I struggled with calling this post “Collateral Damage of Running Outside”, but I’m trying to take a positive view on it lead to framing this as benefits. And that is a fair characterization rather than just trying to be all smiley and rainbows about pain.
What’s the beneficial damage? Blisters. I’ve blogged about this a bit already, but it’s become really clear to me what has been going on. As I got back into running after having to take a few months off due to having two hernias and then having surgery for them, I started outside right off the bat to take advantage of the gorgeous Summer weather we’ve been having courtesy of a drought. When I first got into running, I started on the treadmill for a couple of months before venturing out (it was Winter). When I started, I had minimal blistering or skin issues at all – never enough to keep me from going at it the next day. This time around, it’s been a very different story, with several blisters that were so bad that I had trouble walking the next day, let alone going for a run. It got to the point where each run resulted in more blistering and needing to take a couple of days off to heel.
Then a tight schedule lead to an insight. I didn’t have time to get all suited up to run outside, so I just hopped on the treadmill. (“Suited up?” You ask? This isn’t really about getting dressed so much as getting ‘kitted out’. Mainly, this means getting my iPhone strapped to my arm, setting up the 3 apps I use to run (iTunes, Seconds and Nike+ Running), getting my Nathan hand held water bottle filled, connecting my Jaybird Freedom Bluetooth headphones waiting for GPS locks on my Nike+ GPS SportWatch and iPhone, etc). I did a 30 minute interval session on the treadmill and had zero skin issues at all – no blisters, hot spots, etc.
Great! I took that to mean that my feet had finally toughened up enough that I could just keep moving forward. The next day, I ran outside, and got two really bad blisters on my mid-foot. Then I had to take 3 days off as a result.
When I got back at it, I went right to the treadmill for my next two runs, and was fine. It all hit me then. I thought running on pavement wasn’t any harsher on my feet than running on a treadmill (not a very forgiving surface). They’re both pretty consistent and predictable. So what could it be that outside runs were causing so many issues?
Turns out, it’s turning. The little rotations I do when running outside to go around corners, move around people, etc. That’s all it takes to cause blisters, and it’s the one real variation from the treadmill. As my friend Matt pointed out, I run minimalist, so it’s basically all happening directly on my skin whereas his thick Nikes protect him with their ample cushioning.
So, while running outside adds other benefits around how it develops ancillary muscles, it also adds benefits of toughening up your feet. It strengthens more intricate aspects of your feet muscles as you deal with variations in the surface (cracks, rocks, grass, pavement, slants, etc), but also the strength of the skin on your feet. That’s the collateral benefit. While it is damage, it heels, and you end up stronger. Isn’t that what building muscle is – doing a little damage that you come back stronger from?
As an update, I ran outside yesterday after coming to this epiphany, and was much more aware of how I twisted my feet as I turned. The result was zero skin issues, and at the same time, I did more work with my calf muscles as I used them to stabilize my feet better. Overall, good stuff. Looking forward to another run today…outside.
No comments:
Post a Comment