New to semi-barefoot from South Mississippi

Good morning..... I'm gonna tell you a story about an overweight middle aged man that is trying to get his health back on track, sit down and stay awhile and he might even have some questions for you at the end.

A little over a year ago I joined a men's ministry, Soulcon, which I am still a part of. Through Soulcon I have learned to love running. Last year I was 225lbs and by the end of the year I was at 190lbs and feeling the best I ever have. I ran a 10k and a half marathon by the end of last year. My goal for the end of this year is to run a full marathon, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon, in December.

I have been running in Saucony Freedom Iso 2's for about 6-8 months of that time. I have tried Hoka's and couldn't adjust and Brooks which hurt me and seemed to alter my stride. I started seeing a sports medicine chiropractor about 3 months ago for shin splints and pain when running. He has worked on my feet and calves.... almost seems like a high dollar massage of one muscle at a time. Through time he eventually looked at my pelvis and said it was off kilter, adjusted it and the next couple of runs went great. Then the pain came back. I found in time it was my bed giving me some lower back issues, still have the bed but replacing soon, and the lower back is what was altering my stride and turning one foot out a little. I had him adjust my lower back and pelvis again, good for another week but came back. I eventually have given up on him adjusting that until i get a new bed.

So I have decided to live with the pain. I have been taking Ibuprofen before runs and was up to about 30 miles a week until last week. I took off on a run last week and my shinsplints were hurting bad at 1/2 mile, decided to keep pushing through the pain because in time it goes away after a few miles. At 1 mile they were still hurting so I had enough. I stopped and took off my shoes and put them on my hands. I ran in nothing but my running socks for 3 1/2 miles and it felt great! Those shinsplints went away instantly! I felt free and faster even, but fast wasnt what I was shooting for. After those 3 1/2 miles i stopped and felt pain, looked at the bottom of my feet and had one blister on a spot on each big toe.

I work at a medical facility so I went in to work the next day and asked what to do about them. Pop them and soak in epsom salt, then triple antibiotic. Got it! I started down the rabbit hole of this barefoot stuff. I have watched youtube videos, read some articles, havent bought any books yet. I decided last week I would try these Xeroshoes sandals, the Clouds. I got them in yesterday and was so excited to try them out. I had a 3-4 mile run planned yesterday evening with a friend. I tried to focus on forefoot striking and a quicker cadence. At the end of the run no shinsplints but had a few blisters, one on the heel of one of my feet and a couple small ones on the balls of my feet where i was striking the ground. My foot also was kind of sliding off of one side of the sandal a few times during the run. It may just be that I need to take the time to adjust the sandals tighter, not sure yet. Gonna play with adjusting them tonight.

This morning I woke up and definitely felt some tightness in my calves. I went for a short run before work in my Saucony's. Did two miles just to get the blood pumping and sweat rolling. Shinsplints werent as bad this morning in the shoes. This is pretty much where I am at in my journey. I know that I would ultimately love to run in these sandals but dont know about all these blisters. Is that just something that will just happen until my feet harden up? If the sandals dont work out I want to be able to run in a zero drop shoe.

So what do yall think? Do my feet just need time to harden up a bit? How long on average does it take to get accustomed to this new running style/life style? I am excited to be a part of this community and look forward to learning and collaberating with you all.

Derek Bourgeois