The Barefoot Revolution Part 2
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The Barefoot Revolution: Part 2
All good things come to those who wait. That should be the motto of barefoot running. On Thursday, Aug. 20th, I started to develop some pain/tightness in my right foot. I thought nothing of it, after 10 minutes of running it ebbed enough that I finished my hour long run without any other thought about it. Little did I know that this decision would lead to injury.
This post will be the second installment in a series of posts about my journeys into barefoot running. Again, I do not advocate going to or not to barefoot running above what you are already doing. I like the idea of paying less on shoes every 2 months. I also like the idea of strengthening my feet and lower legs and working on my stride. I also personally feel that running shoes keep going more and more towards support and cushioning that in the end doesn’t seem to help people keep from getting injured. So these series of articles will explore my own experiences.
The next morning after my last run, I woke up, stood up, and my foot immediately was in pain. Sharp pain that radiated throughout my midfoot. I tried to go for a short run, thinking maybe it was just a catch or it was me just still being tired and not really focused and I just stood up wrong or something. I made it 100ft and turned around. I waited until Monday to run again, but the same thing happened Monday morning.
Feeling depressed, I researched my symptoms on various podiatry journals and found out I had most likely sprained the second toe at the tarsometatarsal(TMT)joint. This is a classic mid-foot sprain apparently, caused by excessive torque on the foot while up on the balls of the foot. I followed the advice given, and took a week off, and iced and taped my foot everyday.
The following Monday, foot still taped, I ran in my huaraches for 1 mile. No pain during or after the run, so that was a positive sign. I ran 1.5 miles the next day in shoes, and a 5k in the sandals on Wednesday. Still no pain had returned. I noticed that running in the sandals felt better than in shoes, and was easier and more fun. That was interesting. I alternated between sandals and shoes for the rest of the week. I discovered that I was beginning to hate my shoes, they wrecked my form, and it always felt like I was trying too hard in my shoes because they were so inflexible compared to an almost bare foot!
When I run barefoot (or in sandals), I have to pay attention to my body, I am made to focus on how I am running, and on my stride at all times. With shoes its the other way around. I don’t have the same feeling of the ground and can easily drift off into not paying attention at all to what I am doing. This leads to bad form. Running without the shoes is almost like a forced meditation, you are perfectly in sync at all times.
At this point, I decided to go totally unshod, and not use my shoes at all, but how could I do this without getting injured, I wondered? A common complaint when transitioning among barefoot runners is pain in the calf, Achilles, and foot. After reading up a little on barefootrunning.org, I found my answer.
I would have to go totally barefoot. The reasoning behind not using a transition shoe or a sandal or anything else in the beginning is sound. The idea is that the soles of your feet, not yet being tough enough to handle running for as far as you could in shoes, should act as your mediator, telling you when to stop running for the day. My soles would have told me to stop before I got too sore, too stiff, or pushed as hard as I did. Running in a transition shoe had allowed me to push all those newly stressed muscles and ligaments kept safe in my shoe too hard too soon.
So, that Monday, September 7th, I ran a 5k barefoot. My feet felt a little tender, but not in pain. I ran a 5k again on Tuesday, and the rest of the days that week through Friday, and each day was fun and pain-free. I ran a 10k on Saturday, also pain-free, and it was FUN!! So, what had I learned then?
The key is the beginning. I am now thinking that the way to go is totally barefoot for beginners until you build up to being able to run around what your normal daily mileage was with shoes-not counting any long runs obviously. If you want to eventually wear some minimalist footwear, do that after your initial phase of totally barefoot. Go only as far as your soles will let you each day.
So far I feel good about this barefoot thing. My feet and legs are getting stronger and my stride never felt better. Next week, I plan on going out for 40-45minutes/day instead of the 30 I did this week.
My eventual goal has changed now somewhat. Instead of 10 weeks to shoeless freedom, it is just to get to my old daily mileage of 15-20 miles. Once I make it to that totally barefoot, I will start using my sandals and resume building up to a 50 mile run, it just may not be the 50 mile run that I wanted to make by Halloween.
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September 27th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Blake:
Thanks for such an interesting blog. Sorry for all the pain you went through, but it does not surprise me that you could adjust to a running style that has been practiced for centuries.
Where were those Nikes when Socrates needed them?
I am curious how you found a safe place to run barefoot, without the risk of glass or other dangerous impediments in one’s path. Are there indoor tracks anywhere that could substitute for the paths that you took?
Congrads on your wonderful feat (pardon the pun). It is enough to follow through with your goal, but even greater that you take the time and effort to share in this blog.
Mozart4life
September 28th, 2009 at 5:41 am
Mozart4life,
Good comments, I agree with you that it seems odd how for only the last 30 years or so we seem to think that the human foot is broken and needs a supportive shoe.
I was actually worried about the glass too, and that seems to be a common complaint. I have a couple lines of advice on this topic of where to run barefoot.
First, I started by walking barefoot alot around my neighborhood. I would walk on concrete. I also run in my neighborhood for my barefoot runs because the concrete is very smooth, so it allows me to run longer. I have tried running on older asphault, but it ends up being very rough, and all the little rocks on the surface decrease the amount of time I can run at any given time. I personally want to transition fully on concrete because it really makes you pay attention to your stride being the least forgiving surface.
I like running on dirt the most, but there are no real dirt paths where I live. Grass is the next best, and most forgiving, but many people dont like to run on it because they cant see if there is glass.
This is perhaps the biggest complaint. I will stress that I think the optimal way to do it is to run during the day, on concrete/asphalt until you can run for 30-40 minutes/day with no big problems with your soles. At this point, your feet have adapted to where they will be very flexible and also very sensitive to the surface. Not sensitive as in pain, but as in reflexes, you will notice that when you step on sharp rocks your foot will either mold around it or you will pick your foot up very quickly without the same pain as when you started. You will also have a better stride where your foot lightly strikes the ground and doesnt hammer into it like with shoes.
So, all this means that you will be paying more attention to where you are running, avoiding glass, and unless it is a jagged edge of a bottle pointing straight up(which would cut through a shoe too) its not going to do any more damage, and I would argue less damage, than some of the sharper little rocks out there.
Best advice I can give though, run anywhere where you know it to be smooth and family friendly as those places are least likely to have glass broken from partying, and keep that your spot for running until your feet are tough enough to handle the rougher stuff.
last bit-an indoor track might be a good option if the surface is smooth enough, i just cant stand going in circles, I, personally, run because of the freedom it gives me to go anywhere I want to.
Blake
September 29th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Hi Blake another great article. I too wonder where I could run barefoot. Isn’t there always glass on a street just lying around? Now I am wondering why I have running shoes.
Your determination and stamina is amazing. This with working and soon going to school.
I hurt my foot so have stopped running for a few days. Will I have to start all over now at the beginning of running? I began running in July.
Debbie
September 29th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Hey Debbie,
One thing I have noticed as I run around each day, is the benefit of having a good neighborhood around. The neighborhoods that tend to be better off financially, generally tend to have less debris on the street. Around here all the neighborhoods are swept each day by street sweepers.
I have also noticed that I pay a lot more attention to where I put my feet when running barefoot. I am forced to slow down too to keep my stride correct. this all helps to avoid stepping on pebbles and anything else. Of course, just today I was running and saw glass, so I just stopped, and walked over to the sidewalk, and then resumed running.
One rule of thumb that I usually try when I have stopped running for a while is to go back and just run for 10 minutes. I try to just run one mile, or, if you are not at a mile yet, just try to run for 5 minutes.
Go out, and run just those few minutes and call it a day. See how you feel the next day and if you dont feel to stiff or sore, add another few minutes. Just add a couple minutes at a time to get back to where you were before.
Hope this helps.
Blake
October 7th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Thanks Blake, I will take your advice and run as long as I can each day. Keep up the great work. Your writings are fantastic.