Do you feel like you lose your form when you are tired (even if you dont feel tired but know you have put in a lot of miles recently).
I ran 4 miles last night, then did a 7 mile trail run (both of these were shod) this morning. At lunch today I went out and did 2 miles BF. My feet felt especially tender after the run at lunch. I got one new blister but the one I had didnt really seem too irritated by the run. It just felt wrong though.
When I first started running BF I did a two miler and the whole thing felt great - now my feet feel tender when I get about a mile in and it feels like I am getting blisters ( alot of times there is no blister there when I am done, but it is still tender). I have been trying to increase my mileage going up only about .1-.2 per run from where I am, but maybe my feet need more conditioning and I should tone back to just a mile or so and start rebuilding from there. I dont mind doing that if I think it will help, but looking for some guidance.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Jeff
Barefoot and happy
Being tired can definitely hurt form. That goes for anyone, whether you're trying to be barefoot or not.
After looking at your log, I do have a suggestion. If you're going to keep doing so much running in shoes, do a little bit of barefooting near the beginning of every shod run. Use that time to try to get yourself locked into a good form, and strive to maintain that form even with your shoes on.
If you're doing your shod runs with the same form you've always used, you're just practicing how not to run barefoot. And since you spend far more time doing that, you're unlikely to make much progress.
Hi Ed,
Thanks for the advice. You seem to be the local expert here (and pretty local to me as well since you live in MA).
If you dont mind, can I ask a few more questions of you?
How much should I start with if I am going to run a bit every day? How much and how often should I build up? My BF runs right now are at about 2 miles but the last couple my feet have hurt on the bottom so I am thinking that maybe I will take your advice and do a bit each day but maybe start back at 1/4 mile a day and then build up kind of slowly every 3-4 days or so. It might take time to get mileage up there but I am pretty patient and my marathon training doesnt start till1/1/10.
I noticed you said the most important part of the run is making sure your feet land underneath your body - but how can I tell that is what is happening? I think it is when I run BF?
Do you have any drills that might help improve my BF running form (or my form in general)?
There seem to be so many aspects of correct BF form (landing flat footed, landing with feet underneath you, slight forward lean, legs bent, etc...) Did you learn these individually or did you pretty much just go out and run?
Just trying to get an idea of how to really get started the right way (even though the right way may be different for everyone).
Thanks