I think I figured out the top of foot pain (TOFP) many Barefoot Runners experience. After my two week bout of pain that started after a long 7 mile BF run. The run after the longer run I wore my KSO’s and I typically wear them loose so I don’t think it is the strap in my case as many have thought. 1/4 mile into this second run I suddenly started feeling a twinge of pain midfoot, Top and just to the outside of the foot. The pain increased as I ran but I continues to 6 miles and when I got home the foot was throbbing. The next day it was somewhat better but still ached and was warm to the touch. As I placed my hand on the tendons that run from the front of the ankle to the toes and pulled back my toes I could feel a creaking in the tendon sheath. after a few times of this I realized I had some inflammation and took a few Ibuprofen and iced up really well. Over the next week I continued to run and monitor the foot and noticed I was very tense in both feet at landing. I was pulling my toes back, landing and then allowing them to splay as I landed. I think that I was overworking these tendons and that was what caused my TOFP.
To cure it, if cure is the right term, I would alternate hot and cold twice a day. After runs I would Ice for 20 minutes and then before bed I put my feet in the hottest water I could stand for 20 minutes then immediately switched back to ice for 20. Today the pain is gone and I focus on relaxed feet when I pull and land.
Barefoot Ken Bob’s Mantra really rings true in Barefoot Running and we all need to keep remembering that he broke through a lot of barriers for us. That mantra is
RELAX
RELAX
RELAX
Here are 10 miler feet. Well, to be exact they are 9 miler BF and 1 Miler Vibram Five Fingers because the erosion you see in the right midfoot was caused by a really bad stretch of road and I conceded and wore the FF to get through it. I must be twisting a little with the right foot cause I tend to get an abrasion there often.
10 Miler Feet
Today the feet are a little tender. Nothing horrible but the scuffing on the right foot stings.
I think that what may have contributed to some of the damage was I taught a SCUBA class for three hours prior the run and my feet looked like prunes when I got out of the pool. 2 hours had passed but I am sure the skin was still fairly soft. Then to add insult to injury, I hit a 1 mile patch of sidewalk that was a literal debris field where all the snow from a main road had been scooped and dumped on the sidewalk. After the snow melted there were rocks, glass, gravel, sharp chucks of stuff (I think it was the paint scraped off the road) and such. One mile of that road and it was good thing I was sweating hard because someone might have mistaken my sweat for tears.
See the hole on the right foot by the toes, I was running a section of sidewalk and noticed there were hundreds of these little brown twigs or something. I was trying to figure out what they were when I scuffed my foot and almost tripped, as I caught myself I impaled one of these sticks into my foot so I stopped to pull it out and realized the sidewalk was covered with hard, dried brittle little worms and I had one sticking out of my foot. I removed it with ease laughing and thinking this was a good story that I can’t wait to tell.
The great news! No top of foot pain, I had been dealing with that for a couple weeks now to the point I could not wear shoes that even touched the top of the foot. The Tendons that go to the middle toes were so sore that when I flexed my toes back it would make a sick feeling in the stomach and the tendons creaked like an old rocking chair. That seems to be behind me now and I think was related to tense feet when I land. The calf pain I had from a trigger point is worked out with lots of massaging, stretching and TLC.
Running | Scott Schneider | 
March 22, 2010 5:29 am | 
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