Yet another form and blood blisters thread

[BarefootOakland]

I ran in my second barefoot 5k yesterday (at work no less, I love my job), and again had blood blisters at the end of the race. Last time I had sprinted the end of the race and I thought that was what caused the blisters so it was discouraging to get them again. Now I think it's because I was going faster than I train and I got tired - normally I run about 10:30 per mile in training to keep my heart rate in the Maffetone aerobic zone, and in the race I was running about 8:00/mile. I'm happy with my time and the blisters are already going away, but is this something I can expect every race?

Oh, the surface was a little rough, chipseal, but I can usually take that in training.

 

[Rusinque]

My first barefoot 10k was on smooth road and I was ready for it, yet I finished in 58 minutes(my avg is ~53). What I didnt train for was the 85F temp and the race was entirely uphill. Got a HUGE blood blister.
My second(2weeks later) was on rough road and I finished in 52. No blister.
I learned to lift my feet instead of push off and lean foward to make the process easier.
The blister go away

 

[swoggis]

I've had a similar experience: racing or sporadically throwing some fast running into my routine would result in blisters and/or a lot more pounding on my joints. This year, I've been putting more intervals and tempo runs into my schedule so that I can spend a lot more time running at 7:30-8:00 pace and practice making my form at least as smooth as it is at slower paces. I also found that running on the track doesn't help (in fact, the opposite) if I'm going to be racing on pavement; I have to actually practice speed on the surface I'm going to race. I haven't gotten any more blisters since making speed work a regular part of my training. Have my first 5K race of the season this weekend, so we'll see if the hypothesis is correct.

 

[rickwhitelaw]

For me, Race + Speed = Blisters. Not only that, but extra stress on my knees and feet. I am working on the Chi pyramid. Form first, then distance, and finally speed. I throw a little speed into some of my runs when I feel like it, but only short bursts. I have also been "foot conditioning" all spring. Running and walking on every rough surface I can find. No blisters for months.

 

[BarefootOakland]

For some reason I had no joint or injury problems at the faster speed, except for the blisters. I'm trying to build up distance now, but maybe form should indeed come first.