When do your feet turn to leather?

halfhazzard

halfhazzard

Barefooters
Jan 30, 2012
123
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28
#1
Anyone know?

But seriously, I'm enjoying (Most of the time) barefoot running. I'm at the point where I can do 2.5 miles on about any urban surface (except the worst chip and seal, which I just don't run down that road), and maybe take a break somewhere along the routes I run.

Every other run seems great, but every other run seems like PAIN in the bottom of my feet. I'm not getting blisters, it's just some days I wonder, "why?" I guess I'll just continue running and walking barefoot as much as my schedule allows, and try not to hurt myself (thats what those short breaks are for right?)
 
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#2
Only six weeks for the plantar surface to turn into living leather. BUT......six months for the underlying connective tissues to thicken up in response to the stimuli, and that's where most of the protection from rocks etc. comes from.
One full year before the bones reach their optimum strength, so take it easy!
 
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#4
Longboard said:
Only six weeks for the plantar surface to turn into living leather. BUT......six months for the underlying connective tissues to thicken up in response to the stimuli, and that's where most of the protection from rocks etc. comes from.
One full year before the bones reach their optimum strength, so take it easy!
Click to expand...

Have not seen that answered before as succinctly (I was too chicken to ask the question, given all my other stupid newbie questions...good on you, halfhazard!).

I think I am at the "living leather" stage; places where I used to walk bf with some amount of discomfort now don't bother me in the least. But, it's really good to know that there are two additional stages and that I have to work slowly to reach them. Thanks for a really helpful answer, Longboard!:)
 
#6
The bone strength is just something to be aware of with relation to stress fractures. When the muscles fatigue they no longer can protect the bones, and that's where the stress fractures come in. You won't feel a difference as far as comfort over rugged terrain or anything, but during the first year unshod you are still more suceptable to stress fractures for that reason.
What I've found is that in addition to running you have to walk on technical gravel as well. The landings are so different, so if you want full thickening underneath you have to challenge the musculature in every way, including running and walking on gravel specificaly for training purposes. Even your arch surface will toughen that way, and you never know when you will need that.
 
#7
halfhazzard said:
Longboard, thanks! I didn't expect a serious answer! Where'd you get all of that anyway? Personal experience?
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Mostly from all the experts that have chimed in here and other sites over the years, and my own personal experience has been pretty much the same.
I've helped train a few barefoot runners, hikers, and walkers from scratch, and those timetables seem accurate to me.
 
#8
Longboard said:
Only six weeks for the plantar surface to turn into living leather. BUT......six months for the underlying connective tissues to thicken up in response to the stimuli, and that's where most of the protection from rocks etc. comes from.
One full year before the bones reach their optimum strength, so take it easy!
Click to expand...

More than a year if you plan on running fast, which is much more stressful than jogging.

I thought my skin was tough after 3 years, then the track peeled it off in one day.
 
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#9
Longboard said:
Only six weeks for the plantar surface to turn into living leather. BUT......six months for the underlying connective tissues to thicken up in response to the stimuli, and that's where most of the protection from rocks etc. comes from.
One full year before the bones reach their optimum strength, so take it easy!
Click to expand...

I'd think it might be a little quicker or longer based on how much barefooting you've done prior too. But I was going to say about 6-9 months is when I really noticed my feet toughening up, and I was probably in the 3-5mile per run range. The skin itself I didnt really notice any tougher until the same time as the 'padding' underneath, but then again maybe the difference was to subtle until then. My skin toughening was delayed about 2 months in by cold weather and VFFs though. And my whole progression seemed slower than most here, but I was very un-barefoot prior.
duh.gif


kozz said:
More than a year if you plan on running fast, which is much more stressful than jogging.
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Hmm thats a good point, I wonder if I should hold back from doing the faster races like 5k's rather than going all out my first year. My last one I was able to muster up more speed than I ever have since high school. Atleast I didnt hurt myself though.
 
#10
I'm into year 3 of this BF business and my feet are still developing. There are plateaus like LB said, but there's more to it than that. I think the bones keep getting stronger, too.

I strongly recommend trail running as an aid to broad foot health development. A diet of only road or flat trail running deprives the feet of many excellent opportunities to expand their ability to respond to challenges.

Good luck!
 
#11
I completely agree with JosephTree, my feet have strengthened significantly since i started running trails a couple of years ago. So much I was able to run up and down 3 mountains this summer and one twice, that includes the summit.
 
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#14
What I feel at the moment is a tickling feeling under my feet every time I come back from my run. I have set myself to run every other day, but once a week with VFF to give my feet a rest and that seems to do the trick for me. I suspect the tickling feeling is a good sign :)
 
#15
Spiderweb62 said:
What I feel at the moment is a tickling feeling under my feet every time I come back from my run. I have set myself to run every other day, but once a week with VFF to give my feet a rest and that seems to do the trick for me. I suspect the tickling feeling is a good sign :)
Click to expand...

I get that same feeling after each run, a tingling that seems to extend up into my calves sometimes. The very first couple of runs, that feeling persisted well into the evening, which was somewhat startling, but in a pleasant way.

While I have no solid basis for this opinion, my suspicion is that all of that new sole stimulation causes the body to reawaken, or perhaps, open up new capillary action as it feeds blood to long-dormant tissues. When we're shod, it seems like those foot muscles and tendons just atrophy, so the body doesn't need much more than simple maintenance blood flow, but when you start doing the barefoot thing, muscles that have been under-utilized up to that point suddenly need an increased blood supply, and thus, the tingling (a bit like when a limb "goes to sleep," and the tingling that ensues when blood flows back into the tissues).

Anyone know what the science behind this phenomena is? Am I completely off my nut with this theory?
 
#16
ThomDavid said:
I get that same feeling after each run, a tingling that seems to extend up into my calves sometimes. The very first couple of runs, that feeling persisted well into the evening, which was somewhat startling, but in a pleasant way.

While I have no solid basis for this opinion, my suspicion is that all of that new sole stimulation causes the body to reawaken, or perhaps, open up new capillary action as it feeds blood to long-dormant tissues. When we're shod, it seems like those foot muscles and tendons just atrophy, so the body doesn't need much more than simple maintenance blood flow, but when you start doing the barefoot thing, muscles that have been under-utilized up to that point suddenly need an increased blood supply, and thus, the tingling (a bit like when a limb "goes to sleep," and the tingling that ensues when blood flows back into the tissues).

Anyone know what the science behind this phenomena is? Am I completely off my nut with this theory?
Click to expand...

Well that sounds a reasonable explanation to me! And of course the fact that there is a requirement for more blood to recover the bruised areas ! :)

I also found that 5' after my run, if I look at my feet the area where they land on the ground is almost white and tender, but that disappears after a few hours
 
#17
Not sure of the physiology involved, but I remember Jackrabbit and Isis ("The Barefoot Sisters") talked at length about the tingle felt each morning during their yo-yo southbound and back Appalachian trail barefoot hike in their podcast interview.
Their story as well as a link to the podcast can be found here, at Barefoot Chris' Barefoot Hikers of PA (NJ-DE-MD).
BTW, this site is probably the single best barefoot hiking site there is.
http://www.barefoothikers.org/barefoot-sisters.html
 
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#19
After almost four years running barefoot I recently made a wallet out of the top layers of my feet. I'm going to waiting for another 6 months or so, then I'm going to make a pair of baby shoes with the next layer.
 
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