New Barefooter and Splinters

[IrrevArends]

Ok, so I've been running barefoot for a couple months now. In the last couple weeks I've gotten two splinters, one little wooden sliver and one small triangle of glass (that REALLY hurt). So now my wife is saying "no more barefooting. Wear those shoes you bought" (VFFs). I know these kind of injuries are pretty normal, but should I expect my soles to toughen up a bit more, or should I just give in and listen to my wife?

Also, I've been doing all my running on the sidewalks by my house, in a small suburban town. They look pretty clean.



Dave

 

[NotSoDoomedRunner]

They toughen up some, and you

They toughen up some, and you learn to run lighter, as well as becoming more aware. So you should get less. I live near several new homes going up so I get them from time to time too. They come out and don't do any harm. I'd just stop mentioning it to the wife...

 

[jldeleon]

Wives schmives (I am an

Wives schmives (I am an annoying wife so I can say that).

You're feet will toughen up, indeed. If you want to speed that up stomp in a bucket of gravel (if you thought your wife was giving you grief before...) or even walk on rough surfaces (that's what I did in the beginning - walked on a lot of tough stuff). BTW, mailing tape is great for removing microscopic pieces of barkdust/small splinters. Put it on, and rip it off really fast! And hide in the closet when you are engaging in object removal from your feet so no one knows. BFRers MUST keep up their facade of FEET OF STEEL! Lol.

 

[Blind Boy]

Yup. The first rule of

Yup. The first rule of barefoot splinter club is you don't talk about barefoot splinter club.

Seriously though, it gets better for the reasons mentioned. I guess it depends on how serious your wife is and if you're willing to replace her. :tongue:

 

[The Ramzev]

  I stay away from sidewalks.

I stay away from sidewalks. It seems to me that there's a lot more crap there than on the roads.

 

[RunningTim]

jldeleon wrote:BTW, mailing

BTW, mailing tape is great for removing microscopic pieces of barkdust/small splinters. Put it on, and rip it off really fast!

I read in Jason Robillard's book that glue works like that too.

 

[Lomad]

barefoot ramzev wrote:  I

I stay away from sidewalks. It seems to me that there's a lot more crap there than on the roads.

+1. I've always had better luck on the street. fortunately we have bike lanes, so i use those a lot.

 

[NickW]

I rarely get slivers and have

I rarely get slivers and have yet to get glass in my feet and I mostly run on the sidewalks. I have all sorts of debris on the sidewalks here but not much glass. The glass that I do come across is almost always where some idiot ran a light and hit someone else and then the glass was left in the crosswalk. I rely on my super human powers of perception to avoid the glass. :bigsmile:

 

[Mamyohmamy]

I found my feet definitely

I found my feet definitely got tougher and I never really had any glass or splinter issues. Then again, I always avoided sidewalks too- the road seems much, much cleaner. I ran a 5k race in the city and had to get up on the sidewalks a few times, and each time I got a little nervous because of the class bits, metal soda tabs, bottle caps, etc. But the road itself was smooth sailing The only thing that gives me trouble on the road is broken acorn bits in the fall. OUCH! They get everywhere and are hard to avoid. They usually don't penetrate the skin though ;-)

 

[spoonerweb]

Each year I have run I have

Each year I have run I have gotten fewer pieces of glass stuck in my feet. The first year it seemed like once a month I was getting something in my foot and I wasn't running very far. Last year I seemed to be averaging 1000km before I got something in my foot. They also seem to be easier to pull out than before, too.

 

[buzgal]

The first year my hubby went

The first year my hubby went barefoot it seemed he was constantly asking me to get stuff out of his dirty, gross feet...now he never asks so I guess in time you become more aware or cease to feel it or a little of both?