DAY 12 - Risking Dishpan Feet

Running barefoot on a wet day.
Can I just trade my left leg in for a new one? I think its a bit defective. It just doesn't seem to do what I want it to do. Funny thing too, since I'm left handed, you would think that I would be coordinated on that side of my body.

Ran another long barefoot/minimal run today, YAY! 5.43 miles again. Its was less than mojo though and I attribute that to running in my VFFs. Don't get me wrong... I like my VFFs so far (at least better than my old shoe blocks), but my form is just not the same in them as when I'm running completely barefoot. I wouldn't have worn them in the first place if it weren't for the wet weather, but I sucked it up and did it to avoid the dishpan feet I've heard about.

The first mile was...meh at best. Then it degenerated into knee pain and knot monsters in my left leg. WTF? Why just my left leg? My right leg needs to have a serious talking to my left leg since it seems to know how to run. So I paid attention. Seems like when my left leg lands it wants to roll forward toward the ball of my foot before bouncing back on my heel slightly. Weird. My right leg does a nice mid-foot landing then rolls back lightly touching my heel to the ground. Great job, right leg!! You get an A+. Left leg, you need to take remedial barefoot running 101.

So, I tried to concentrate on not rolling forward from my midfoot landing on the left leg. This was hard to do and my focus was compromised. I just wanted to run, not think. I needed a break. So I pulled over and stripped my feet of the VFFs. Within about 10 steps I noticed the knee pain was completely gone and the calf pain was simmering down a bit. Within a half mile, I felt good. Got my fi-yah back! Finished my run sans pain. Checked my feet. It was all good. No blisters. No tore up feet. This mama was happy!
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Comments

  1. Funny isn't it how the VFF's alter your running subtly enough to cause injuries. I've had the same thing. Fine (within reason) barefoot then put the Vibrams on and something goes wrong.
    I think the last time I wore them I pulled a calf, or at least had a "calf monster" as you call them that lasted about 3 weeks.
    I was doing a 13km run and I get to the furthest point on the run and the calf goes. That was back in October. All been good since then.

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  2. Seriously, Neil. Transitioning to barefoot is one learning curve and then running in VFFs is a whole new one. You would think running would be easy and not require so much thinking and concentration. Its just running, right? Sometimes I wonder if I'm just thinking and over-analyzing too much. Oh well. One of these days I'll get it right.

    Sounds like things are back to normal for you now. That's great!

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  3. Concentration is the word all right and it makes me realise how cluttered up my brain gets.
    In the Pose running book it mentions about staying fixed in the present moment, concentrating on keeping good running form. I can do this for a few minutes before my mind starts wandering off onto something else. Maybe I need to try some meditation.
    I did my longest run since winter today around 14.5km, I think my form was good, I got a few warnings from the calf to keep relaxed. Beach running is probably easier than running on the road and I need to get more hard surface training in.

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