I think this is what TOFP feels like

[scedastic]

After about 4.5 months of transitioning (bf until the temps/rain/and snow got to me, so consistently bf until mid/late November), with no foot pain at all, only a few runs in slushy snow and my feet are beat. So far it's just soreness, like my feet have been hiking without the rest of me, but I wouldn't quite call it pain.
My plan is to just cut the slush and keep to tracks/cleared sidewalks and indoors when necessary, and to lighten up the miles.
I'm guessing that long term risks of TOFP are on the tearing/stress fracture theme? Any other thoughts? I thought after a few months of none of it I was immune to beginner foot troubles (silly me).
Anyone else get TOFP for the first time months into their transition?
Is this something to just be annoyed with, or to really worry about, like, say, achilles issues or ITBS (which I gather are more long term)?

Background if you need it: my transition was probably faster than it should have been but overall easy after I got over some calf soreness from the first week when I ran 4 miles in merrells.

 

[Blind Boy]

If I remember correctly it

If I remember correctly it took me a year or so before I had my first bout of TOFP. It was caused by sloppy form in VFFs so I'd say it's not so much a beginner issue as it is a form issue.In my case the problem was pushing off too much since I didn't have the feedback from my soles and once I stopped doing that I could run again. I don't think I took any time off, I just made sure I was running properly.

As for how serious it is I don't know. Other people surely know more about that than I do.

 

[BFwillie_g]

Whether it's just an

Whether it's just an annoyance or a higher risk is hard for anyone else to judge. It's a sliding scale, you know? All of it is possible. It's good that you found out that the SHOES are the problem!

Now, think about things you may be doing differently in the shoes than when you're BF. One of those could be dorsiflexion (it's my current pet theory on the underlying causes of tofp). Dorsiflexion is, in case somene who reads this might not know, is the 'stretching' of the foot upward when it's in the air. Hmmm, kind of hard to describe actually. Basically, lift a bare foot up off the floor, curl your toes upward, toward the knee, feel the tension on the top of the foot. That's what I mean. And it's something that shoes cause automatically but should be actively corrected when barefoot (I mean, we should intentionally relax the feet when they're in the air, and allow them to land in a totally relaxed state).

Well, I'm havig trouble formulating this stuff at the mo' but I hope you get the gist. Do your best to keep the knees bent and the feet relaxed when you're running in your VFF's. Try to imitate BF as much as possible.

Shoes suck.

Oh, for the tofp, I find (found) self-massage to be really helpful, and the tops of the feet are so easy to get at! Whenever you have a chance, just use your thumbs to massage firmly, all up and down the metatarsals and between the toes. Stretching the foot is also really easy: just use your hand to grip the toes and bend bend them inward and outward. You'll feel it.

But, yeah, don't take any real risks because SF do happen! Any swelling and especially discoloration = STOP running.

Good luck!

 

[scedastic]

I'm wearing soft stars

I'm wearing soft stars runamocs for winter shoes, not vffs, but that's not so important. There may be some opportunity for bf next week, after a bit of a thaw.

My bf time has been limited, but I guess if you guys do have any advice on how to tackle seriously slushy stuff with better form(aside from just avoiding it)? The TOFP came on all of a sudden when I started running in slushy snow/ice mixes. As I run, I can feel my feet having to work harder and stabilize. It's great that I don't slip like I used to in the big shoes, but I can't figure out how to keep my feet relaxed. It's sort of like running in sand or mud, only kind of worse, because the texture/thickness/hardness of the surface is constantly changing. Is there a way to run on that stuff while not overworking the feet?

 

[scedastic]

BFwillie_g wrote:Whether

Whether it's just an annoyance or a higher risk is hard for anyone else to judge. It's a sliding scale, you know? All of it is possible. It's good that you found out that the SHOES are the problem!

Now, think about things you may be doing differently in the shoes than when you're BF. One of those could be dorsiflexion (it's my current pet theory on the underlying causes of tofp). Dorsiflexion is, in case somene who reads this might not know, is the 'stretching' of the foot upward when it's in the air. Hmmm, kind of hard to describe actually. Basically, lift a bare foot up off the floor, curl your toes upward, toward the knee, feel the tension on the top of the foot. That's what I mean. And it's something that shoes cause automatically but should be actively corrected when barefoot (I mean, we should intentionally relax the feet when they're in the air, and allow them to land in a totally relaxed state).

Yeah, I might be doing too much dorsiflexion when running on the snow/in shoes. Also, I might even be pointing them once in a while when I hit a big soft pile of it.

Can't wait for spring......................................



And thanks for the advice on dealing w/ the pain. I'll give it a go. Honestly, the pain was going away quickly until I went for the other long slushy run. Now it's back worse than before.

 

[BFwillie_g]

scedastic wrote:Yeah, I might

Yeah, I might be doing too much dorsiflexion when running on the snow/in shoes. Also, I might even be pointing them once in a while when I hit a big soft pile of it.

Yeah, that'd make sense. I think (repeat, I think) it's a reflex action that isn't so easy to control. It's plain old fear. Face your fear, and forget about it. Tensing the feet doesn't help in any way whatsoever on any terrain.

You can practice letting the feet dangle in the air, as though they'd been shot with novacaine. You can do that at home in the living room. Just lift a foot, keep it limp and set it back down. Easy Peasy. And maintain that 'feeling' while running. Trust the feet to find their own way to the ground in their time and to conform to the terrain in their own way. They're a lot smarter than your brain thinks they are!

But again, this is just my pet-theory of the month ... ymmv.