Building up my feet.. need advice

I have read a fair bit on building up the plantar skin, including gravel bucket training. The park I just started going to has a path for runners and walkers. The base is sand with small pieces of sharp rock... I think it would qualify as crushed rock, but it isn't uniform. It looks exactly like the stuff on my driveway which is what happens when a car tire breaks up a half-inch piece of rock into tiny little bits. As of right now those bits are the most annoyng thing when I go outside... at least until I get onto bad asphalt road/parking lot.

Would you recommend i just grit it out and go barefoot on this stuff? or stick to sidewalk until I get built up before going out onto the tinnie rocks? I should note that from the sprinklers, about every so often the dry rock becomes muddy wet rock, so I would be alternating between wet like mud, and dry. Thanks.

John T.
 
Incorporate multiple surfaces

Incorporate multiple surfaces into your run if you can. Run on sidewalk so you can ramp up your mileage/cardio but finish on something more challenging to focus on fine tuning the form.
 
Barefoot Ken Bob says he

Barefoot Ken Bob says he starts all his clinics out on the biggest sharpest rocks he can find, beginning with standing, then walking, then running in place so they learn to losten up head to toe and run soft. Then just imagine you're still on the pointy stuff when you're running on sidewalk and it will help your form. Since you have it readily available, I would start on the gravelly stuff. He says that will lead to better form quicker.

If you coupled that with his 1-2-3 foot landing, staying loose from head to toe, listen to your feet and pretend you're running on wet paint and anything that would make you slide it wrong, you'll be golden in no time!

That's my Newb humble opinion, anyway!

-Jonny
 
I will do that. I can feel

I will do that. I can feel part of me cringing as I say that, and I have this image of my foot covered in mud with all the sharp rocks clinging to it so I carry it with me all along the path. Funny. We'll see if I'm laughing when I get home after walking the path Wednesday.

Note to self: bring a towel to wipe off your feet before tracking it into the house and making the wife mad.

John T.
 
Well, not running yet. More

Well, not running yet. More like lots of walking. Did 5.5 miles there today.... barefoot. Avoiding the green goose crap everywhere and learning to walk lightly. My poor soles feel like 1.375 miles of bad road right now, but to look at them, they sure don't look like I did anything. Yay! Gonna be building that plantar surface now, I tell ya! *wince* LOL

Gonna do it again Monday. Whee! Maybe I'll convince myself to even run a bit. LOL. And my friend declined to go BF with me. He admits he's a wimp when it comes to the comfort of his feet, so I gave him a pass. I didn't have to put my Classics on until the last lap, so I'm pretty proud of myself. I made sure to leave some BF footprints in the muddy parts so people will wonder who was crazy enough to go BF. Besides the Geese anyway.

John T.
 
From my experience, the only

From my experience, the only way through is through and to just let the feet dictate how far to go rather than a mileage goal. It was advice I ignored, of course, until I took it and the feets adjusted more quickly. I am amazed at the kind of ground I can cover now easily that last summer made my stomach churn. Also, an interesting phenomenon happens several miles in to a run wherein the first-mile sensitivity just gives way to pleasure- like a foot massage- until I hit sensory overload- depending on the route I take and my mindset. I really agree with TJ that much of it is in the mind. If I know I'm running long, I just go and my feet don't feel as tender as soon which also forces me to run more gently if I know that at 5 or 6 miles out, I have to get home again.
 
I feel ya on that one. The

I feel ya on that one. The feet will definitely negotiate a work stoppage with the mind when it gets to be too much or too long. Amazing. Last week that surface was like holy hell when I wimped out. Once I made my mind up to 'just do it' it felt okay. It may be my imagination but I think all my calluses are gone. I'll know for sure tonight when I ditch my shoes after work.
 
Twink, tell me again what it

Twink, tell me again what it is I said about being in the mind? I think I have lost mine. ;-)
 
Holy Moley! Went out to

Holy Moley! Went out to Sunset Park again today. It wasn't even the same conditions as previous. Everything was gravel on hardpan. I did a number on my soles. Blister on outside of heels (not bad but could have been) and middle of ball on both feet is just plain sore like nobody's business. I question the sanity of running it in bare feet, but this type has to exist in real life so I'm likely overreacting. I don't know how this'll work out. Disappointed at this point. We'll see how it goes Friday.

John T.
 
I had a similar run on

I had a similar run on Saturday. It's amazing how much you learn on runs like these! I wish there were a gravel or chip seal road closer to me to practice on!

-Jonny
 
oh TJ, you haven't lost your

oh TJ, you haven't lost your mind- you just share so much with all of us here that it's easier for me to remember what I really like!...... Last fall I was excited that I had increased my distance to 6 miles and was wondering if my pain tolerance had increased. You replied that perhaps it was my mind's perception of pain that had shifted. It was just so Zen!
 
Ah, yes, Zen TJ.  She knows

Ah, yes, Zen TJ. She knows her stuff. Sometimes, I wonder where she goes. ;-)
 
 REPLY TO:  I had a similar

REPLY TO:

I had a similar run on Saturday. It's amazing how much you learn on runs like these! I wish there were a gravel or chip seal road closer to me to practice on!

-Jonny



Some chip-n-seal roads can be brutal. The worst (least smooth/most sharp) are the ones that don't get much traffic, as traffic tends to push all the sharp little pebbles down into the tar. Without traffic the pebbles stay on the surface, with the sharp points well exposed. If you can find a stretch of that, it's good practice.

I have a short stretch (~ .5 mile) near my home that I have to travel to get almost anywhere in town. Whenever I run on it I imagine someone purposefully arranged every single pebble with the sharpest point up. It's great on the beginning of a run, but challenging on the return of a long run when soles are starting to feel a little sensitive. Definately keeps me light and nimble!
 
Well, the light of morning

Well, the light of morning has brought some fresh eyes. Feet feel great today. Thank God for that. The one inch long blister on my right foot is safely ensconced within the thick leathery pad that is my right heel and doesn't provide any real discomfort to walk on (today anyway), so it'll heal without having to be popped.

Looking back, I think I would have done better to just run than walk heel to toe. At least I would have been doing the best I could to prevent sliding around and spreading the contact with the ground as immediately as possible. I would have been landing on sharpies and pebbles, but not like I was able to avoid them without harm just walking, obviously.

I guess what I'm still wrapping my head around is the idea that it is better in some places to RUN barefoot than to walk. On the sidewalks and other smooth surfaces I used last year I could see it as "No worse", but some ground I think seems to cry out for a different approach. Am I crazy?

John T.
 
Not crazy at all.  I can run

Not crazy at all. I can run much more easily than I can walk. I have developed PF from having cryosurgery to remove the neuromas I developed while running in shoes. After that surgery, just trying to walk around, I had to walk on my heels to avoid putting weight on the balls of my feet where the cryoprobes were inserted to freeze the neuromas. But when I run, I run more over my center, off of my heels; whereas when I walk, I walk heel first. It's easier for me to run.
 
I thought we had it bad.

I thought we had it bad. While looking up blister care online, I came across an ultra running forum (can't remember which right now), where they had a long consolidated thread about blister treatment and prevention. Using overlapping duct tape over the entire bottom of the foot, single layer socks over double layer socks, meticulous salt water intake to get just the right amount of turgor to the skin to prevent skin folding -> blistering. Concoctions to get adhesives on band aid type coverings to stick to the blisters better. Having blisters form then pop on their own just from the pounding of being in a shoe. One person got a pedicure and lost all the callousing that was protecting against blisters. Even arguing over whether it was better to keep feet meticulously dry vs sopping wet. Like I said, I thought WE had it bad. I stand corrected. :)

John T.

Oh, If I remember correctly, proper form leading to no blisters was not mentioned once.
 
Question.  If it's 96 degrees

Question. If it's 96 degrees outside, for example, how hot is the pavement? Does anyone know how much hotter the asphalt is compared to the outside temperature?
 
Well without a thermal probe

Well without a thermal probe I can't say for sure, but I can attest that the heat radiating from the road can be felt through both the floorboards AND shoes. I'm not messing with summer Vegas pavement in daylight. At dawn, yes.
 
John, I was in Vegas last

John,



I was in Vegas last Thanksgiving and ran the paved path accross the main Parking lot....also ran the path around the lake which is great path for running and building up the feet. I also got blisters on my feet when I was there in Vegas and extremly dry feet. Can very low humidity help create blisters? I do not get them here in Georgia only when its above 90 degrees and the pavement is 110 degrees then I get large the blisters deep uder the skin.

For blistering try using "Drawing salve ichthammol ointment"...



Bob