The Bare{foot} Essentials
October 10th, 2010
Happy Sunday Night! Who is ready for Monday morning?
Yea…me neither!
But let’s not look ahead…let’s look back in time:
Who knows what happened to me one year ago today?
One year ago today, I lined up at the start line at the Hollidaysburg Area YMCA half marathon. I knew that I shouldn’t be standing at that start line. I was over trained, defeated and exhausted, yet I thought I could run a half marathon.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
I didn’t finish that race. Nope. I got about halfway through and was sidelined because of an excruciating pain in the top of my foot. A pain soon diagnosed as stress fractures in all of my metatarsals in my right foot.
At first I thought that my life was over. What would I do if I am not able to run? Certainly I’d be depressed, bored, and gain weight. How will I ever make it through the 6-8 weeks void of running?
Funny how I thought that at the time, because looking at it now, I am so happy that I had those weeks to reevaluate my self as a runner. I learned a lot (thank you, healthy living blogs!). I learned so much about nutrition and fueling as a runner. I learned the importance of treating my body specifically for the wear and tear.
I learned that nature knows best.
It was at this time that I started to look into barefoot running. It took number of months until I actually started to run in my Vibram FiveFingers, and since I knew the importance of a SLOW transition I was wise and cautious.
Well, sort of.
I haven’t run in my VFF for about 2 weeks? Why? Well, because I felt a foot pain. Not like the pain I felt a year ago (I was about 100% convinced that my stress fracture was healed before I started running in my VFF), but a pain that I thought could eventually turn into a stress fracture if I didn’t slow down. So I did.
Now I’m sure that you’re all wondering if this means that I’m rethinking the safety of barefoot running. Is it really a better way to run? Do I still think that it’s better for my body?
Well, friends…I still stand behind my convictions that barefoot running is more natural and therefore better for your body.
Barefoot running isn’t to blame for my foot pain. I am. Here’s why:
1) There was a week in early September that I ran 12 miles total in my VFF. That was about a 100% increase in my VFF mileage from the week before. I remember thinking on one run that I probably shouldn’t have made such a big jump, but I felt ok and just told myself that I wouldn’t increase my mileage anymore for a few weeks. So I ran the same the next week. My bad. Damage done. That’s way too big of a mileage jump…experts recommend over and over again never to increase your mileage more than 10%. I take that to apply to barefoot/minimalist running, too.
2) It’s my right foot that hurt again, my left feels completely fine. If barefoot running was what caused the pain, the left foot would hurt too. It’s not like I run with a sneaker on my left foot and a VFF on my right… This makes me think that maybe my foot wasn’t 100% healed. Again, my bad!
So what am I going to do?
I’m going to reintroduce my VFF with lower mileage and less frequent runs and build my way back up. I ain’t no dummy, and I won’t be making the same mistake twice. But in the past two weeks I have realized how important those VFF runs are. You see, since I’ve been running solely in my Brooks, my knees and hips have been hurting—pains that I haven’t felt since I began running in my VFF.
Has this setback taught me anything?
You bet! What good would my brain be if I didn’t use it now and then to apply some lessons to my life?
I’ve learned that whenever I think “this might not be a good idea”, it probably isn’t.
I’ve also learned that I don’t have to exclusively run in my VFF to feel the benefits. Ultimately, I’d love to run only in my VFF or barefoot, but now it seems that that goal is a long way off because of the injury sustained a year ago today. But that’s ok. My joints really benefit from the occasional VFF run, and so I just need to focus on that if I want to keep running.
So there it is: quality over quantity.
Gosh, I need to write a book: “Lessons my feet have taught me.”
Ok, the title’s a work in progress. As is the content. At this point there are only two chapters…I kinda hope it doesn’t get any bigger. Who has time to read a long book anyway?
Have any of you learned important lessons from injury? Have you realized that being sidelined was more beneficial than getting out there and running?
Missed the other Bare{foot} Essentials Posts?
The Bare{foot} Essentials I
The Bare{foot} Essentials II
The Bare{foot} Essentials III
The Bare{foot} Essentials IV
The Bare{foot} Essentials V
The Bare{foot} Essentials VI
The Bare{foot} Essentials VII
The Bare{foot} Essentials VIII
The Bare{foot} Essentials IX
The Bare{foot} Essentials X
The Bare{foot} Essentials XI
Categories: Uncategorized
Good outlook! I’m ITCHing to run but am trying to stay barefoot or in my VFF’s, and am TERRified to have top of the foot pain again. I didn’t have a full on stress fracture, but it must have been close because it took nearly 2 months to heal. I found my stride and I just can’t wait to GO.
It’s so hard. My VFFs keep giving me the puppy dog eyes as I sit on the couch and ice my foot. So sad
I LOVE THIS!!!
I’ve definitely learned that the body knows best…and it will let me know what’s up, and if I don’t listen BAD will happen! I do believe that missing a workout is always more benefical than fighting a tired fight through one, and that I cannot run more than four days a week…even if my brain thinks I can!
I want to run in five fingers!! I am an extremely neutral runner, so maybe after this race season is over I will invest in a pair. I can’t get over the toes spreading thing though!
I hope you have a great week ahead of you!
xoxo!
I’m a neutral runner too! And you don’t really notice the toe-thing after a little. But they are hard to get on for awhile! I am so amused by watching my husband try to put them on!
what a perfect post. thanks for writing this post, i’ve been struggling to deal with an injury (much like a stress fracture, is in part of the way I was trianing…) and it was really nice to read this post tonight!
Aw, Bre! I hope you heal quickly!
the news is definitely spreading! Did you see the article about vibrams in Runners Magazine?? I thought….maybe Abby wrote this. hehe! Your writing is so much better though.
I didn’t see it yet! I’ll keep my eyes peeled. And thanks. I’d love to do some freelance writing.. SOMEONE IN A HIGH PLACE PLEASE NOTICE MY LITTLE BLOG!
Wow, all of the metatarsals? I only broke one (#2) while running in VFFs in April. Typical story, thought I could go from shoes to a half marathon in VFFs in about 5 months. Fail. So when I started back in July I made some strict rules for myself (10%, ONLY barefoot, no music, stop if it hurts, etc.). So glad I did. Yesterday I ran in the 1st annual NYC Barefoot Run. 6 miles all barefoot. Loved it. The rules paid off.
I still wear my VFFs (I have three pair). To work, weekends, etc. And I’m sure I’ll run in them when needed in the winter. But I feel like they allow me to lie to myself and do too much.
Lovin your blog. Keep up the great writing and good luck with your running!
Thanks, Bob! So glad you tracked me down. I still wear my VFF around too. Hopefully I’ll be back running in them soon…although I know it won’t be as frequent as I would like it to be. I would do entirely barefoot, but the place where I live isn’t barefoot friendly. However, I will kick off my VFF during my runs when I am not scared of what’s on the ground… or when it’s not dark.
I’m so jealous that you ran that NYC barefoot run! I want something like that to come to Pittsburgh!
I think that my injury taught me to slow DOWN. Every day I am up and doing something active and sometimes I tend to overdo it. When the injury occured, I just kind of ignored it and had the motto “go through the pain” but my body was not going to allow it, and I am now thankful for that!
I hope your feet feel better and I am still going to look into Vibrams
Yea, I know what you mean! I realized that pushing through the pain was NOT a good idea!
Thank you so much for writing this. I was afraid that I was the only one with TOFP. I plan to go back to running in my sandals. I’ll wear my KSOs for my wnd 5k run on Saturday, but after that I’ll sadly have to put them away for a few weeks, or however long it will take for the TOFP to heal.
I’m sad and disappointed, but then again I don’t want to ruin running for me. I’ll be blogging about my healing journey. And I’ve linked to this post so others will know that they’re not alone in this.
Thanks again!
Aw, Melyssa! I hope that your foot heals quickly! I recommend lots and lots of icing! It really does help!
What a great post!
I’ve been pretty injury free for a while – however when I start to feel pain in my knees and shins – usually the cause is my shoes – either bad shoes or my shoes are too worn. If that’s not the case, then I make sure to take a couple of days off and ice, ice ice.
I inured my hip flexer back in highschool from a bad fall during a xc race and never want to go through that again.I go to yoga (forces me to stretch), cross train, strenght train, and make sure to massage my muscles when they are feeling tight. For my joints, I try to throw some fish oil, flax, and/or glutamine into protein shakes.
I love running, but I view it as not only as a physical workout, but a mental workout as well. I sometimes find myself just needing a break and walking or doing other cardio to simply rebound my brain – especially after long stints of training and a big race.
Hope you get to feeling better – once again, thanks for the great post.
Thanks for this comment! I relate so much to it! One of the reasons I am so anal about taking care of myself so that I can run is because, you’re right, it’s a mental workout. I NEED to run to clear my head and get alone with my thoughts and pray and just be at peace! It’s more than cardio, for sure!