Author Archives: Fiona

Name: Fiona Blackett

Age: 25

Years running: 16, on and off. Ran a lot at school, then tailed off a bit in sixth form, had an operation on foot before university, ran a bit at university, dabbled in triathlon for a year and a half, tore Achilles two years ago, running again now.  Just started fell racing in the past month. Attempting to get properly fit and competitive again. The plan is, injury permitting, to ‘practise’ with some 5-7 mile-ish races this year, then move up to ones between 10 and 20 miles next year.

Typical weekly mileage: Currently about 20, with a swim and a cycle or two on top of that. Current running fitness means I’m not ready to run every day at the moment so building it up slowly.

Usual running terrain: Moorland, heather, path, not much road. Used to be all road and track but have changed after too many injuries. I’ve overhauled my running training by moving all running to off-road (or as much as is feasibly possible) and introducing barefootness.

Experience going barefoot (whilst not running): Very little. Did some tennis with Morrisons ‘tennis racquets’ and sponge ball in bare feet in a grassy campsite in Yorkshire last summer. Otherwise I will usually be clad in some form of shoe.

Pre-existing injuries or niggles: Many, most of which are in right leg – operation to remove bursar from right heel, achilles tendonopathy, small tear in right achilles, plantar fasciitis in both feet, although predominantly right foot, hamstring tendonitis. A rather dull and depressing list, in all.

Usual running footwear: Until this year it was always a neutral running trainer with custom-made orthotics. However, since starting with bare feet I have removed all insoles and orthotics from all shoes so most of my running is now done in my Inov8 trail shoes but with no cushioning in whatsoever.

Usual foot-strike style: I was very much a  heel-striker until I started dabbling in bare feet; now I try, even in shoes, to land forefoot/midfoot.

Reasons for running barefoot: I’m only 25 but have had what seems like years of training disrupted with injury, so after trying all phsyio recommendations diligently for years I thought it was time to overhaul and try something totally new, to see if it helps me run injury-free. Hence this.

My first foray into barefoot running was at the end of May, when I just started jogging again after 3 weeks off with plantar fasciitis. I was doing an easy 10 minute jog but my right Achilles was pulling a bit so I kicked off my shoes and did a few minutes (just 7) barefoot. I switched to running with a forefoot/midfoot strike and although it was just a preliminary experiment, it stopped all pain in my Achilles. A few days later I tried a few more minutes. It was only on grass, so was a comfortable place to run.

For the next couple of weeks I was running in shoes again, because the terrain was too stony for totally bare feet (my feet not being accustomed and hardy enough, at this stage, to deal with too many pebbles and abrasive obstacles on the ground). I tried to maintain my forefoot/midfoot strike, although interestingly it still pulled a bit down my hamstrings and behind my right knee, which it didn’t in bare feet.

About a month ago I went out for a very easy jog on a nearby fell but it was quite grassy and heathery so I thought I may as well try without shoes again. I was aware that barefoot running requires a slow build-up but I was going incredibly slowly so jogged along for nigh on 2 hours mostly barefoot, although there was quite a bit of faffage when I had to put my shoes back on for some parts (I can say with certainty that, at present, I find burnt heather intolerably painful to run on. Hopefully my feet will harden as time goes by). It was very liberating, although I daresay it would have been more so if I hadn’t been carrying my shoes and socks. About a mile before I finished, I was lolloping in long grass, in a bit that wasn’t a proper path. It was quite comfortable underfoot though, with it being so grassy, but I didn’t realise at the time that one of the tussocks was concealing some rusted barbed wire. It gashed into my heel and caused a fair bit of blood, although wasn’t as deep nor serious as it could have been. I decided to put my socks and shoes back on, thinking the socks would serve as something of a plaster or bandage, and lolloped back home. It wasn’t unduly painful to walk on but I did think it was prudent to get a tetanus jab the following day, when I discovered that my last tetanus jab was 1988, when I was 4. The muscle spasms and such like associated with tetanus didn’t appeal.

That night I bought some Five Fingers and so the week after I was running in Five Fingers and stubbed my little toe badly twice. I think it must be broken – can’t get it into my Five Fingers and still painful to the touch. It’s fine in bare feet or a normal shoe but when I try to separate it to go into its little home in the Five Finger it causes too much pain. Hopefully I shall become less clumsy as I do more practice with this barefoot thing.

So far my experiments seem to be going quite well, but the insole-less Inov8s have led to massive massive blisters and black toenails on my big toes, which started two weeks ago when I did 2100m of ascent and brutal descent in the Austrian Alps and worsened last weekend in a fell race. Still, it’s a pain I can live with and it’s not a muscle-related injury so I’m persevering.

I’m shortly to depart for my first run with the local fell running group, in which I think I’ll go for the Inov8s since I have no idea of their terrain and don’t want to hold everyone up by mincing about around thistles in my bare feet whilst they jog off into the distance…

12 days of running:

1^st week

Total miles: 40

Number of running sessions: 6

Barefoot miles: about 2, in one session

Five Finger miles: 2

2^nd week: This was a funny week. We’re on holiday so lots of trekking in the Rockies so have so far only done one run, 7 miles, with just the last three quarters of a mile in bare feet. On tarmac, but the tarmac where I’m staying in Canada is very smooth and altogether less abrasive than the one I have near home.

The last time I reported, I’d had a fairly weak effort at running barefeet. I decided to rectify that straight after my last post (almost 2 weeks ago) with a 2 mile jog to the pharmacy in my Five Fingers, which I can finally put my toe in after breaking it. I was doing a hard hill session (9 miles) later that day but was conscious of the need to get back into the barefoot/minimal protection training if I ever hope to build it up to cover most of my training. The 2 miles were fine and I felt like I could have done more, but it was all on pavement/road and didn’t want to overdo it.

I saw the physio the day after: he said I seem to be developing bursitis where the hamstring comes down on the inside of the back of my knee. This I attribute to a fell race 4 weeks ago that had a lot of road in it, and in which I decided to wear my shoes with orthotics in, which I think was the mistake because it forced me back onto my heels for the descent and road rather than the forefoot strike that I’m trying to cultivate.

Despite the physio’s opinion, I decided to do a 15 minute barefoot run – very gently – later that morning. In this I didn’t feel any niggle behind the knee; I don’t know whether this was due to him having loosened it off, or because the problem has never made itself present in my barefoot runs to date. I run with a much more upright style with no shoes on. I did step on a nettle, which stung a bit but wasn’t crippling. I ran through warm damp mud – that was quite pleasant, feeling the mud squelch through my toes, although I was hoping it was actually mud and not a mixture of cow, dog and sheep poo, which is altogether less appealing. The first 400m and last 400m were on pavement and road. The pavement was okay but the road, with its coarse tarmac, did a good job in the short distance of trying to rip my feet to shreds. I imagine I’ll get used to this but for now the balls of my feet are a bit tender. I’m definitely getting better at coping with standing on little pebbles, which previously would cause me to stop, shout, and nearly topple over.

The middle part of my short barefoot run was on fell, so predominantly the wet mud and grass, interspersed with nettles and thistles. I passed a dog walker, who stopped to say hello, and then we went in our opposite directions. A little bit further on, she shouted back to me, “Are you running in bare feet?” (You would have thought she didn’t need to bother asking; the visual evidence is pretty clear). I told her that her eyes weren’t deceiving her and I was in fact in bare feet, to which she asked why, so I briefly said I was hoping to strengthen my feet and reduce injuries and then we headed off again. Yesterday I passed a neighbour when I was in my Five Fingers. He raised an eyebrow, and said hello. Today I passed him when I was jogging along the road in my bare feet. He looked, smiled, and then asked if I was alright. I said yes, he smirked, and then I went on.

One other thing I’m hoping to get from the barefoot running is a more agile running style. I am, by nature, a clumsy runner, who always had flat feet, and I think this is what contributed to some of my injury problems. Running in bare feet forces you to be more careful about where you tread, and although I’m by no means proficient or light of foot yet, having, as previously mentioned, trodden on barbed wire and broken my little toe with my careless foot placements, I think I’m becoming more aware of where I put my feet, including in shoes, and hope that this continues to improve. Since I’ve started to fell run, this is also very useful for fast descents and my former style of going over on my ankles and lolloping along isn’t ever going to make a fell runner of me.

In the past week I haven’t run much, having been on holiday and doing lots of walking instead. Today I did a 7 mile run that was unfortunately all on road as I don’t have access to off-road where I’m staying at the moment, but I did the last ¾ of a miles in barefeet to try and keep it up. Interestingly, again the niggling tightness/pain behind the knee stopped. I’ll try and do part of Thursday and Friday’s runs in barefeet but it might be patchy over the next three and a half weeks as we’ll be in some parks and forests where I might feel a bit vulnerable with barefeet – snakes, insects, bugs etc. We’ll see how it pans out!