Symmetrical blisters on both feet.. wat do they indicate?

[Tareef Al Satti]

I have just made my way into barefoot running around a month ago.. i remember before 2 weeks i got those symmetrical blisters on both feet .... they have been there for almost 2 weeks until now .. they are not painful at all though .... i wonder what do they inducate .. what kind of error i am possibly doing while running ? any ideas or suggestions would be highly appreciated ... thanks





http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/runner-communities/barefoot-running?plckForumPage=ForumImage&plckPhotoId=bc5931f3-e4d2-4040-9625-45de810e712e&plckRedirectUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.runnersworld.com%2fcommunity%2fforums%2frunner-communities%2fbarefoot-running

 

[Barefoot TJ]

You are shearing, grinding

You are shearing, grinding in, and/or pushing off. Concentrate on lifting and placing your feet. Think lift feet, land light.

Welcome, Tareef!

 

[Tareef Al Satti]

Hello Barefoot TJ, and thanks

Hello Barefoot TJ, and thanks for welcoming me here



i see ... if i shortened my stride and increase the cadence to 180 and above .. will i be less prone to injuries ?

sorry for my weak english thought

 

[Barefoot TJ]

if i shortened my stride and

if i shortened my stride and increase the cadence to 180 and above .. will i be less prone to injuries ?

Typically. But you still have to lift (not push off) and land (gently, don't shear).

 

[Tareef Al Satti]

I will keep that in mind ...

I will keep that in mind ... thanks alot

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Have you read Ken Bob

Have you read Ken Bob Saxton's book Barefoot Running Step By Step yet, Tareef? I highly recommend it.

 

[Tareef Al Satti]

no i haven't read it yet ....

no i haven't read it yet .... but i heard alot about it..... the problem is that my english is not very good .. so its hard for me to learn about running from reading.. since i dont understand each word i read ... instead of reading books about running , i prefer watching youtube videos and reading articles

 

[Barefoot TJ]

You can find Ken Bob all over

You can find Ken Bob all over You Tube too.

 

[Tareef Al Satti]

is there any specific channel

is there any specific channel on youtube u suggest for me to watch ?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I'd just search for Barefoot

I'd just search for Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton.

 

[Tareef Al Satti]

i just did ... seems like all

i just did ... seems like all his videos is about 20 or 15 seconds no guidence in it .. i mean its not like tutorials .. am so sorry for bothering u with me

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Hmmmm.  How about watching

Hmmmm. How about watching Dr. Mark Cucuzzella's video on proper running form? It's not like a clinic video, but his running is beautiful to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpnhKcvbsMM



Anyone else have any You Tube video suggestions for Tareef?

 

[Tareef Al Satti]

Ya its beautiful to watch

Ya its beautiful to watch indeed ...... i want your advice in somthing .... i still dont understand how to speed while running barefeet .. i mean should i increase the cadence ? or longer my stride ? or lean more forward with the same cadence ? ..... its just a little bit confusing .....



by the way while i was doin my 8 km run .. i felt a little burn between 2 of my left feet toes(between the 2nd and the 3rd toes counting from the big toe side) .. not from the bottom thought ... is it normal ?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

You naturally will be taking

You naturally will be taking shorter steps. That's what you want. Using long stride while running barefoot isn't conducive to running barefoot and will only lead to injuries.

You definitely want to try to maintain a high cadence, somewhere between 180 and 200. I struggle to keep my cadence at 180 and typically hit around 175. If I were stronger, I could do it over a longer distance, so strength definitely plays a part in keeping a high cadence over the long haul. I rarely wear my Garmin GPS anymore, but when I did, I would count my steps with just one foot (my right foot) for a period of a minute. And I counted my cadence with my elbow swing back. You can count with either your elbow or your knee, so just pick one. If you choose to count with your knee, it's a good idea to count your cadence when you lift your knee, instead of step with your foot, as this will keep you running lightly.

The pain between your toes is worrisome. It sounds like Morton's Neuroma (MN), a compression of the nerve between the metatarsal bones of the feet. Over time, the nerve will start to enlarge due to scar tissue that develops around the nerve. Pain from MN can be felt between the toes, through the toes, or in the ball of the foot on the bottom. It's not something to mess with, as I have learned the hard way. Were you barefoot when you felt this pain or wearing shoes?

 

[Tareef Al Satti]

I used to count my cadence

I used to count my cadence throught my right feet .... but seems like your tip about counting the candence throught the knee is very nice ... but am worried i will start rising my knee more than i should .. or its ok ? ......and when landing my feet should it be parallel with my center of mass (i mean under my butt directly) ?



wow you really scared me about the point regarding the pain between my toes .... when i first encountered this pain was yesterday while running in VFF Kso ... today i tried to run again with vff i had some pain in the first 2 or 3 mins .. then it went away .... i did some googling thought .. and i found post by you maybe from 2 years ago ... replying to a guy and telling him about the procedure and the surgery u have done to cure it .... how can i make sure that its not the same case with me ?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

When I am running my best, I

When I am running my best, I am over my center of gravity. I think this is ideal.

What I meant about the knee was count your cadence when you lift your knee, but if you think that might mess you up, then count your cadence when you lift your foot. Just don't count your cadence when you put your foot down. Counting on the lift will help you to step lightly.

Have you tried running barefoot to see if you still have the pain? I can run much farther barefoot before the pain comes than I can in shoes. Today, I probably couldn't even get 1/4 of a mile in shoes before the pain comes, even in VFFs. My condition has progressed. The cryosurgery I had was a complete failure. I'm probably going to have traditional surgery to have the neuromas removed (cut out), two in each foot. If you think you might have this problem, you'll want to take care of it right away and not let it progress. A doctor will manipulate your metatarsals to see if he/she can cause pain in the area, but I don't think this is the most acurate way of telling if there is a neuroma there. I would demand an ultrasound if I were you, just to make for sure. If it turns out you do have one, then please contact me, and we can talk more about it then. Good luck. I really hope you don't have one. Just so you know, studies show the number one cause of Morton's Neuroma is the types of shoes we wear.

 

[Tareef Al Satti]

ya i think counting the

ya i think counting the cadence thought lefting the right foot seems much more better ... i will try it on my next run

it will help me neither rise my knee more than i should nor hit my foot on the ground ... nice



about the toes pain.. to be accurate now (i mean now while am not at my running time) its only 1 toe pain which is the toe next to the large toe ... the pain is very low.. i can barely feel it now thought ... its more like a bone pain and its not between the toes like when i first encountred the pain....to be more accurate now the pain is over the 2nd toe.... last time i watched a video on youtube about structural changes u might encounter when u start running barefoot... she said something about toes pain while seperating ... and i hope i have the same case with her

(http://www.youtube.com/user/HowToRunBarefoot#p/u/36/EfPQxyjlQaA)

normally i do my runs with vff (cuz i run at midnight) but i do my 10 mins warm down barefoot .....so far the pain is barely noticable.. and if exist it vanishes after 2 mins (like it did yesterday)........ i will see what will hapen in the coming days and i will let you know if the pain came back again(i hope not)

by the way u were right about the shoes being the reason for the pain .... i feel pain nowadays while wearing my casual shoes espicially from the toes.... i think they are realted .. if yes then i have to start searching for other shoes to wear and replace my old ones :S .....

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Perhaps you are just going

Perhaps you are just going through growing pains, meaning your feet are changing, and therefore you are having this pain...and are needing some new shoes, say a half size larger? At least you have narrowed down where the pain is coming from. That will help you to focus on the area and figure out what is causing it.

 

[Tareef Al Satti]

am not really sure yet about

am not really sure yet about the cause of that pain .. am just hoping its just because my foot is growing ...... anyway i stopped running for 2 days ..... in order to make sure i dont make it much worse ... i noticed that while walking barefoot in my house i feel a little pain(barely noticable) in my left forefoot (from buttom) ... but i feel nothing while wearing my crocs ..... tomorrow i will resume running ... i hope everything goes fine .......



by the way hows ur feet now ? i mean what did u do later on after your surgey didnt work ? did u resume running ?

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Thank you for asking.  I've

Thank you for asking. I've been running, but not the distances I used to cover before the cryosurgery. I used to run up to 40 miles per week barefoot. Now I'm running between the teens and low-mid twenties. I had some other problems with my feet related to the cryosurgery after that from walking around on my heels for three months trying to avoid putting any pressure on the balls of my feet where the cryoprobes were inserted, and then I had a bad reaction to some meds that tightened my plantar fascia and Achilles tendons that I'm still dealing with a little. The meds made the previous condition worse. (Runners say no to quinolone/fluoroquinolone antibiotics! They are known to cause tendon and plantar fascia ruptures!) My soles seem extra sensitive after the cryosurgery, and I don't know if that's because of the nerve damage due to the cryoprobes or what. I hope to have traditional surgery (where they actually cut them out), but I'm still deciding if I want to do it before winter or during winter when we barefoot runners tend to hibernate. ;-) I owe all of this to the wonderful makers of ASICS, Saucony, and of course, our dear friends at Nike.