toes if I run too many miles on asphalt. Other then that, all is well. Just take it easy and keep working it.

 

[NakedSoleNate]

 when I first started running

when I first started running barefoot...everything worked great, and I felt fabulous....then after a couple weeks, I started reading all this stuff on form....and tried to make all that happen....and I no longer enjoyed my runs, and things started to hurt....and I realized that I was faster and had more fun when I didn't TRY to have good form....so I decided to do what I had been doing first, listening to my OWN body, NOT my brain...exactly what Jimmy is saying....and the only thing I focus on, besides the inner stillness...is eliminating tension where I notice it creeping up (hard to eliminate the tension I DON'T notice)

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Man, Shacky, that sounds just

Man, Shacky, that sounds just like Morton's Neuroma. If it ever becomes disabling, please talk with me before you have any procedures done. I can, no doubt, save you some serious pain, time, and money.

 

[nature runner]

  I normally run on all paved

I normally run on all paved asphalt trail. I thought about running on the wood chip trails, but I was worried I may drive a splinter up my foot, or that it may be to cushy and I would lose form? I don't have sand here in the mountains. There are alot of dirt trails, but there very rooty as well. What other kind of trails could you train bf on. I have ran some trails in the woods in the winter in my vff's. I really want to stick to bfr so I can get through the learning curve and perfect my form. What kind of trails would be best.



TJ, I researched the nueroma thing and I hope that isn't what is starting up with me. I am having exactly same symptoms as Shacky described down to a tee?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I think an asphalt trail will

I think an asphalt trail will work well to teach you a better barefoot running form. I think it's hard to maintain a repetitive, consistent form while running on trails. You just react to whatever you are stepping on. I think you should give trails another try though. They are so much fun and will teach you more about bioperception than concrete or asphalt will. Correct, Jason? After all, there's more to conditioning a barefoot runner than just thickening the plantar skin, strengthening and conditioning the musclular-skeletal system is just as important.

I hope you don't have MN either, E.

 

[nature runner]

  I have noticed thanks to

I have noticed thanks to Jason mentioning it, that I am twisting my feet in the ground. It may be upsetting some nerves or tissue in there. I had a run since then and watched that and even though some pain is still there, wasn't as bad. I mainly just relaxed and enjoyed a run.