toughening the feet

I prefer barefoot walking and

I prefer barefoot walking and hiking to get my feet back every year. It doesn't take much. After my soles, especially the skin on my toes, gets thick enough for any surface I gradually build up barefoot running mileage. I've had my fill of ruining my workout schedule with occasional open blood blisters during April and May, and this seems like the way to avoid setbacks like that.
 
Barefoot TJ wrote:Same here

Barefoot TJ said:
Same here for me, Bob. With huaraches, I find I feel heavier. Take 'em off, and I'm flying, well for a turtle. I took 15 minutes off my half marathon time over 10 months time after shedding the shoes.



15 minutes off your "shod" HM time? That is encouraging... The question I have for you TJ is: What was your weekly mileage and your training program with shoes compared to your weekly mileage barefoot?
 
Hi Baby, I was running about

Hi Baby, I was running about 20 - 25 miles a week when I was wearing nasty ASIC Kayanos. My first and last shod half marathon consisted of my running the first 5 miles with those shoes on, taking them off due to the Morton's Neuroma pain (directly caused by the shoes I used to wear), and running the last 8 miles without them! I should have chucked them in the trash instead of carrying those boat anchors with me for 8 miles! Before I had surgery for the MN (both feet were affected), I was between 35 to just over 40 miles barefoot per week.
 
barefoot kean wrote:Walking

barefoot kean said:
Walking on rough surfaces is how I toughened up my feet, after doing that for 2 weeks most surfaces while running were infinitely easier to run on.
I agree with this totally. I run on what ever is put in front of me. I really like trails, but gravel roads and limestone paths are challenging and fun too, because no matter how often you run them you cannot predict how it will be. Keeps you on your toes so to speak.;-)

I am hearing a lot of people mention not liking chip and seal, personally I love running on that. I am not supersonic fast on it, but i love the challenge, and who doesn't like a foot pedicure.:bigsmile:
 
I have found that a double layer of athletic tape is just enough to insulate me from the worst parts of that gravel and chips. It usually starts to fall off after about 6-8 miles but I keep a bit wrapped around an old credit card in my pocket just in case of a puncture wound etc
 
I have just been trying to power through the chip and seal in my neighborhood. It is better on some days than others. Luckily, most of my running route is concrete and asphalt pavement. Last Sunday's run in Santa Rosa had a lot of chip and seal. I made it home!! Maybe all the barefoot walking around has helped.
 
One of my favorite running loops just got a section of it repaved with that chip seal crap - didn't know the name of it until I Googled it after it being mentioned here - that stuff is something else - oh so painful - pretty angry at the repaving when it was a great road for running and driving on before :(
 
Wow, I was taken way back when I saw some of the names posting higher in the thread! It started in 2011!

The topic is very fresh in my mind, though. I just moved, and my go-to trail, just out my back door, transitions from baby bottom smooth new pavement to fine gravel to gravel and pebble mix and back to fine-ish gravel. I thought my feet were plenty tough after BFing on various grades of roads since the end of last winter. Clearly not the case, as my tingling plantar skin tells me even as I'm typing now. I'm good for 4 miles or so at this point, but I can sense that I am changing my conditioning even after 3 runs.

Last night I ran in the dark, which was even more intensely focusing.
 
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i am also trying to discover the relative merits of different toughening approaches.

i think chip-n-seal is better than straight gravel because (plagiarizing from elsewhere) sparse gravel moves around under your feet and just hurts and slows without seeming to do much toughening. you can still run (very slowly) on the chip-n-seal rather than doing a prancing chicken imitation. a week or so ago, i did like 6 miles on varying grades of chip-n-seal at the beginning of a much longer run. yeah, that might have been a little more than was wise at this point: it took about 5 days before my soles were feeling as robust as before. i was still able to run and stuff, but they preferred to avoid the broken acorns/etc.... all told, i think there is merit in it for "toughening" for long distance and/or trail running.

sometimes i get these "zombie zones" on the front/landing part of my feet, especially in cold weather. they typically in the pad behind and between where the #2 and #3 toes are (i guess where there might be a little fold or crease during landing) and behind the #4 toe where a fair amount of weight gets supported . after my (so far) epic chip-n-seal run, they started making a re-appearance despite the warm weather. to see what would happen, i thought i would try a chemical treatment of some sort, in this case: soybean oil! that seemed to heal up the worn/thin skin and zombie zones, but it also (surprise, surprise) made the skin a teeny bit softer and more sensitive, at least initially. of course, that was kinda the point. i'm keeping at the oil treatment to see if it will help preserve the skin over the longer term and so far, it seems to be working even after my longest non-race run to date.

i've had mixed results with heat treating in the past. there's nothing quite as great as blacktop in florida in july; but, where i live we don't get the heat consistently enough to get a good enough effect on the road. my fallback (and winter) method is sand in an electric skillet with the aforementioned mixed results. but, my next planned experiment will be to combine the food oil with the heat treating to see if deep-fried feet wrapped in bacon are delicious work better. :)

and then back to the chip-n-seal.

and then, perhaps, there will be some good conversation pieces: isn't there some cliche about "poor decisions make for better stories"?
 
Yes, your feet can lose

Yes, your feet can lose conditioning if you don't do it "often enough." If you don't use it, you will lose it. For you, being so new to this, I can see getting blisters after three non-BFR days as feeling like a set-back, but honestly, it's not. You are adapting, and your skin in changing. I believe most of us go through some sort of blistering phase as we figure out how to do this right (a sort of learning curve) and as we condition our skin. Perhaps try to run 1.5 to 2 miles every other day or every two days, and don't stress about it. You'll get there. :)
I too agree! Being a Canuck, I have to wear something on my feet in the winter. Every spring I need to recondition my feet. Gravel and seal coat are excellent for this.
 
Oh boy, you just opened a can of worms, or at least a closet full of shoes.

Rotate through about 3 pairs of Unshoes sandals, New Balance MT110's, New Balance MT1010's, and Altra Ones.

Thank you. Just looked at Wokova Feather sandal, I really like all the customization options.
 
Things that might help with your pads:

Technique is everything (hat tip to Matt). Keep your cadence high and pick up your feet. Lift your foot by picking up your heel; don't shuffle. Try to land softly by landing silently. All these will protect your pads.

Some training can help you get into the right form. Do three sets of 20 "butt kickers" where you lift your heel straight up (not backwards) into your butt. Likewise, do three sets of skipping knee kicks to strength the lower abs and upper front leg. Run backwards or run uphill to strengthen the shin muscles that support the arch as well as the calf muscles.

When not running, keep your feet dry. Do not wear leather shoes and shoes that don't breathe. Foot sweat contains salt and acts as meat tenderizer on your pads. Shoes with mesh uppers are good; open sandals are better; barefoot is best. I gave up leather dress shoes for work and now wear cheap canvas loafers (just don't tell my boss how cheap those loafers are!).

If you're wearing through the pads (balls), then land softly on the outside of the balls, roll to the inside, and grip with your toes. Gripping with your toes also causes you to engage your glutes more, and you'll go faster.

Good luck!

TrailDancer
Albuquerque, Chile Republic of New Mexico
 
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Vis a vis winter conditioning loss: I'm scoping out gravel piles on my runs now, looking for the ideal mix of size, sharpness and comfort that will serve to fill my indoor litter training box. I've never done this before, but this winter I'm determined not to lose all my hard won sole condition and will set up a jogging facility in my basement.

Any tricks to make this more productive, folks?