paintboy wrote:I find that
paintboy said:
I find that in the races where my goal is to have a great time I tend to run faster.
I think the idea of toughening our feet is misleading. My feet keep getting softer the more I run barefoot. It's more like our feet are getting used to not being protected and coddled by shoes. They are learning to be part of the response process again instead of being along for the ride. I think the initial reaction of our feet is simply the bitching and moaning of a small child pushed out of his comfort zone. In time they learn to tell us the truth about what's happening down there and we learn to trust the information and can act appropriately. In my line of work (painting, if you haven't figured it out) I can sand a surface and know it's ready for paint using just my hands. I never have to look at it. My hands do the seeing for me. The give more and better info than my eyes could ever do. My feet are slowly taking on that role for running. They are becoming more sensitive not tougher. Then again I could just be quibbling over symantics.
I don't think you can toughen up the feet without them getting softer. As a painter, I'm sure you are familiar with several of the processes of making metal stronger, like shot peening and cryo treating, both of which serve to tighten up the surface making it both stronger and smoother to the touch. It's my opinion, our feet react the same way. We don't abrade the soles of our feet, but instead, the "put down and pick up" motion pushes the skin together, making it more compact and less thin but softer to the touch. My feet use to appear more porous and were certainly more "sensetive". Now they almost have a glazed sheen on them, like they've been pollished and the skin is thiker, though just as plyable. It reminds me a little of the pocket of a baseball mitt, beat down and smoothed out through repeated impact. I can see and feel the differences. My son and I never wear shoes and both have a leathery thickness, but feel soft. My wife and my daughter wear shoes a lot more often and both have more porous thin skin. (Yes, I do a lot of foot rubbing at my house. It makes the kids fall asleep faster and keeps the wife happy! ;o) )
Where surfaces like rough rain groves, sidewalks covered in fertilizer granules or standard concrete roads use to get my attention and rob most of my focus, they are now what I would consider "friendly" surfaces and some of the feed back I use to get in the beginning seems a little muffled, BUT I think that's just the difference between the sensetivity of new, fresh or raw skin and that which is well used and up to the challenge. I'll give you an example.
One Friday, after speed work, my feet were black from the surface of the middle school rubber track. My wife and I went to get pedicures and the poor lady went through 4 of those white sponges getting the black off my feet and eroded some of my skin. The next day, I ran 8.4miles (my longest run at the time) and I can tell you, the feed back from my feet was MUCH "louder"...like I was new to barefoot running again! I was ok, thanks to my form, but by the end, my feet didn't like me very much and I was very tired from focusing so hard on my feet and form. I spent the rest of the day with my feet up, lotioned and I didn't walk much or want to. Flash forward to a week ago when I ran a 9.3mile long with all skin intact and the only issues with my feet were that the muscles were tired from stomping on acorns for half the run. A tall glass of chocolate milk, a lotion foot rub, a quick nap and a couple hours later, I was up and walking around, my feet totaly refreshed and comfortable with only my tight calves to remind me of the days mileage.
Yeah, I'm 100% sure my feet are BOTH tougher AND softer. Just my $.02.
-Jonny
