New in Ireland

[chrisdonkey]

Hello everyone



Just wanted to introduce myself as a relatively new runner. I am currently running using nike free and have not made the full transistion to barefoot.



I was running one day barefoot on a local football pitch. A man, about 70, was walking his dog. He came up to me and commented saying he used to do it and it was common for men in Ireland to run cross country barefoot.



So it seems this is old knowledge, old wisdom, that people of a generation before the big shoe companies came into play, knew. they knew that it made sense to run barefoot. Strange that knowledge has been lost in only 1 or 2 generations.



It also proofs that until very recently, this was common. Its not like, as some people would have you believe, this is something people done way back in the mists of time. People run barefoot not that long ago, so its not a big leap, or our bodies have not evolved enough to rule barefoot running out.

Anyway, bit of a ramble.

Just wanted to introduce myself as a budding irish runner who hopes to get a bit of interest going, this side of the atlantic.

Chrisdonkey

 

[Phil Hart]

Welcome to the family, Donk. 

Welcome to the family, Donk. You've got some of the best and most beautiful places to run in the world, and there's nothing like running in the grass/wet ground barefoot. Take the transition slowly and steadily to avoid injury (plenty of examples you'll find here of what to avoid, including my early foot stress fracture). Enjoy!

 

[chrisdonkey]

Well, to tell you the truth i

Well, to tell you the truth i made my first attempt last summer. Got a little enthusiastic a little to quick. After a month i ran about 10k on concrete one day. Ended up hurting my achilles which brought my milage down for the whole of the year. Still get shocks on it after about 10k runs.



Easing back into it now with about 2 15 minute runs a week in my frees. Also any runnng i do in pegasus trainers i am consciously attempting to run more naturally, with no heel strike.



Have noticed a tightening of plantar.



I believe this, and the achilles issues come about due to landing to much on my toes. Right?



I have tried to amend this sklightly and it has helped a little.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Welcome, Donkey!  How much

Welcome, Donkey! How much skin on ground are you up to these days? Just be sure to take it easy, even in minfootwear, and listen to your body, during and after your runs.

 

[Phil Hart]

Since learning to run

Since learning to run barefoot with decent form, I've been unable to comfortably run any distance in trainers. In fact, my first 10K after barefooting for a while resulted in a black toenail on my left big toe which is still growing out 6 months later.

But the more important issue is your achilles problem. If you're staying up on your toes, your achilles' will always feel like tightly stretched guitar strings - the thin steel ones.

The two keys to good form - and this is a year's worth of trial, error, and good advice speaking here - are:

1 - relaxing your feet and letting them dangle on the end of your legs. If you do that (and you can test this out by standing on one leg and slightly lifting the other knee, allowing your foot to dangle limp - you'll notice that it points slightly downward and probably slightly cants to the right, toward the outside of your foot), you'll find that your feet touch down fore/mid-foot first, slightly on the outside edge. Then you allow your heel to touch down gently, then fully, using your leg muscles as a shock dampening system rather than as the springs on a trampoline, which sounds like what's happening now. The catch here is that shoes destroy all of the ability to feel how this is working that allows your body to get the feedback that will turn this process into muscle memory.

2 - using a forward lean, often described as "leaning from your ankles," to provide your forward motion. Rather than propelling yourself forward with your calf muscles as most of us have done for most of our long-striding, heel-striking years, you let gravity pull you, simply lifting and setting your feet down rather than using them as fulcrums to lever yourself forward. This has several positive changes for your body, including allowing your feet to land directly under your body (with your knees always slightly bent) rather than in front of your body. It also reduces the requirement for the friction that "skidding" on landing and "pushing off" on forward propulsion, which shoes absorb for you, produce. And unless you're barefoot, it's awfully difficult to get the feedback you need to adjust the fine motor control required to get the form right, without which you don't get nearly as much of the massive impact reduction versus heel-striking. The "skidding" effect on landing is what pushed my feet up against the front of my shoes, particularly on a long downhill we ran, producing the "black toe" I'm still living with.

Hope this description from much good advice I've gotten, along with my own experience, helps.

 

[chrisdonkey]

Thanks Phil. I will have a

Thanks Phil. I will have a go. Still unsure of plantar problem though. Getting some real problems with it. I have read in places that you should avoid barefoot with this issue. News i dont want to hear! Is plantar issues something that can go away or is it something im stuck with?

 

[Shaun Mac]

Welcome Chris....Hoping to

Welcome Chris....Hoping to get over there this year.

My biggest piece of advice is to get Ken Bob's book. I'm sure you can order it over the internet even in Ireland. I'm sure it will answer any question you may have.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

If you're talking about

If you're talking about plantar fasciitis, some people say running barefoot got rid of their PF, for others it's more persistent and takes longer.

 

[chrisdonkey]

thanks TJ

thanks TJ

 

[chrisdonkey]

Good man Shaun will get the

Good man Shaun will get the book. What you call it?

 

[Phil Hart]

Donk:I've never had a

Donk:

I've never had a problem with PF, but many who do (as TJ said) find BFR to help. I can tell you from my own experience that I have lost about 1/2 shoe size due to the strengthening of my arch. This, of course, draws the top of the foot higher while pulling the ball of your foot back toward the heel The plantar fascia connect between these very two points, which should decrease tension on the PF over time. I don't know if those for whom this didn't help simply had bigger problems than BFR could help, or if they didn't stick with it long enough to see the benefits. It takes a while to adjust your feet to BFR. Just not enough data to tell. But the theory that has proven fact in my own case - increasing the height of the arch - seems sound to me. Best of luck with this one.

 

[chrisdonkey]

thanks Phil, i'm gonna go out

thanks Phil, i'm gonna go out today, just for 10 minutes, take it easy. Definitely think ive been doing too much, too soon.