Running on Blisters

Took the risk of running on blisters but it turned out to be no problem. The blisters had had two days to settle down and it seems that this sort of blister on the foot recovers very quickly compared to blisters from burns on the hands or arms. Perhaps nature has a way of fixing feet quickly so that we don't get held up too much.

Preparation

First of all I sprayed some artificial skin over the soles of the feet - but that later appeared to be a complete waste of time as it rubs off very easily. I used proper running socks which have good padding over the balls of the feet where the blisters are. It would have been easy to bail out and use conventional running shoes for more cushioning but I decided to go for the Merrell Trail Gloves and continue with the barefoot technique. 

The Run Fun

Amazingly there was no discomfort at all when the run started. I'd felt very tired from the cycling the day before and a 16km (transportation) bike ride earlier in the day had revealed a low energy level. Straight away on the run I felt unexpectedly great. Thoughts of running a slow few kilometres around the block and straight back home evaporated immediately and it turned into a proper 10 workout. 

Right from the start I was very careful to change my stride and stop reaching ahead. The trouble is that I'm not aware of over reaching so for me it feels like I'm stopping my feet from going where they should go. I have to make a real effort to stop the stride right under the body - and to do that it almost feels like the feet are landing behind the body. I'm used to making this sort of kinaesthetic change in skiing and know how far off proprioception signals can be. After about 3km I started to feel one of the blisters - a small one under the right foot. This was perfect because it told me that I was still over reaching on the stride and actually I'd lost concentration a bit. It was difficult to reign it back in and make the foot land further back - there is such a strong pull to do what you are used to and feels "normal". The change worked and within half a kilometre the foot was painless again. This also confirmed that the over reaching was the source of the blister problem.

Keeping the feet from landing ahead was even more difficult when I decided to step up the pace a bit. Despite tiredness I wanted to average around 12kph so this meant both keeping a fast cadence and trying to extend the reach of the stride behind. Letting the leg go behind further means letting the pelvis go back further too. It was interesting to work on the same coordination as in cycling - where the recovery of one leg (extended behind in this case) is coordinated with the extension of the other leg - all going though the core muscles. The key is that the pelvis motion is from behind then back to being square with the body - it never swings ahead. You can feel the whole core working as a solid unit and the twist in the spine taking place right up at the lower ribs. I'm looking forward to working on sprinting with this in the future! When describing this in cycling I mentioned before that it feel like everything is being pulled in towards the centre. This fits for one aspect of running mentioned in Gordon Pirie's book - that one foot should land almost in line with the other (in front) so that a single track is left instead of two separate ones. The pulling "inwards" with the psoas and adductors does have the effect of making this happen. This placing of the foot also causes it to land slightly on the outside of the ball and then pronate inwards - exactly as Pirie describes in his work "Runing fast and Injury Free". 

Only in the final kilometre did I start to feel the blisters complaining a bit - but that was a heck of a lot better than expected. The final time of 49:27 for the 10k was fine and a good base to build on. When I can manage this 4 or 5 times in a week without any physical reactions then I'll step up the distance and speed progressively.

Circles

Earlier in the day when cycling I'd noticed that all the body parts were working in coordinated circles - or arcs (probably spirals). The forefoot follows the pedal in a circle. The ankle makes a small circle with constant flexion and extension, the knee makes some sort of circle and the hip moves back and forth making an arc as the spine twists. I could see the same sort of image in running with the feet following the arc of a wheel in the air behind the body. The knee swinging like the arc of a pendulum and the hip, following the knee caused the pelvis to rotate in an arc - back and forward. The arms and shoulders doing the opposite, both providing a counterbalance and more power.