Questions...

Mike

Mike

Barefooters
Oct 22, 2010
250
0
0
#1
As if I didn't already ask enough. :p



As I read on this forum, I hear about people being sore after runs, icing their feet, ect. But since I started I haven't had any soreness (except for an ever so slight "touch" of soreness in my left arch, that I only feel if I stretch the arch out). I'm very weary of TMTS/stress fractures. So I am wondering, should be pushing a bit harder? Or just keep it as relaxed and comfortable as possible?
 
#2
Mike -- It sounds like you

Mike -- It sounds like you are doing pretty good. I never understood why people pushed so hard that they needed to ice and do other stuff after a run.
 
#3
 I've only been doing this

I've only been doing this about two months but I thought the identical thing as you all up until last week. I just kept feeling awesome and kept adding mileage faster than what appears to be considered normal (if there is any such thing as normal with bf running). I "listened to my body" and it kept telling me to go, so I did. Then last week I finally thought I was free and clear of TMTS. I pulled my first bf 11 miler felt great, followed it with a bf 13 miler three days later and felt great, followed that with an bf 11 miler three days later felt great. Woke up the next morning and could barely walk my feet were so bruised. My lesson from that was do even less than your body thinks you can do at the time. I was SOO careful for two months, always doing less than I thought I could because I was afraid of TMTS, as soon as I quit being overly cautious I hurt myself. :-(
 
#6
Honestly being barefoot and

Honestly being barefoot and if you are listening to your feet, you probably won't do too much too soon. I would recommend picking either distance or speed and work on only that for a while. Distance was easy for me and caused very little soreness. However when I added speedwork, I had to deal with a lot more soreness and TOFP. It is much harder to listen and adjust when you are really pushing the speed in my opinion.

But it's up to you about how hard you want to push. For some reason I felt like I had the feet of an old man from about 6 months to a year into the transition. They don't really bother me anymore like they used to, and are usually only sore after I do sprints now.
 
#7
If you are starting bf and

If you are starting bf and worried about TMTS, you should take KenBob's advice and start on gravel. There is no way in the world to go farther than your feet are ready to go "if" you start on gravel.

Having said that, you will also want to quit running bf, "CAUSE IT FREAKIN' HURTS!!"

So then you'll go back to either minimal footwear, or start running on surfaces that are easier on your feet than the gravel. You will, at some point, develop some type of TMTS injury.

Just sayin'...
 
#8
miker wrote:If you are

miker said:
If you are starting bf and worried about TMTS, you should take KenBob's advice and start on gravel. There is no way in the world to go farther than your feet are ready to go "if" you start on gravel.

Having said that, you will also want to quit running bf, "CAUSE IT FREAKIN' HURTS!!"
Click to expand...

Haha, KB also says that running should be easy. It sure as hell hasn't been easy for me...
 
#9
Thanks for the input

Thanks for the input guys.



Abide, I was under the impression that TOFP was really bad and usually followed by a stress fracture? Not completely true?
 
#11
TOFP does not always equal a

TOFP does not always equal a stress fracture, like Abide said. It could be tendon issues. The foot is going through some serious changes. Those changes take time to complete, if ever.

That's good advice, AJB. It is always good to use caution when progressing with learning to run barefoot. You ran a 13, 11, 13 in the span of about a week's time after only running barefoot for two months. That will surely equal a TMTS injury for some, but like you said, how would you know you were one in the "some" group? That's why it is so important to not only listen to your body but question your mind... Are you ready for the next run? Are you ready for that speed? Are you ready for that distance? You may "feel" good physically, like you are ready for it, but then you have to question, "Well, I've only been at this a little while. Maybe I shouldn't push it," and decide to back off.

Progressing slowly is just that. Take it easy. Jason's "How to Shed the Shoes" advice is very conservative, and people have complained about it being too conservative, but those who have followed his advice have not experience TMTS injuries. So again, it's not just about how the body feels; it also about using common sense.
 
#12
I hope I didn't come off

I hope I didn't come off sounding like a beeatch. I just hate to see people injured from running in shoes, but mostly from running barefoot. The more we can help educate each other and offer support to one another to prevent injuries, the more people will be likely to try our sport. And the more barefoot runners there are, the better for all of us.
 
#13
Mike dude, if it ain't broke,

Mike dude, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Injuries aren't a sign that you're hardcore and can push yourself, they're a sign that your dumb and can't run right and listen to your body. (Before anyone takes offense to that I would like to state that I, myself, am a huge idiot who can't seem to go for a run without taking a chunk out of my big toe. I'm pretty sure all of us can together blame almost all of our injuries on stupidity.)

Also, not to diminish your achievement, but three weeks is nothing. I'm in my third or fourth month now and still figure something out on pretty much ever run. You can run for a couple weeks with pretty terrible form without any considerable pain, partially because you haven't fully learned how to listen to your body, and partially because stress related injuries take time to build up.

My advice would be to stick with what you're doing now, because even if you aren't running as much as your body can handle, you'll still improve faster than if you push too hard and have to take time off for injuries.
 
#14
I started this bfr experiment

I started this bfr experiment about two months ago and guess I'm a tenderfoot, because my feet are getting raw just from running on the streets/asphalt. So, for now, I'm just walking bf on the beach for an hour a couple times a week(on asphalt only to and from the beach) and going to just run on sidewalks for the forseeable future, until my feet acclimate/toughen up or get used to rougher surfaces. I told myself when I started this I was going to take it real slow and easy and that's what I'm doing.
 
#15
Perfect!

Perfect!
 
#16
Nah TJ you didn't sound like

Nah TJ you didn't sound like a "beeatch". Just good solid straight forward advice. You too Danjo, your posts are always so well spoken and very helpful. Nice to have you guys around to keep me straight when im trying to be impatient and stupid...

Really glad I decided to post and ask about it before I went running off to my old shod running loop... (5 miles with some very tough very long hills) I'll definitely ask for your opinions on such matters in the future. :)

So tomorrow ill work on something I KNOW is broken. Which is my ability to relax, relax, relax.... I find myself getting a little tense in the shoulders in the last half of my run. Very annoying.





Thanks
 
#17
I found that just working on

I found that just working on one thing at a time worked well for me, as you're suggesting. Relaxing is the first one I focused on when I started out, so you picked a good one. Once you have relaxing down, even if that means after taking several runs to accomplish, then move onto the next thing to work on. ;-)
 
#18
I ran 1.5 miles this morning

I ran 1.5 miles this morning after a 2 day (Saturday, and Sunday) break. Think I might have run into some problems... At 1.5 miles I felt a slight soreness in the Achilles tendon area of my left foot. I immediately stopped and walked home. As im sitting here writing my Achilles feels fine, no soreness at all. But there is a bit of soreness in the arch, and the top of my left foot, and a tiny blister between the first and second metatarsal. (maybe leaving the foot on the ground too long?) My right foot on the other hand is perfectly fine, and has no soreness whatsoever. (curse that pesky left foot :stare:)

I believe I am having problems because of the cold. (it was 40 degrees out) I think im having trouble relaxing the feet in these temps, and am not sure what to do. Thinking about going back to how I first started and relearning it in the cold. (0.3 mile run totally focused on bending the knees, relaxing the feet, and lifting the feet. :tired:)



Would appreciate any input.
 
#19
Mike wrote:I ran 1.5 miles

Mike said:
I ran 1.5 miles this morning after a 2 day (Saturday, and Sunday) break. Think I might have run into some problems... At 1.5 miles I felt a slight soreness in the Achilles tendon area of my left foot. I immediately stopped and walked home. As im sitting here writing my Achilles feels fine, no soreness at all. But there is a bit of soreness in the arch, and the top of my left foot, and a tiny blister between the first and second metatarsal. (maybe leaving the foot on the ground too long?) My right foot on the other hand is perfectly fine, and has no soreness whatsoever. (curse that pesky left foot :stare:)

I believe I am having problems because of the cold. (it was 40 degrees out) I think im having trouble relaxing the feet in these temps, and am not sure what to do. Thinking about going back to how I first started and relearning it in the cold. (0.3 mile run totally focused on bending the knees, relaxing the feet, and lifting the feet. :tired:)
Click to expand...

Running barefoot in the cold sucks in my opinion. Things hurt way more and it makes it difficult to relax, but that really is the key. Can you keep the distance but find a bit smoother of a surface to run on intially while you are still acclimating to the cold?
 
#20
Im currently running in my

Im currently running in my neighborhood. And its a dead end street so the black top isn't terrible worn. My only alternatives are driving somewhere that has a sidewalk (which I hate to do when im only running for 20 something minutes), or running up and down the driveway. :p Which actually might not be a bad idea....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Support Your Club

Luna Sandals

Forum statistics

Threads
19,155
Messages
183,638
Members
8,705
Latest member
Raramuri7

Latest posts

Share this page

Share this page
Top Bottom
Back
Menu