Barefoot lessons

Barefoot lessons

Things I’ve learned in the first few weeks of barefoot running.

This summer is for me is a summer of strengthening and recuperation.  My miles are low and I am working to make my feet stronger.  I’m working to move into a more minimalist form of running.  I’m also trying to learn to run barefoot.

I read a number of the barefoot expert’s books and a listened to a number of them speak.  Some of what they say makes sense.  Some of what they say is mystical hogwash.

What I was able to tease out of all the information, opinion and misinformation was that barefoot running strengthens your feet.  It allows your legs to act naturally as a spring system – if your form is correct.  It forces you to run in a more natural, forefoot mechanics.

I have been interested in experimenting in barefoot running for a few years.  I consider myself an ever-learning experiment of one.  The problem I had was that any source material describing the transition to barefoot running says that you have to start from scratch.  You have to drop your miles to essentially zero for a few months and slowly climb up from there. I never had time in my running life to take 3-6 months off.  There was always an event to run.

Lucky for me, this year a chronic foot injury has given me the opportunity to move forward with this experiment.

Like I said, all the experts say “start slowly”.  I started by doing barefoot striders the length of a soccer pitch in the grass.  I’d run the 100M up the field then walk back.  I also started mixing in some barefoot walks around the neighborhood and in the woods.

I did this for a couple weeks.  I was still running in my neutral cushion shoes and orthotics.

After a couple weeks of this I took the plunge.  I began running 1k around my neighborhood in bare feet on the road.  I worked up to 2k.  1k on the road and 1k in the trails.  My longest runs so far have been 4 – 5 miles on the trails.  I’m about a month in now.

I’m not there yet.  My running is very tentative and slow.  I pick my way along at a pace that is 2-3 minutes slower than my shoe-pace.  I have yet to experience any of this blissful utopian barefoot running joy that the mystics talk of.  Mostly what I experience is pain.

It’s a bit mystifying to me that none of these barefoot books talk about the pain.  Are they just putting lipstick on a pig or are they really to the point where they have no pain?  They talk about ‘feedback’.  They never mention pain.

What have I learned?

It’s not just about the skin.

Going into this I considered that my biggest challenge would be to toughen up the skin on the bottom of my feet so that little rocks and sticks wouldn’t hurt.  This is indeed a challenge but it’s not the only challenge.  My skin is toughening up nicely but I have bruises on the bottom of my feet.  After a run it feels like someone beat me with a hard, blunt object on the bottoms of my feet. Most notably the first metatarsal pad behind the big toe on my right foot is taking a terrible beating.

One of my first longer runs was in the rain and the trails were marvelous.  Really wonderful.  Soft and muddy and my feet didn’t hurt too badly.  I was filled with optimism.  I went out on the same path, for the same distance two days later.  My feet were so swollen I could not walk.

I know the barefoot folks would say that I’m not running with the proper form, and that is probably true enough, but at 190 pounds my fast feet still hit the ground with a fair amount of force and the ground coming up to meet my foot causes bruising.

The other pain that I was expecting is the plantar and Achilles pain from the lack of shoe.  I don’t consider this ‘bad’ pain because my legs are going to have to learn to use the calf and the Achilles to run barefoot and minimal. It’s part of the learning curve.  That being said my Achilles are very sore and would surely be in trouble if I was doing any real mileage.  I’ve started a calf-raise program to strengthen this whole chain up the back of my legs.

I have run barefoot on a few different surfaces.  First, the grass of the playing fields.  Very easy. Very forgiving.  No problems except the added strain on the system from running forefoot.  If I, at some point decide to do hill or speed work barefoot, it will be in the grass.

Second the road around my neighborhood.  This is typical New England tar.  It is easy enough to run on and does not abrade the skin too badly but it is very hard and bruises the feet easily.  I have worked up to a kilometer on the road.

The tough parts are where there are broken pieces, pot-holes and gravel.  A pointy piece of gravel perhaps a centimeter or so high will light up the bottom of your foot like a laser beam.  If your feet are soft small bits of gravel may actually stick to the bottom of your foot and it’s just like having a rock in your shoe.

Third are my trails.  My trails are fairly technical woodland trails with roots and rocks and sticks and all sorts of stuff to step on and experience ‘feedback’.

The soft dirt and pine needle surfaces are a joy, as are the muddy bits.  Most of the larger roots and rocks can be avoided.  There are smaller rocks, and roots and sticks that are quite painful.  You don’t see them on the trail until you have already planted your foot.  Then depending on where they dig in it lights you up like being stung by a wasp.  I got an actual puncture wound from a pointy stick between the toes last week.

One thing I’ll agree with the barefoot folks on is that your feet are covered with nerve endings.  Yeah, they are.  I can attest to lots and lots of ‘feedback’.

The problem with this is that when you start getting stung by forest floor junk you tighten up your feet in response and it just hurts more.  There are times where I will actually cry out in pain when some stick jams me in just the right spot.  There is a reason torturers prefer the feet.

The final surface I have run on is poured concrete sidewalks like you will find in most metro areas.  These are counter-intuitively good for barefooters.  The surface is very smooth and does not abrade the skin.  They are quite hard so there is some contusion risk but they are so consistent that you are able to maintain good form and avoid landing wrong.

I find that it hurts more when I start running.  At some point I start to relax and it feels ok.  But, as soon as I start getting tired and my cadence drops it starts lighting me up again and I’m defenseless.

This is a great point.  The preferred running mechanics and form of the barefoot illuminati is a rapid forefoot strike – like you are running on hot coals.  This is sensible and easy enough but it is actually tough to maintain.  After a couple miles flipping your feat like an eggbeater your form starts to drop, and when it does…”Bang!” stinger in the heel.

I really tried to ease into this barefoot routine and I expect it will get easier as I go but I’m not sure it will ever get back up to the level I was at wearing shoes.  In order to maintain form and make the barefoot running bearable I have to drop my pace by around 2 minutes per mile, even more in the trails.

A much slower pace helps with the impact pain as does stopping to take a rest when the ‘feedback’ becomes too intense.

That’s my report on barefoot running from about a month’s worth of experience.  That’s my report on barefoot transition after about a month.  Is it helping my foot injuries? Frankly my feet are so sore I can’t tell if the plantar is any worse or better, all I can say is that it’s different.  We’ll see how it goes from here and I’ll report back in a month or so.