This is copied from KB's
This is copied from KB's site. (I hope this helps.) He has made this addendum:
I've revised the post since it's originally posting, as I discovered the exercises aren't needed. And some people (particularly ex-marines) we're trying to overdo, the gentle lifting of small weights, by increasing the weight, or trying to pull their entire body weight across their mattress when pressing "gently" against the edge of their mattress with the top of their foot.
Anyway, we can simply do the same exercise while running, that is, lift up the fore-foot, exercising the top of the foot, which is actually better, because you get about a thousand very gentle fore-foot lifts each mile you run, and avoid the excess strain of pushing off with the trailing foot (it's really difficult to push off while lifting the fore-foot), instead of trying to do the fore-foot lifts in a separate workout.
Pain in the top of the Foot
Many of us have experienced pain on the top of the foot – sometimes following a distinct “snap” sound during push-off (or in my case, when I once kicked a sand hill).
I can’t give a specific diagnosis, but, as a general diagnostic guess, I believe that, living in a shoe-addicted culture, our foot muscles atrophy from lack of use. In any case, I do have the benefit of the experiences of many other (especially newbie) barefoot runners behind me.
exercises below, for this problem. But, more recently, have come to the conclusion that the best solution involves learning
HOW to run barefoot, which, when done as described below, will p
rovide the same sort of exercise with each and every step, as well as providing a less stressful, more gentle stride. Specifically, the problem seems to occur (along with other problems) if we have a tendency to “push off” while running (and most of us do have this tendency – just look down and watch your trailing foot, just before you lift it off the ground), and especially if we add the “ball-of-foot” landing as mentioned above – so that the foot never really gets a break, or at least not a good break, as in a rest, but it is likely, eventually to get a break, or at least a severe strain, if we don’t give it a rest, by letting the pressure distribute across the entire sole, by keeping our heel down.
But It isn’t just about NOT pushing off, but also a failure to let the ankle flex as the foot is lifted, resulting in too much pressure on the balls of the foot, and strain along the length of the foot.
Instead of pushing off, begin lifting your foot BEFORE it lands. Also, do not try to get up on your toes. Instead, try to keep your heel on the ground, until the foot begins to lift. In keeping your heel down, you will be exercising the muscles and tendons on top of the feet. Basically, while the foot is in contact with the ground, try to keep your entire sole on the ground.
But, let’s go a step further, and take an ACTIVE roll in this. Let’s PULL the front of our foot up, in order to allow the heel to stay on the ground – actually, we WILL need to pull the front of the foot up, if our knees are bent enough – if we don’t NEED to PULL the front of our foot up, then we NEED to bend our knees more…
And that’s how we prevent these injuries. If you are already injured, try the following simple exercise, which I devised, and have recommend with good success, as reported by folks who have suffered this type of injury or pain in the top of the foot (but, I now believe these exercises will rarely be necessary, if we follow the above advice on running technique – which provides the same type of exercise during each run).
better version of this, with every single step you take, while walking and running, simply by lifting your WHOLE trailing foot (not just the heel) – a fore-foot lift.
Place a small weight (up to 5 pounds) on top of the toes, and resting the heel on the ground, GENTLY lift the weights a few times each day, with the front of the foot.
With a small dumbbell you can curl the toes up, to keep the dumbbell from rolling off the front of your toes, while lifting. Leave only the heel of the foot on the ground, while raising the entire fore-foot. If you try lifting the weight with only your toes, while keeping the balls of your feet on the ground, your toes probably won’t be long enough to lift the the dumbbell.
The heel can also be raised slightly, by placing it on a book or board or something, which tilts the foot forward, and keeps the weight from rolling too far back on the foot.
As far as body position, I’ve done this exercise lying on my back, with my knees up, sitting on my butt, with my knees up, sitting on a chair with my knees bent, or even standing, with my knees straight (but not locked), and lying on my stomach (see below).
Also, since this isn’t a case of injured tissues, or overuse, but more a case of tissue not getting enough exercise, in my experience, the pain does not go away UNTIL I do the exercises! (or change the way I run – see above)
Just be certain to pay close attention to how it feels WHILE exercising. Be sure to exercise both feet, even if the other foot doesn’t hurt… YET…, and respond appropriately. If any of these exercises exacerbate the pain, then STOP! If the exercises cause sharp pains, there may be some tissue damage to address with your health-care provider.
In my case, the feet seem, immediately, quite happy to be exercising (and running correctly) – though in all fairness, it took me a few weeks to figure out this exercise, so some healing had already occurred (but the pain persisted, until I started the exercises).
Do NOT be afraid to try variations of this, and other exercises! Remember, it is lack of variation or balance that likely contributed to the problem in the first place.
Barefoot Larry recommends
stretching these tendons.
Another variation can be done while in bed, laying on the stomach, and hanging the feet over the edge of the bed. GENTLY push the top fore-foot against the side of the mattress. Remember, GENTLY. This is not a contest to see how far you can drag your body toward the edge of the bed, this is about gentle balance. If you build these top muscles too much, you will be out of balance, once again, with the muscles and tendons in the soles, then your feet might start curling into a ball. Besides, you might never be able to fit your bulging muscular feet inside shoes again – hmm… maybe that’s not such a horrible side-effect, after all…
After reading his site, I also thought about focusing on a more mid-foot strike rather than a fore-foot strike. The pain seems to radiate from the 4th and 5th metatarsals (likely from fore-foot striking). I'm just praying it's not a stress fracture. I think the TOFP came from me over-correcting my form from a run that caused my first blisters. If it's not one thing, it's another. I just can't seem to win. 
