My Transition to Barefoot

Successfully completed a Barefoot 10K run, and sharing below my experiences about BF run, BF transition and my first BF 10K Race.

I had been reading a lot of articles and blogs on Barefoot runs, but none of them were applicable for me as I was a neatness freak, I considered my feet as tender and I was doing good with regular runs. Hence did not find the necessity to go barefoot. My coach Pani, though experienced on BFR, did not actively promote it. Slowly  started noticing that BF runs were a trend and many had started a transition towards it. But my feet are as tender as a baby foot, and I would not want to get myself into a new type of injury. So barefoot runs would be for anyone else, other than me. I also consider myself as a good pace runner and thought BFR were not appropriate for fast runners. My Bare feet would not sustain the speed. Also could not afford to lose training days due to new kind of injuries or stress. More ever our roads in India are unhygienic, with pebbles, drainage water leakage, spit, cowdung, and all possible shit. I being a cleanliness freak, barefoot running was never for me.

On a Sunday evening (8^th April ’12), just feeling insecure of not running according to my plan due to my Achilles Tendon injury which was on a recovery stage. thought of stepping outside barefoot and if possible experiment with a short run. Informed my family that I was going in the neighborhood for a short run, got myself ready with my running gear including my Garmin and stepped on the roads barefoot. First time ever as my memory goes, I could feel the ground on my naked feet. Initial feeling were welcoming, feel of sand, gravel, asphalt road were new, continued to listen to my feet senses, waiting to make a mistake of stepping on a pebble or stone which could hurt me. Walked for almost a km and nothing went wrong. Next step was to start my run, hence started my garmin to track my pace and distance. During my slow run, on my initial few steps, there was nothing for me to complain. My eyes were glued to the road looking for the small pebbles, glass piece or nails. Realized that this was not as much a concern as I had initially picturized it. Continued my run for some more time and was very comfortable with the feel of the road on my feet. The feel was similar to a kid playing with a new toy and have loads of fun. Also looked around at the people walking besides me, some of them staring at my barefoot with a confused look and others were busy with themselves. I continued my run with a smile on my face, and did not realize when I completed over 2 Kms. Did not want to be over excited, hence stopped myself. The experience had been opposite to my initial thoughts. I did not cut my feet, did not step on any stone or shit. I had an incomplete feeling and wanted to experiment this once again. My 2 Kms run was at an average pace of 6.07 mins/Km.

Day 1: My scheduled run on Monday (9^th April) was a 17 Km run which went on as normal. The next day (Tuesday 10^th April) is usually a rest day, but thought of continuing the experiment with my barefoot run. Left home barefoot and went to my regular Old Airport route. The distance or duration was not planned, but objective was to run as much as my foot would tolerate. Walked the initial 500 meters and then started my slow jog towards the Airport. A round around the old airport is a loop of 1 Km. Just as I was to enter the departure road of the Old Airport, I started recording my laps on my Garmin. The initial 500 meters went fine but later a section of around 25 meters had small stones protruding out of the Asphalt roads, which did hurt the sole of my feet.  I had the same problem again after around 150 meters, but somehow sailed through it. The 1^st lap went fine and continued similarly with 4 more laps and ran towards home. Covered a total distance of 6 Kms and maintained an average pace of 5.32 mins/Km. No blisters or cuts, the sole of my feet did not complain and the overall experience was pretty exciting. I felt light on my legs and considered it as a recovery run. Was very excited that I experimented successfully with my first BFR. Also decided that I could try this once a week. A funny sensation of pinches / pricks on the sole of my feet, continued through the day.

Day 2: Wed (10^th April) continued with my planned Tempo run, but realized that running with shoes did not give me the comfort or freedom to my legs. Running with the shoes made my feet heavy and did restrict my movement. Also got worried that I was not enjoying my runs with the shoes on. Did not have the patience to take rest on Thursday (11^th April), hence ventured out for the next BFR at the same Old Airport route. The runs over the protruding stones were tough, but got used to the pinching sensation. Realized that the sole of my feet were getting used to the roads and could manage them better. Also was enjoying running light without the shoes. Ran 9 Kms with an avg pace of 5.28 mins/Km. Again no cuts of pains at the sole of my feet and confidence level increased. Also realized that my knowledge on barefoot running had to be increased. Needed to know more about the transition and form of running. So started hunting around for more information around the net and also enquired with runners like Vishwanathan Jayaraman, Benny Peter & Coach Pani who had prior experience on Barefoot running.

Day 3: With my increasing confidence on BF runs, planned my next scheduled 16Kms run barefoot on Saturday (14^th April) at a target pace of 5.30 mins/Km. Also wanted to explore a new route around the Old Airport through Belur Road. I heard this as a 18 Km loop. Though not confident with the route, still thought of taking a risk and explore. As runners, we have the advantage of exploring new routes. The initial 5 Kms were familiar and then started the unfamiliar routes. The quality of the road were getting poorer, some sections had wet roads, and few places were not even tarred. Wet roads made feet tender and the non tarred roads started hurting my feet. After around 9 Kms, I was not sure of the route, hence decided to turn back rather than going through unfamiliar terrain. After completion of around 12 Kms, could feel blisters hurting, somehow managed to run another 1.5 Kms and then had to stop my run. Looked around to get an auto-rickshaw, but got a lift on a bike till a bus stop and caught a bus. Around 600m walk with the burning blisters from the Bus stand to home was painful. The blisters did not look as fearful as the pain, but could see a thin layer of skin been rubbed off at different areas of both the foot. Realized the pain of 3 barefoot runs in a week and also no transition plan been followed. Through the painful experience, I managed to maintain an average pace of 5.38 mins/Km for 13.5 Kms.

Day 4: The blisters took around 4 to 5 days to heal and planned to run barefoot for my 10K run on Thursday (19^th April). The pain of stepping on rough surfaces reduced and confidence increased. A couple of times stepped on a small stones, which would make me almost scream in silence. But no new blisters or pain and over all a pleasant experience. Maintained an average pace of 5.38 mins/Km.  Here I started to debate if I could plan for a Barefoot TCS 10K run. Read few more blogs and got mixed opinion. I understood that I was not following a transition plan and was not giving my body sufficient recovery time. My major fear had also been the possibilities of new injuries. Also had to enquire for barefoot shoes. Spend the next few days studying the posture, feet landing style, knee angle, cadence during barefoot runs. The usual trend of running with shoes, is we land on our heal which has a strong impact on knee and other joints. While in BFR, the landing is usually midfoot or forefoot which minimizes the impact on the joints.

Day 5: Next target was to increase my speed up my pace, but was not sure of a target. Scheduled my Sunday (22^nd April) 10K run at a slightly faster pace. After a good warmup, I started my run at a 5.10 min/Km pace and subsequently experimented with increase and decrease in pace. My feet sole was getting more comfortable but stepping on small stones would still continue to hurt and make me scream. The pain was like running with a small pebble stuck to the sole and stepping on the pebble, but then the pain subsided after around a Km. Completed the 10 Km run in around 49 mins with an avg pace of 4.56 mins/Km. This gave the confidence of the possibility to increase the pace in a BFR and to think of the possibility of a BFR @ TCS 10K.

Day 6:  There was now a necessity to test my feet sole at a further increased pace, so planned for a 6 Km Tempo run on Wed (25^th April). After a reasonable 1 Km warmup and dynamic stretches, started my Tempo run. Increasing the pace was easier and also fun to run. Realized the ease to run at the increased pace and further boosted the possibility of my BFR @ TCS 10K. Completed 6 Kms in 28.02 mins with avg pace of 4.40 mins/Km. But the pace was slower than my planned target pace (4.20 mins/Km) for the 10K race. My Calfs started to feel heavy due to my midfoot landing, but was not a concern.

Day 7: On Thur (26^th April) a Tempo run (with shoes) was initially scheduled, but then body was in no mood for a run. After a 3 Km warm up, Dynamic Stretches and 4 * 75 meter strides I was not sure on the next step. Since BFR was always the interesting, experimented with my first Barefoot Interval run. 400 m * 20 Intervals, alternating between 10K pace and easy run. The morning rains made the roads a bit wet, but still loved the intervals. Confidence kept increasing and saw the possibility of BFR @ TCS 10K. The fast pace runs lead to very tight Calfs, Top of Foot Pain (TOFP) and was a bit painful through the day and for the next couple of days. After googling a bit realized that this is normal when not following a proper BF transition. It took almost 10 days for the pain to subside. Also read a lot more about BFRs and TOFP. There was always a fear of new injuries coming in due to non adherence to the BF transition.

Day 8: My next barefoot was after around 2 weeks on 10^th May. A Tempo run was scheduled and this would be my final test for confirmation of my BFR @ TCS 10K. Target was to run at 10K pace ie 4.20 mins/Km or a sub 4.24 mins/Km. Achieved the pace of 4.25 mins/Km and also a step forward to confirm myself for a BFR on 27^th May. The tempo run resulted in small blisters and again TOFP. Recovery from the pain and blisters would again take around 1 week. With the quest to understand the experience of BFR by urban citizens across the globe, interacted with few runners internationally who had over 1 year experience. Recognized that our body was well structured for barefoot runs and had the required cushioning to protect the knees and hence all the joints. Cushioning by the shoes is artificial and actually restricts the freedom of the feet.

Day 9: 2 Miles * 3 interval with 5 mins Recovery time was scheduled by Coach Pani at Kanterava Stadium. Increasing my pace when BF was easier than with shoes. Feel of freedom, easier kick ass  sequence, forefoot landing made it easier and fun to run. But force of landing on midfoot increased the stress on Calf muscles and also TOFP. Maintained an avg pace of 4.13 mins/Km through the 3 intervals. A fast pace run resulted in a clot on the  right leg toe. The unbearable pain while walking forced me to visit a Doc in the evening. He pierced and removed the blood from the clot and was forced to rest for the next 2 days. The same evening, had a nice experience to look at few slum boys and girls running barefoot around my house. It was interesting to see the ease of their runs and their forefoot landing. They were not worried of pebbles, stones, dirt and were enjoying the game. Could not imagine the kids running with heavy cushioned shoes which would change the basic posture of running. How I wish could video record their running posture, but there are similar videos available in youtube.

Day 10: Coach Pani scheduled a trail run on Sunday (20^th May) at 8.00 am, exactly a week before the race. After a proper warmup and stretching sessions, I was ready with toe and other fingers protected with Medical tape, Forefoot sole and Heel sole also covered with tape and Timing chip stuck with to foot top with tape. Within 500 meters of the start of the run, the tape with timing chip peeled off. After 3 Kms, both the tapes from the left foot came off and a small pebble entered the side of right foot toe tape, which was painful through the run. In few sections, the side of roads had repair work and running in middle of roads was safer. Completed the 10K run in 45.37 mins with average pace of 4.33 mins/Km. My calf muscles were tight and knew that it would take around a week to recover. On enquiry, realized that it was not a practice for runners internationally to use tapes to protect their feet during a BFR. Learned that the tapes in my feet were not placed well and had to improve on it for the race and consulted with Coach Pani on proper usage of tape.

TCS Open 10K run: Physically and mentally geared for the BFR also recovered and tapered well from the previous runs. Cool weather till 7.30 am and then the clouds clear away for direct sunlight. Toe & fingers, Forefoot sole well taped, timing chip tied to the ankle, standing a couple of inches away from the start line, waiting for the countdown to start from 9 to 0. Looked around to see the facial expression and starting pose of other runners and celebrities who were at the start line. Countdown began and on reaching zero, we put our first step on the timing mats and zoomed ahead to run out of the stadium. No issues with the feet and also the timing chip tied to the ankle. After around 500 meters, Pani & A2 joined me from behind. Side of the roads were wet with the late night rains, hence had to run at the center of the road. Was initially maintaining consistent pace of 4.15 mins/Km. After around 4 Kms, with the incline, the pace reduced to around 4.20 mins/Km, but was comfortable with the pace. Got mutual introduced with Hari Menon after around 5 Kms. Stepped on wet roads a couple of times, but the medical tape was a good protection to the tender feet soles. After the 6^th Km, my calf were feeling tight but was not a concern and maintained the same pace till 9 Kms. Put in around 98% effort and had a feeling that that there was capacity to increase the pace. The tape on my feet kept the sole well protected. and increased pace on the 10^th Km. Reached the finish line in 43.15 mins with over all average pace of 4.20 mins/Km. By the end, my calf was very tight but could barely manage to walk around. Immediately went to the Nike lounge for a foot massage and later put on my shoes. Was flying high with excitement of successful completion of my first BFR.

Overall I feel my transition to  Barefoot has been faster than recommended and pace has been faster than normal. So always had the fear of injuries cropping up. Few points about the expressions of the onlookers e.g. regular morning walkers, office goers, cyclists, other joggers / runners / pedestrians have not been detailed here. Since the focus was only on BF transitioning, other trainings in between the week have not been shared.

Next target is a BF Half Marathon any time this year, as long as I remain injury free.