What to do next??

Where have I been, you may ask.

Well, in the interest of giving a true account of my barefoot experiences, I thought I'd come clean and confess that I've been nursing a recurrence of my foot injury :(

After upping my mileage, and doing some speed work and intervals as part of my half marathon training plan, the top of foot pain that I suffer with on and off following my stress fracture (2nd metatarsal, Nov 2011) flared up again.  Not exactly the same location, but very close by (a little further towards the ankle).  I think a combination of speed, increased mileage, and also a couple of trail runs where I landed on stones precisely underneath the location of the fracture, have triggered the pain again.

I rested for 2 weeks.  Then, when there was no pain in my foot at all, I tried a run in trainers.  I did 4 miles (probably a little too much), but what I noticed after about 2 miles was a pain in my left knee, shortly followed by aching joints in my hips and ankles.  Everything felt hot and prickly.  These are pains that I immediately associated with wearing trainers and training for races, pre my barefoot days.

On the plus site, my foot felt fine.

2 days later I ran a mile barefoot.  No joint pains or trouble with my knee, but I could definitely feel that stress fracture pain again within a few hundred metres of setting off, and the pain lasted for another 3 days.

Yesterday (again, waiting for zero foot pain) I did 3 miles in my Vivobarefoot shoes.  I chose these because they are zero drop, but they came with some padded insoles to aid in the transition to barefooting, so I put these in to give a little support to my soles.  Knees, hips & ankles win, but again, foot adversely affected.

So, considering that I am half marathon training, and have a 10k race in early September, I feel a bit lost as to what to do next.  I think I'm sold on barefoot / minimalist - there are just too much big joint pains associated with trainers for me now, but I really need to sort this foot out, and I think that boils down to form.  Now all I need to work out is what to do about it...

A little bit more

Today I ran the same route as last Friday - a 3.5 mile circular route through the lanes of a nearby village.

I set off in Classics.  The road was very gritty and muddy after all the rain we've had, with little rivers of water flowing here and there.  Once my feet were warmed up, the cool puddles felt lovely seeping through my VFFs.

A little earlier than last week I took off my Classics.  My pace slowed, but my soles again felt strong and there was no discomfort from the grit on the roads. I enjoyed listening to the quiet 'slap, slap' of my feet on the wet tarmac.

As the route progressed, the tarmac got rougher, though less covered in debris, and gradually the soles of my feet began to notice the sharpness of the surface.  Not that it was painful - I just became aware that I was starting to feel it.

So I pressed the lap button on my Garmin, and saw that I'd done 0.8 miles in bare feet.  My furthest to date.  No scratches, bruises or other untoward ailments.  I put on my Classics and continued home.

Last night I looked at my feet and they seem to be filling out.  I've always had very shallow feet, with bony toes where you can easily see the metatarsals stretching out along the top of my foot.  Now they seem more solid.  At the joints of the second and third toes to the main part of my foot (ie the base of the toe), the flesh is fuller and more muscly looking - this is where my stress fracture occurred, and I think the strength is now building from the training I'm doing.  There is definitely more flesh under these two joints on the base of my feet.  It amazes me how our bodies can change with practise and repetition.  We are lucky beings indeed!

Feeling confident

Yesterday I went for a 5 mile run in my trainers (I can't go that far yet in bare feet or FiveFingers). We averaged around 10 min miles, so a fairly leisurely pace. At the end I took off my trainers and did the last 0.3 miles in bare feet. I was able to almost maintain the same pace.

Today I've been for just over 2 miles in my Classics. Again, for the last 0.3 miles I took them off and ran barefoot. Overall, I managed an average pace of 10.06 min/miles. This is considerably faster than I was doing only a few weeks ago. I'm discovering that whilst I like my Classics (and there's no way I could go as far completely barefoot yet), I feel much more comfortable when my feet are bare. They don't feel restricted in any way (even my FiveFingers are a little restricting), and I feel more confident that I can avoid injury when my feet are bare. It's like they are communicating with me as I run, and this feedback is definitely more muffled even when I've just got FiveFingers on.

On another note, I have had a little Top Of Foot Pain this week on my right foot (hence the five day break from running). This is still apparent, albeit it very minimal. Interestingly, I notice that when I get back, there is almost always a bit of redness on my second and third toe joints (highlighted on the pic - excuse the terrible nail varnish, I really must take it off!).

I think this is a throw back from my stress fracture. It's not on my left foot. I guess there must still be a bit of weakness there, so I do need to be careful.

Why do I run barefoot?

A recent entry on the Runners Forum asked those who have posted on the thread on barefoot and minimalist running to say what motivated them to start. I found myself pondering this question in the middle of the night.  Rather than clog up the forum with a long and probably rather boring essay on my thinkings, I thought I'd write it here.

I've been running for about six years.  For the first two years, I suffered terribly with shin splits.  In hindsight I think this was due to bad form - big heel striker and far too much overstriding (I thought this was how you were supposed to run).  At that time, I read a lot about barefoot running, because I was looking for anything that might help with my problems.

Gradually, my form improved - painfully slowly, and I built up strength in my shins and calf muscles which also helped.  For the last couple of years I've had no shin splint problems.  Along the way I've picked up various minor injuries - thigh strain, dodgy knee, sore ankle - and I've been for physio and rested, then picked up again.  Trainers have been good to me on the whole.

But always in the back of my mind I've had a fascination with the idea of barefoot running.  I really can't explain why.  I wanted a pair of Vibram FiveFingers, but couldn't justify the expense.  I hoped I might get some for my 40th, but I didn't.  Last summer I read Born to Run, and by October, I'd persuaded myself that several years of Googling Vibram FiveFingers needed to end:  I needed to have a pair of my own.  I got them for my 41st birthday.

I built up really carefully, starting out with a quarter of a mile, then half a mile, and so on, until over a four week period I'd built up to just over 3 miles.  Then one wintry day at the end of November, I set out for a 3.5 mile run, but my feet were freezing.  I expected the top of foot pain I experienced to disappear after my feet had warmed up, but a mile in it just kept getting worse, and after half a mile of walking and gentle jogging, I knew I had done some damage.  Turns out I'd got a stress fracture in the second metatarsal of my right foot.  Ouch :(

I duly rested, and watched my other half go out running every other day.  As I couldn't run, I read about running instead, and in particular I did more research on barefoot running.  I couldn't understand how I'd got a stress fracture when I'd been so careful.  I read Ken Bob Saxton's Step by Step guide to barefoot running, which was one of the first books I downloaded to my Christmas Kindle. I conversed with a fellow forum runner who had had an almost identical experience on switching to FiveFingers.  It began to make sense.  Whilst I had built up my distance slowly, the FiveFingers were tricking me into thinking I could run further than my feet were ready for.  The only way to truly build up distance would be to run completely barefoot.

Late in January, when I decided it was time to try a very short run for the first time in almost six weeks, I wore my trainers.  I felt that I needed the support, and I was incredibly nervous about injuring myself again.  You'd think that my experience with VFFs would have put me off barefoot or minimalist running for life, but it only served to make me more determined.  Perhaps determined is too stubborn a sounding word - it was more about being curious.  After a couple of weeks in trainers, I ran a short distance in my FiveFingers and it was ok.  Shortly after that, I took my first, very self conscious steps outdoors in bare feet.  That's where this blog really begins.

I now run barefoot at the end of every shod run I do, and I also bought a pair of FiveFinger Classics which are thinner than the TrekSports to enable me to increase my distance on rougher surfaces.  Do I think barefoot running is the holy grail to avoiding injuries?  No, definitely not.  It hasn't made me faster, and I cannot run as far as I can (and still do) in trainers.  But I have started to love the freedom I feel when my feet are in direct contact with the ground, I've built up my confidence in being seen barefoot in public, and my feet feel stronger.  In short, I think it's added a bit of spice to my running, and brought me a fresh challenge.  It is for those reasons that I will continue to run barefoot for the foreseeable future.

Starting again

Yesterday I went out for 3.5 mile run - in my trainers.  I tried to employ barefoot techniques - keeping a rough cadence of 180bpm, light on my feet, 1-2-3 footfall (ball, heel, toes, in quick succession), concentrating on lift, not landing.  It was great to get out for a proper run again, and I really enjoyed it.

When I got home, I took off my trainers and ran up and down the side of the house a few times.  My bare feet felt fine (though it is only a smooth surface).  Then I realised that the neighbours opposite would have a great view of the side of the house, so I went inside.

Today, I put on my FiveFingers and did just under a mile.  I was extremely careful, being vigilant for any signs of TOFP (top of foot pain).  There was none, just a slight stretching of my achilles.  I tried to remember all of the barefoot running hints & tips as above.  I tried to run silently and effortlessly.  It seemed to work reasonably well.

I did notice that I had no calf pain which I had definitely experienced in my previous FiveFinger outings.  I think this is because I make sure the whole of my foot touched the ground, and I didn't focus on staying on my toes like I had done pre-injury.

On my return home, I once again took off my fives and ran up and down the side of the house completely barefoot.  I was relaxed, gentle footed and it felt good.  My neighbour's blinds were shut so I felt a little less silly.  I think this is the way forward for me for the time being.

To barefoot or not to barefoot?

As I've been unable to run, I've spent most of the Christmas break reading about running, or looking longingly out of the window wishing I could be out there racing through the wind and rain.

From Amazon.co.uk

Having been good enough for Santa to bring me a Kindle, I decided to download Barefoot Ken Bob's book "Barefoot Running Step by Step", which I have been reading avidly for the past few days.  It's been a bit of a revelation (and I haven't even finished it yet!).


Firstly, there are a few paragraphs about the transition to barefoot running using Vibrams.  The paragraphs could be describing me:

"Although running on your toes can seem fun and exhilarating for a while, it can lead to stubbed toes, blisters, and metatarsal stress fractures (a too common malady particularly striking in beginning Vibram/minimalist footwear runners"

Here, Ken Bob is talking about the 1-2-3 (ball, toe, heel) technique.  This is ringing bells in my head.  I'm having a lightbulb moment.  I was running on the balls of my feet only.  When my calves were aching a bit (Ken says if they're aching, you need to tweak your technique, or stop), I did lower my heels a little more, but I thought this was wrong, and would produce a shock impact, so I tried really hard not to put my heels down at all.  In fact, the foot should land with the ball a split second before the heel or toes follow, thus reducing impact whilst then quickly spreading the weight across the whole foot.

The next interesting thing is that Ken says you should learn to run barefoot with nothing on your feet at all, and on the most uncomfortable surface you can find.  That way, you will learn to create the most gentle running experience possible, in order to avoid any pain.  It is this technique that leads to significant improvement in form.

The last thing I want to mention at this stage is cadence.  I've read before that a good running cadence is 180bpm, and I've even once or twice tried to find music tracks with the right bpm to run to, without success.  Yesterday, I had a proper look for this beat, and the reason it's difficult to find is because it is phenominally fast.  At Ken's suggestion, I took to my exercise bike this morning (not one of my favourite activities), and I tried to pedal at 90rpm (the equivalent of 180bpm when running).  I was astounded at how fast it is.  I certainly worked up a good sweat in the 10 minutes I did, something I've never really done before on an exercise bike - I was clearly just plodding along before at around 60rpm.

The question now is whether I want to pursue this barefoot lark.  I know my friends and relatives will think I'm bonkers.  My OH is supportive, though concerned about the combination of feet on stones and broken glass, which I too would be worried about - though a little less now I've read some of Ken's book.

Ideally, I'd have a hidden bit of gravel in the back garden where I can make a start in private.  Perhaps the winter isn't the best time of year either - I could certainly get away with running up and down the road with my son barefoot in the summer.

Barefoot Ken's feet after 10 miles of gravel

Oh, and I don't blame the Vibrams for my injury.  I just wish I'd read Ken's book first.