Author Archives: Dai

As a new contributor I suppose I’d better introduce myself… My name is Dai, I’m 30, and I’ve been running, on and off, for about 4 or 5 years.  I’ve run a handful of 10kms, one half marathon and 2 Tough Guys (Google it, it’s great fun!) in between bouts of injury and laziness, so I’m pretty much a recreational runner and as such, my weekly mileage varies from anything from 0 to 15-20ish depending on whether I’m training for a race or laid off through injury or lack of will power!  I usually run on a mixture of pavement and grass near to my home.

I’m barefoot or in my socks most days when inside (I work at home, so can chose my own footwear!) but, until recently, I wore mostly Doc Martens boots or sandals outside.  I’ve since started walking more in my bare feet, carrying a pair of flip flops in case I need to cover up.  Running-wise, I’ve worn a wide variety of trainers over the years, but the trainers I’ve worn most recently were a pair of Brooks that were recommeded to me after a gait analysis in a specialist running shop.  I’ve yet to find a pair of trainers which didn’t give me blisters when running more than 4 miles, one of the reasons I decided to try barefoot running instead.  I’m pretty much a heel-strike runner going by how it feels and the wear on the soles of my trainers.

Over the years I’ve picked up a number of injuries through running, mostly blisters, sprained ankles, back pain, knee pain and a nasty case of achilles tendonitis after running the Great North Run that had me out for around 3 months.  However, I’m mostly injury-free now.

I decided to run barefoot , well, on a whim basically.  I’d seen a couple of people running in VFFs and in bare feet locally over the last few months and just decided to have a go myself!  I’ve actually been running barefoot (or trying to!) for a few weeks now, I’ll explain how it’s been going below… 

After deciding to run barefoot, I did a little bit of research on the internet on how best to approach it.  I ordered Barefoot Ken Bob’s book, “Barefoot Running Step by Step” and started searching the internet for more information.  All the advice I found (from Barefoot Ken Bob’s website, Jason Robillard’s Barefoot Running University, the US Runner’s World barefoot running forums, plus Graham’s own website) suggested that the best way to transition was to start small.  So I added a half-mile barefoot run on the end of my usual 4 to 5 mile route.  I felt a bit of a dope running along holding my trainers in my hands, but running barefoot felt really good.  My foot strike changed immediately to a forefoot landing and it just felt a lot more effortless.  I stopped after half a mile and put my trainers back on for the rest of the run home.  My feet felt good, I’d run on quite rough pavement, so they felt like they’d had a vigorous massage!  There’s no other way to explain it really. 

A couple of days later, Ken Bob’s book arrived.  I devoured it, especially the form guide, then I went out for another run to try and put the lessons into practice.  I ran pretty much the same route as before, a 4 to 5 miler, with about a half mile of barefooting at the end.  I think this was a mistake.  I was concentrating on changing my form to what Ken Bob recommended, while wearing my trainers.  All the advice states that you shouldn’t do too much barefoot at the start, but nothing about lowering your mileage in trainers when you’re trying to change your form.  The day after this run, I had pretty severe top of foot pain (TOFP) and couldn’t run for a few days.  The barefoot run itself was only half a mile, so I think the pain came from forcing myself (in my thick-heeled trainers) to forefoot strike over the 4 or so miles preceding it.  The cushioning in my trainers obviously wasn’t thick enough to protect me from such a rapid and complete change in form compared to my usual heel-strike and my feet, unaccustomed to the pounding on the fore-foot, paid the price.

This was about 3 weeks ago now.  I went out for 1 more completely barefoot run about a week after my TOFP developed, but decided to take more time off to rest after the pain flared up.  Once the pain went, I spent a week following some foot strengthening exercises reccommeded by Barefoot Ken Bob and Jason Robillard (barefoot running on the spot, picking things up off the floor with my toes, walking outside barefoot, etc.) preparing to return to running.  This is now my first week back, starting (as I should have!) completely barefoot with very short runs!  Wish me luck!

• Total weekly miles

 3/4 of a mile.

• Number of running sessions

3.

• Total weekly barefoot miles

3/4 of a mile.

• Number of barefoot running sessions

3.

• Running terrain

Flat circuit outside my house on pavement.

• Ground surface of barefoot runs

A mix of smooth and rough pavement with some road too.

• Runs in minimalist shoes, e.g. Five Fingers.

None.

• Weather for barefoot runs (rain on road?)

Warm and dry.

• Condition of skin on feet — hotspots, blisters

Dirty, but no damage at the moment.  I have a small blister below my third toe from walking barefoot, but that’s healing nicely and doesn’t affect my running.

• Interesting/amusing comments received during the week: e.g. ‘You’ve got no shoes on!’

None so far.  A few funny looks though.

• Treading on nasty things: e.g. glass, thorns, poo — how you dealt with any.

Pavement has been clean so far this week so no need to deal with any nasty things! 

• Changes in your running style that you’ve noticed.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I land on my forefoot instinctively when running barefoot.  I’m trying to put into practice all the other changes in form that are recommended for barefoot running (short strides, high cadence, bent knees etc.), but it’s quite difficult to do on such short runs (all runs 1/4 mile this week) because by the time I feel I’m getting into a nice rhythm the run is over.  Hopefully as I extend my mileage over the next few weeks this will get better.

• Injuries incurred, or reduction of existing symptoms.

No injuries.  My feet feel a bit tired as I write this (although that’s more likely to be the 5 miles I walked barefoot yesterday!).  No re-occurence of the TOFP I had before, thankfully. 

• Useful tips and nuggets of info you’ve picked up along the way.

The most useful thing I’ve picked up is the idea of cross-training!  I never really cross-trained before, apart from the occasional visit to the gym where I messed around with the weights and rowing  machines for 30 minutes and then went home.  Running was always my main form of exercise.  Now I can’t do much running due to restricted mileage, I’m using a couple of cross-training ideas I’ve pinched from Jason Robillard’s book, the imaginatively titled ”The Barefoot Running Book”.  

My favourite one is as follows - get a pack of cards.  Each suite has an associated exercise, so for example, hearts could be burpees, diamonds are crunches, clubs are press-ups, spades could be squats.  The aces are 11, face cards are 10, the other cards are as numbered.  Turn over the first card and do the exercise shown by the suite the number of times shown by the value of the card.  Now try and get through the whole pack!  You’ll be so tired by the end you won’t care that you’re only supposed to run 1/4 mile!  You can vary the exercises as well and the random order and number from using the cards mean that it doesn’t get too boring.   

So, week one is out of the way.  I’m going to increase my mileage this coming week to around 1/2 mile per run for another 3 sessions and see how it goes.

• Total weekly miles

 1.25 miles.

• Number of running sessions

3.

• Total weekly barefoot miles

1.25 miles.

• Number of barefoot running sessions

3.

• Running terrain

Flat circuit outside my house on pavement.

• Ground surface of barefoot runs

A mix of smooth and rough pavement with some road too.

• Runs in minimalist shoes, e.g. Five Fingers.

None.

• Weather for barefoot runs (rain on road?)

2 runs were nice and dry, I managed 0.5 of a mile each on those.  One run was in the rain, my feet really hurt during that one, so I cut it down to 0.25 of a mile.

• Condition of skin on feet — hotspots, blisters

Surprisingly, considering the pain I was in during the wet run (my feet were so sore, I honestly thought my soles were going to shear off during that run!), my feet are fine!  Skin feels soft and smooth, no blisters, abrasions or anything.

• Interesting/amusing comments received during the week: e.g. ‘You’ve got no shoes on!’

None, but a couple of drivers did a double take when they saw me trotting around with no shoes on.

• Treading on nasty things: e.g. glass, thorns, poo — how you dealt with any.

No problems like that.

• Changes in your running style that you’ve noticed.

During the dry runs, my feet feel fine, so I think my running stlye is pretty much the same as last week, i.e. forefoot landing, short strides etc.  However, I think I’m still over-striding a bit which is why my feet hurt so much when I was running in the wet.  The shearing forces that are causing the pain should (hopefully) stop if I concentrate on shortening my stride even more.

• Injuries incurred, or reduction of existing symptoms.

No injuries.  My right foot (in which I felt the TOFP when I first started) feels a little sore sometimes, but nowhere near as bad as it was. 

• Useful tips and nuggets of info you’ve picked up along the way.

No tips or nuggets this week, but I recently bought some original RunAmocs from Soft Star shoes, which are amazing.  Leather moccasins with a 2mm thick vibram rubber sole.  They’re made as minimalist running shoes, so they have thin soles and don’t offer any support to the foot.  I love them and wear them as my everyday shoe.  They’re suede leather, so they’re a bit too warm for running in for me, but I’m seriously considering buying some RunAmoc Lites.  The Lites have perforated leather uppers, so a bit cooler for running in, and should dry faster than the suede ones if I run in the rain (which is unavoidable round here!).  Still, there’s plenty of time for that, I don’t intend to run in shoes again until I have to when winter arrives!

This week, I’m looking to run between 1.5 miles and 1.75 miles over 3 runs.  I’ll be concentrating on trying to shorten my stride and make sure my general form is OK.

• Total weekly miles

 1.25 miles.

• Number of running sessions

3.

• Total weekly barefoot miles

1.25 miles.

• Number of barefoot running sessions

3.

• Running terrain

Flat circuit outside my house on pavement, and sandy trail beside the beach on holiday.

• Ground surface of barefoot runs

A mix of smooth and rough pavement, and one run on sandy trails.

• Runs in minimalist shoes, e.g. Five Fingers.

None.

• Weather for barefoot runs (rain on road?)

Fine weather again for all runs.

• Condition of skin on feet — hotspots, blisters

Still quite good, although my feet seem to have started to shed.  Lots of dry dead skin coming off at the moment, from my heels and the balls of my feet.  However, I’m not sure this is related to barefoot running, it’s something that has come and gone every few months for as long as I can remember.

• Interesting/amusing comments received during the week: e.g. ‘You’ve got no shoes on!’

Again, none.  But considering that one of my runs was beside the beach (where hardly anyone was wearing shoes anyway) that’s not really surprising.

• Treading on nasty things: e.g. glass, thorns, poo — how you dealt with any.

No problems like that.

• Changes in your running style that you’ve noticed.

Deliberately tried to shorten my stride further (as mentioned last week).  It seemed to help a bit, but other than that, no further changed.

• Injuries incurred, or reduction of existing symptoms.

None.  The pain in my right foot seems to have gone (touch wood!). 

• Useful tips and nuggets of info you’ve picked up along the way.

Not this week…  I did see a couple of barefoot runners on the beach while we were on holiday.  Most of them were obviously shod runners who ran barefoot on the beach because it’s softer.  Their footprints really showed up their bad barefoot form.  Deep holes in the sand at their heels where they heel-struck, then deep holes again at the toes where they pushed off.  I saw one guy who seemed to run with great barefoot form (he was also the only one who wasn’t holding trainers in his hands), his footprints were perfectly level, like he was floating along the sand with no excess pressure at heel or toe.

So I guess I do have a tip after all… Try running on wet sand at low tide if you live on the coast, then inspect your footprints.  It might help to highlight any issues with your form!

A quick one this week.  No running at all.

Why?  Well, while I was camping on holiday I managed to stub my toe.  “So what?” you might ask.  Well, at the time, I was barefoot, it was the middle of the night, and I stubbed it very hard against a very rough, very solid brick.  My big toe basically looked like it had exploded, there was a very thick flap of skin a couple of centimeters across hanging off, and lots and lots of blood.  Luckily we’d brought a first aid kit with us, so I was able to patch it up in torch light to the extent that I stopped bleeding all over the tent.

So I’ve been hobbling around for the last few days with my toe taped up, and it finally seems to have healed enough that I can walk fairly comfortably.  However, I’m going to be very careful over the next couple of days to make sure I don’t re-injure it while it heals.

So, top tip this week?  When you get up to go to the loo in the middle of the night when you’re camping, bring a torch and watch where you’re going! 

Again, no running this last week.  However, my toe has healed up remarkably well.  I was afraid I was going to lose a big chunk of skin, but after 2 weeks of using superglue around the edges of the cut and binding my toe up using mircopore tape, most of the skin that was hanging off immediately after the accident seems to have re-attached quite nicely.  I’ll be going out running again this week, starting off small again, probably around 1/4 of a mile for the first couple of runs just to make sure it has healed up as well as I think it has.

• Total weekly miles

 1 mile.

• Number of running sessions

3.

• Total weekly barefoot miles

1 mile.

• Number of barefoot running sessions

3.

• Running terrain

Flat circuit outside my house on pavement.

• Ground surface of barefoot runs

A mix of smooth and rough pavement and road.

• Runs in minimalist shoes, e.g. Five Fingers.

None.

• Weather for barefoot runs (rain on road?)

One dry, two wet.  Some puddles on wet runs.

• Condition of skin on feet — hotspots, blisters

Good.  All the dead skin I reported before seems to have gone, probably as a result of running with no shoes.  My skin is fine, the biggest change I’ve noticed with my feet over the last few weeks is that they seem to have become a lot more flexible.  If I massage my feet now (either by hand or using a massage ball) I can feel the joints in my feet flexing and moving in response to the pressure.  It feels good, and I think it helps me to run (and walk) barefoot or minimally shod more comfortably because it means my feet can mould themselves around stones or bumps or irregularities in the ground surface as I move, thus reducing localised pressure and pain.  Also, my feet haven’t hurt during my wet runs this week.  Seems my tactic of deliberately shortening my stride has paid off.

• Interesting/amusing comments received during the week: e.g. ‘You’ve got no shoes on!’

No comments, but I think I’ve surprised a couple of people when I overtake them or run past them when I’m running.  They obviously can’t hear me running along behind them.  Quite amusing (for me!), and I guess it shows my form is OK, I can run without too much noise so therefore the impact of my footfalls must be quite low.

• Treading on nasty things: e.g. glass, thorns, poo — how you dealt with any

Living in the UK, autumn seems to have arrived early this year.  As a result there are a lot of fallen berries and fruit around on the pavement, lots of chestnuts and things like that.  So there are a lot of fruit stones and nuts underfoot in a couple of sections of my route.  I must have stood on some (I can see stains from fruit and berries on my feet and between my toes when I get back from running), but I haven’t actually felt them when I’ve been running.  Maybe my skin is getting tougher, maybe the increased felxibility in my feet has enabled me to run over them without noticing, I don’t know.  So I’ve pretty much dealt with those things by not noticing and then washing my feet when I get home!

• Changes in your running style that you’ve noticed.

Again, I deliberately shortened my stride and kept my turnover slightly higher than normal.  Seemed to help with both foot pain when running in the rain and with smoothness of gait (i.e. no bouncing around and minimal impact on footfall).

• Injuries incurred, or reduction of existing symptoms.

None.  My toe is recovering nicely from the injury, although the nice pink new skin is a bit soft.  Luckily it’s right on the end of my toe, so doesn’t make contact with the ground at all.  I guess that will help me to remember not to push off from my toes! 

• Useful tips and nuggets of info you’ve picked up along the way.

None this week.  I’ve brought my mileage back down to 0.3 of a mile per run for this last week and have had no problems.  No foot pain, no tiredness.  So I’m going to increase the distance again this week and see how I feel.

• Total weekly miles

 1.7 miles.

• Number of running sessions

3.

• Total weekly barefoot miles

1.7 mile.

• Number of barefoot running sessions

3.

• Running terrain

Flat circuit outside my house on pavement.

• Ground surface of barefoot runs

A mix of smooth and rough pavement and road.

• Runs in minimalist shoes, e.g. Five Fingers.

None.

• Weather for barefoot runs (rain on road?)

Two dry runs, one a bit damp with puddles.

• Condition of skin on feet — hotspots, blisters

Good.  Again, on the wet run my shorter strides seem to make sure that there’s no pain when running.  My big toe on my left foot (the one I stubbed a couple of weeks ago) was a little sore, but no sign of any damage once I finished my run.  I think I just wasn’t picking it up quickly enough and it was rubbing slightly on the pavement as I lifted my foot. 

• Interesting/amusing comments received during the week: e.g. ‘You’ve got no shoes on!’

No comments.  Again, a few funny looks, but I don’t really pay attention to other people when I’m running.

• Treading on nasty things: e.g. glass, thorns, poo — how you dealt with any

Nothing.  I have to say this was something I worried about when I started running outside, but I continue to be impressed by the relative cleanliness of the streets around where I live.  Anything that is on the pavement that could damage my feet/gross me out if I stepped on it is usually very visable, so I can avoid them.  But it’s actually very rare that I do see anything.

• Changes in your running style that you’ve noticed.

I think my running style has become much smoother.  Even when I’m not concentrating 100% on keeping good form, I still find that I’m running more gently than I used to.  For example, if I was running in shoes and had to cross a road, I’d leap out into the road (after looking of course!) and land on my heel.  Then when I reached the other side, I’d leap up onto the kerb and carry on.  I’m finding now that I automatically step up and down more gently, keeping a more constant speed and effort.  Difficult to explain exactly what I mean, but it certainly feels smoother and seems to have less impact on my feet.

• Injuries incurred, or reduction of existing symptoms.

None.  Although I’m very aware that I increased my mileage by a lot this week.  I’m going to stick with much the same distances this week to try and make sure I don’t fall into the TMTS trap again. 

• Useful tips and nuggets of info you’ve picked up along the way.

Not this week.  For the next week, I’m going to stick pretty much to the same distance I did this week just gone.  I’m away on holiday for a week from Friday, so won’t be able to update this for a while.  But hopefully I’ll get out for a few barefoot runs while I’m away!

As I said in my last post, I’ve been away over the last week on holiday.  I had a lovely time, catching up with family I haven’t seen for a few months and relaxing after a hectic last couple of months.  Week 8 was spent at home, following much the same routine as the last few weeks.  Week 9 was my holiday week, which I spent mostly barefoot, playing a couple of games of tennis, walking and running on a variety of surfaces (sand, gravel, grass, heather, roads) which was amazing.  The kind of sensory feedback you get from having bare skin in contact with such a range of materials and textures 24 hours a day is just incredible.  I’m back in the real world now, and even wearing socks feels constricting.  We’re staring at the business end of winter now, with cold, windy and wet weather coming up.  I’m not sure just how much barefooting (apart from running) I’m going to be able to do between now and spring, and I think I’m going to miss it.

Anyway, I’ve combined my two weeks in the summary form below.

• Total weekly miles

 Week 8 – 1.7 miles, week 9 – 1 mile (plus a few games of tennis and lots of walking)

• Number of running sessions

Week 8 – 3, week 9 – 1.

• Total weekly barefoot miles

Week 8 – 1.7 mile, week 9 – 1 (plus whatever I covered in tennis… which probably doesn’t amount to much!).

• Number of barefoot running sessions

Week 8 – 3, week 9 – 1.

• Running terrain

Flat circuit outside my house on pavement.  In week 9, it was made up of gentle hills.

• Ground surface of barefoot runs

A mix of smooth and rough pavement and road, with some gravel tracks in week 9.

• Runs in minimalist shoes, e.g. Five Fingers.

None.

• Weather for barefoot runs (rain on road?)

Three dry runs in week 9, one dry run in week 9.

• Condition of skin on feet — hotspots, blisters

Good.  No issues from running.  My right foot felt a little sore after the 1 mile run, but was fine the next day.  Even after a week of living barefoot, my skin is in good condition.  No blisters, sore spots, nothing like that at all. 

• Interesting/amusing comments received during the week: e.g. ‘You’ve got no shoes on!’

No comments.  Some looks again, especially when I was out walking.  Everyone else I met had enormous hiking boots, waterproofs, hiking poles and rucksacks, and there I was in shorts, a tshirt and bare feet.  I don’t know what they thought about me, but I felt kind of sorry for them!

• Treading on nasty things: e.g. glass, thorns, poo — how you dealt with any

For the first time, I actually had a problem (not counting the exploding toe incident of a couple of weeks ago!).  I got a thorn stuck in a toe while I was walking around.  It was a bit uncomfortable, but I was able to ignore it until I got home.  I dug it out with a safety pin that evening, and had no problems subsequently.

• Changes in your running style that you’ve noticed.

None.  I started to feel tired towards the end of my mile run, presumably because that’s the furthest I’ve run in almost 3 months (wow… has it really been that long?!).  I’ve read other blogs that suggest that it’s difficult to keep good form when you get tired, so I made sure I concentrated on my form even more then. 

• Injuries incurred, or reduction of existing symptoms.

None.  I’m going to try for 3 (0r 4) runs of 0.75ish miles this week.  The slight pain I had in my foot after my 1 mile run last week suggests I’m not quite ready for that distance yet. 

• Useful tips and nuggets of info you’ve picked up along the way.

I don’t know if this will sound silly or useless or what, but I’ve kind of fallen into a way of making sure that my cadence stays high while I’m running.  I’ve found myself counting along to my steps as I run, saying “1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3…” with a footfall on each number.  The natural speed for me when I count like this is a little faster than 180 steps per minute (I checked by cycling along to this counting on a stationary bike with an rpm display).  I don’t know if I’ve explained this very well, or if it will be useful to anyone who reads this, but that’s how I do it.  I’ve read of other people running along to music, to metronomes, and various other ways of keeping your tempo up.  This way seems to work best for me.  Keeping your tempo up helps to prevent you over-striding, which prevents you from hurting yourself.  So any way you can find to help to keep your tempo up is good in my book!