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Barefoot running progress
May. 7th, 2015 02:33 pm As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I am trying to make the transition to barefoot running again. After reading Born to Run sometime in 2010, I made some efforts to do this. I was struggling with pain under the ball of my foot and, like Chris McDougall, I hoped that running without shoes, or with minimal shoes, might help. I tried a lot of different approaches. I ran in sandals, I ran in "pumps" with no cushioning or support, I ran in rubber swimming "socks". And of course, I ran barefoot.
I'm not good at taking things slowly and so I got into difficulties. A lot of skin came off the bottom of one of my feet after I developed a blister. The new skin was tender and thin and I could not run on it. Eventually I stopped and came to terms with the idea that I couldn't run. I turned to other forms of exercise (eg skipping).
Anyway, several years later and I have overcome the ball-of-foot pain through myofascial release. I also think the skipping (which involves landing on the ball of the foot) has strengthened my feet. Another thing I have been doing is carrying 20kg of sand when I walk the dog (2.5 miles, most days of the week). Some of this has been in boots, but more recently I have been doing it in some pretty minimal fell-running shoes (Inov8 Roclites) which has strengthened my feet further.
Also, I have been running a bit since October 2014. Usually only one or two times a week and nothing more than about 4 miles.
I currently have a pulled hamstring (which is improving quite well) and so haven't been running much. I did do a couple of miles with my wife at the weekend and the leg seems okay, so I feel ready to get into a bit more running again.
In a way, I feel the hamstring problem is something of a blessing in disguise. I won't feel like doing a lot of running, or running too hard, until it is completely better. Short runs don't seem to make it worse, so this could be the perfect opportunity to make a careful transition to barefoot running.
The preparation I have done up until today has involved walking barefoot on the road with my dog. These walks have been short (10 -15 minutes). I've done at least one a day for a couple of weeks. I have also sometimes walked barefoot in the local park for about 40 minutes during my lunch break.
Well, today I decided to go for it and run barefoot. Daniel Lieberman recommends starting with a quarter of a mile to one mile for the first few runs. I decided to run for ten minutes. This would probably be about a mile and I felt that the preparation I had done would make this a reasonable amount to do.
It was a wet morning and I walked up the bridle path in my Inov8 shoes. I left these near to the Methodist Chapel on the corner and ran for 5 minutes down the road, and then back again. It felt fine. I tried to practise good form, without over-thinking it and getting too tense. The run went well. My feet and my leg both felt fine after it.
After showering I put some "Bag Balm" on the soles of my feet and went to work.
I feel pleased that I did not overdo it and that my first barefoot run was a success.
I'm not good at taking things slowly and so I got into difficulties. A lot of skin came off the bottom of one of my feet after I developed a blister. The new skin was tender and thin and I could not run on it. Eventually I stopped and came to terms with the idea that I couldn't run. I turned to other forms of exercise (eg skipping).
Anyway, several years later and I have overcome the ball-of-foot pain through myofascial release. I also think the skipping (which involves landing on the ball of the foot) has strengthened my feet. Another thing I have been doing is carrying 20kg of sand when I walk the dog (2.5 miles, most days of the week). Some of this has been in boots, but more recently I have been doing it in some pretty minimal fell-running shoes (Inov8 Roclites) which has strengthened my feet further.
Also, I have been running a bit since October 2014. Usually only one or two times a week and nothing more than about 4 miles.
I currently have a pulled hamstring (which is improving quite well) and so haven't been running much. I did do a couple of miles with my wife at the weekend and the leg seems okay, so I feel ready to get into a bit more running again.
In a way, I feel the hamstring problem is something of a blessing in disguise. I won't feel like doing a lot of running, or running too hard, until it is completely better. Short runs don't seem to make it worse, so this could be the perfect opportunity to make a careful transition to barefoot running.
The preparation I have done up until today has involved walking barefoot on the road with my dog. These walks have been short (10 -15 minutes). I've done at least one a day for a couple of weeks. I have also sometimes walked barefoot in the local park for about 40 minutes during my lunch break.
Well, today I decided to go for it and run barefoot. Daniel Lieberman recommends starting with a quarter of a mile to one mile for the first few runs. I decided to run for ten minutes. This would probably be about a mile and I felt that the preparation I had done would make this a reasonable amount to do.
It was a wet morning and I walked up the bridle path in my Inov8 shoes. I left these near to the Methodist Chapel on the corner and ran for 5 minutes down the road, and then back again. It felt fine. I tried to practise good form, without over-thinking it and getting too tense. The run went well. My feet and my leg both felt fine after it.
After showering I put some "Bag Balm" on the soles of my feet and went to work.
I feel pleased that I did not overdo it and that my first barefoot run was a success.
