Stubbed toe: form problem?

Hobbit

Barefooters
Oct 20, 2012
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758
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France
Hello everybody,
I suppose every barefoot runner stubs his or her toe(s) from time to time on something hard, rocks or twigs or whatever. I wouldn't consider this as unusual, just a kinda painful reminder to pay more attention.
But lately I stub the front of my right big toe quite regularly not on stones, not on twigs, but on clean asphalt :eek:
It hurts and sometimes it's bleeding like hell- which probably is a blessing for it prevents stuff getting stuck in the wound.
If this happens after say 10 kilometers or so, my foot muscles start tiring and little form problems and accidents like that are probably normal. But today was my first "run" after two weeks of flu: It happened after only 1 kilometer of a very slow (more walking than running) warm up: some skin got scraped off, lots of blood, followed by a nearly sprained ankle when I limped to the side of the road. I took this as a sign to stop my "run" and limped home instead. Put my huaraches on to avoid dirt in the wound.
But I would like to know what I could do to improve my form: apparently the tips of my toes are pointing to the ground when I lift the foot and sometimes they don't turn upwards in time when my next step is about to happen.
Any ideas for exercises?
 
apparently the tips of my toes are pointing to the ground when I lift the foot and sometimes they don't turn upwards in time when my next step is about to happen.
Lifting the foot is a bit controversial. Might be reasonable advice for beginners. Though you've been running barefoot for a while, it seems. http://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/lifting-your-feet.7569/

For me, working on the toe extensors (referred to in my last post) and lifting the toes a bit seemed to help. Lifting the toes, big toes specifically, is also part of activating the windlass mechanism. http://www.runresearchjunkie.com/the-windlass-mechanism-foot/
 
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check tib anterior for trigger points. it's the muscle just to the side of your shin bone. may help along with strengthening it and tib posterior. it's all fun stuff to figure out.
 
If you're stubbing your toes on flat surfaces when you're still fresh, then I agree with Mokaman you need to lift your feet more, either by consciously doing it, or by upping your cadence. One other thing to think about is posture. If you're slouching, that too may affect your natural-foot lift. Make sure your shoulders are erect but relaxed. Finally, trying running faster and taking walking breaks when you get winded.
 
Thank you all for your comments! :)
And a special thank you to Sid for the link to the videos and articles! My toe is still not healed so this afternoon I'll watch and read instead of running...
When I started barefoot running this toe stubbing thing usually happened at the end of a run with tiredness playing probably a role in it. It also happened when for some reason or another I chose to wear minshoes (stubbing less painful, no blood, but nevertheless quite annoying!)
I think I figured out the reason, why this is happening now regularly and even at the beginning of a run:
Last november I began a treatment called "myotherapy", which is supposed to rectify chronically shortened or elongated muscles after accidents such as sprained ankles. I think that some muscles in my right foot never worked properly since my first sprain and operation some 30 years ago. And now suddenly after this myotherapy thing they are newly aligned and have to work - but they are not yet up to it: 1 Kilometer might simply be too much for muscles which were dormant during 30 years?
...
I just tried them out: and yes the trigger points besides the shin bone do need some work on them as well!
 
Maybe there is something to lifting the feet after all. While running in the dark with the dog before work, I clipped my forefoot (metatarsal fat pad) on a section of raised concrete (tree root probably lifted a section of the sidewalk). While lifting the feet feels perfectly natural on rocky terrain, it feels a bit artificial on the sidewalk. Then again, I am running on an artificial surface, with artificial changes in surface height, due to artificially located trees, in an artifically laid out suburb, with dim artifical lighting. :D