I have developed holes in the balls of each foot

NickW

Guest
#1
This Saturday I had a race and I know I ran much faster than I normally would. The skin on the balls of each foot was worn down where the bone that points downward kind of touches(I believe it is called the sesamoid or at that spot). Heres a pic that points exactly to the spot, labeled as sesamoid, http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.medicinenet.com/images/illustrations/bones_of_foot.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.medicinenet.com/foot_pain/article.htm&h=501&w=402&sz=68&tbnid=kHWVFHTaWYYpPM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=76&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfoot%2Bimages%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=foot+images&docid=doH49zj6GkmtxM&sa=X&ei=MdamTv6jNoaGiQLg0L2WDQ&ved=0CCwQ9QEwAg&dur=1362 Yesterday I went running after taking a day off after my race and I actually developed a hole right there on both feet which is quite painful. I will be running in huaraches or my Adams this week in order to let the skin heal.

My question is does anyone know if this is just from running farther than my plantar skin is ready for or am I doing something wrong like pushing, landing with foot too far forward, etc? I am not developing blisters at all just these painful small holes. Thanks!
 
#2
It would help to see some

It would help to see some pictures, if you've got a good enough camera, otherwise describe this hole. Is it deep? Is it tiny, like a pin hole? Was it a blister that popped? Could be a little of both, conditioning and form. Either way, for stuff like this you always have to look at your form first and figure out what you are doing wrong. Pushing off, perhaps?
 
#3
Here's a picture of the

Here's a picture of the hole. It's on both feet in the same spot and same size. I couldn't seem to get it added into the post in a friendly size so here's a link to it on my blog.

http://thebarefootweave.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/developing-holes-in-my-feet/
 
#4
It's hard to tell if these

It's hard to tell if these are "defined" holes like a puncture, which would be unlikely since they happened to both feet, or if they are abrasions or blisters that have worn off during your run.

I still advise you to concentrate on pick up your feet; think lift, lift, lift.
 
#5
It looks like you were

It looks like you were grinding your feet on the ground to propel yourself.

I agree with TJ, lift, lift, lift your feet.
 
#6
I swear I do lift but I'll

I swear I do lift but I'll work on it more. The sun decided to come out finally so I got out my good camera and got a couple better pictures now. I updated my blog with these new pictures so you can use the same link to see them.
 
#7
Those look like abrasions

Those look like abrasions where the skin wore off, possibly from a blister. You're causing friction when you run. At least you are balanced, symmetrical.
 
#8
There was no blister, but I

There was no blister, but I do agree there must be some abrasion, I'm just not sure what I'm doing that's causing it. Not sure if it's the landing, which is where I personally think the problem may be, or if it's pushing off, which I really work hard not to do. I don't know, but the holes are directly under those bones on both feet and are tender as hell today.
 
#9
Stay off of them as much as

Stay off of them as much as possible until they are not tender anymore. Don't run until this pain or sensitivity is gone. Are you running up on the balls of your feet? Are you allowing your heels to touch down?
 
#10
I've been having a similar

I've been having a similar problem as well. It seems to be occurring primarily when I try to maintain too fast a pace on hard surfaces, which results in a slight slip in my form, which worsens the farther I get into a run. I concentrate on my form very deliberately when I feel that slight wearing feeling there. I also tend to slow up a bit when I realize I'm doing this, which helps, but is too little too late. Running with something between you and the concrete 2 days a week or so may also help you as it does me. I run 4 times bare and 2 times in VFFs (not my favorite, but I haven't gotten to our local Altra dealer yet) weekly. I'm guessing you're a huarache guy as well as an Adam fan. Your profile picture certainly would indicate that anyway.

Hopefully there's something here you can use.
 
#11
TJ I'm not running too far up

TJ I'm not running too far up I don't think on the balls of my feet and my heels do touch the ground. I land almost flatfooted with the ball of my foot landing just a split second before. This is why I'm getting confused while trying to figure this out. When I run really "fast" I sometimes let my leg get too far in front of me and I feel it by my heel hitting first, and runing barefoot as you all now does not feel good when you heel strike. I notice and correct that immediately. I rarely run that fast. Most of my runs are just slow enjoyable runs where I work on form.

I've had this problem since the beginning if I run to far. I used to get blisters too, but I rarely get those anymore. Usually thats on my left foot when my foot rolls from inside of foot to outside of foot creating a blister on the outside edge of my foot, same place that crack had developed TJ. Usually this is something I notice right away on the rough concrete so I have to alte my form just a touch so I don't get this blister.

Phil, I love my homemade huaraches, but in our rainy weather in Portland, OR I'm finding they are less than ideal because they "stick", for lack of a better word, to the wet pavement and flip water everywhere. My Adams are brand new, almost a week old, but I love them so far. I would equate them to a single toe version of a KSO.
 
#12
Nick,what i can see in the

Nick,

what i can see in the pic is you're running on new skin where there was a blister. this skin, obvious to say, wasn't ready for a run and even worse, a race. we all feel like we have some good form but these little issues come up and tell us otherwise. it also helps to run with others so they can look at your form. i ran with one member here who had no idea she was heel striking. she was doing it big time but couldn't feel it.



it's hard to decipher what form problem you may have from that pic. perhaps someone with more experience can figure it out and tell you. or just come run with us sometime. you could be reaching and shredding the skin as you land. maybe it's a combo with pushing off.



either come with us satuday or pm me with your number and i'll go run with you.



Mike
 
#13
Thanks Mike.  I am hoping to

Thanks Mike. I am hoping to go this weekend, just waiting to find out if my inlaws are picking up my son from his class on Saturday or if I have to drop him off (weekend at the grandparents yay!) before I know for sure either way. I know I must be doing something wrong in my form, just not sure what it is exactly. I took yesterday off from running and am taking today off as well because of a calf issue. It cramped up on me last night in class while I was kneeling to help a lady pick up stuff that she dropped and is still a little tender and I don't want to injure it. Hopefully I can run tomorrow in my Adams so I can continue letting the pads on my feet heal up.

Oh and that was not from a blister Mike, just new skin where it had been worn down from the race.
 
#14
Hey Nick.  I know everyone

Hey Nick. I know everyone else has mentioned this, but you probably are pushing off .

The way I corrected this, finally, is I got out one day and ran on reasonably sharp gravel (medium sized). That immediately got rid of my pushing off. Pain does that. :) I would suggest when your feet heal, you try that.

Another technique I use to help me lift off, is I pretend that I have a book on my head that I am balancing, and it causes me to stop pushing off cuz I know if I do, the book will fall.

The fact that you seem to have this seems to happen the longer you run, may indicate that you are getting "lazy" with your form, the longer you run, as you get more tired. When I sense my form getting lazy and I am unable to hold it, I simply stop running. Only run as long as you are able to hold good form. If you can't sense when that is, then cut your run length in half and start building back up.

Jen
 
#15
Jen, I mostly don't get to

Jen, I mostly don't get to run anywhere that I can't push a stroller so I don't have access to much gravel, but I do have some sections of sidewalk around here that almost always have a ton of twigs, branches, rocks, pokey pinecone type things that hurt like he%@ that really help me with form. I know I can run over most of this stuff while breaking branches underneath my feet with no problems.

I have a thing I do similar to your book thing. I will watch how much my glasses or visor, if I'm running with headgear on, bounces along the horizon. If I have bounce I know I don't have great form and I need to correct something.

I think my form does get worse the longer I run, which is what I am attributing to my calf cramping I've been having lately too. It's weird it's always in my strong leg though and not my weak one. I'm not sure whats the deal with that, maybe my strong leg has become my weak one? Also, I run lots of hills because thats what is around my local neighborhood and I'm sure that attributes some as well.
 
#16
So then have you gotten these

So then have you gotten these "holes" when you weren't pushing a stroller? Ever? Maybe the stroller is messing up your stride. Can you have someone video tape you?
 
#17
Maybe Mike will do it TJ when

Maybe Mike will do it TJ when we get to run together hopefully in the near future. Hopefully I will get to run with a few of the local brs members Saturday so maybe they can give me some good pointers as well.
 
#19
So I just got to go for a

So I just got to go for a nice slow run with Mike (migangelo) and he pointed out a couple things to me. I was running while leaning almost backwards and letting my feet land in front of me. I'm not sure how much of this was caused from the really slow pace that we kept or running downhill while pushing a stroller, but I am definately going to have to pay attention to how I run this week when I run at my normal pace. We ran 4.2 miles at 13:30-14 min/mile pace. My feet really didn't end up with much wear and tear either after the run. Maybe just a slight wearing down on the balls of my feet but nothing like normal. Not sure if it was the pace or what that kept my feet feeling good.
 
#20
I just re-read this and I did

I just re-read this and I did not mean to imply Mike is a slow runner, we both were working on keeping our heartrates down.
 
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