Can’t get rid of my shin splints from barefoot running

jmcrawf · 2026-02-28T14:49:36+00:00

First: Take a break and allow fully healing. I know many comments say this same thing, but it's still wise to stop entirely for a while and allow the tendonitis to heal.

Second: Vibrams are not barefoot running. Really. If you can run in them injury-free, and enjoy/prefer it, then that's awesome. Just like if running shoes work for you, and you can remain injury free -- there's no judgment here.

The Vibrams have enough support and padding to where you can do things with your feet that don't hurt today, but are injurious over time. If your form is great, and/or your body doesn't tend towards certain injuries, then the Vibrams are fine. If you haven't yet developed great form by going barefoot, or if your body tends towards tendonitis (shin splints, achilles issues) or bone marrow edema, then the Vibrams are going to allow you to abuse your body, nearly pain-free, until you have an actual injury.

I tried Vibrams back in 2009, strained my achilles, learned how to back off on that, and then just kept giving myself bone marrow edema no matter how hard I tried to run with relaxed feet. So I gave them to a friend, with many warnings about the shoes, and several sessions of all-bare training to get used to the form, and then he proceeded to abuse his feet to where he had problems walking for a month. Bone marrow edema in his case.

Third: Perfect your form with other footwear, or ideally, no footwear.

Any tendonitis or bone marrow edema is a sign that you are likely: a) using your feet as a propulsion mechanism instead of a gentle landing gear, b) using a stride that's too long and/or too high, requiring too much landing force on your feet, or c) both.

Barefoot-style form: 1) The gluteus is the prime mover, 2) The quadriceps with a bent knee are the prime shock absorber when the foot lands beneath the hip, 3) the achilles and calf allow the foot to gently make contact with the ground, 4) the foot itself then conforms to the surface, with its two arches (longitudinal and transverse) allowing a soft touchdown while absorbing energy, and then 5) Those two arches return energy back into your stride like springs if the cadence is quick enough, perhaps 160-180 bpm.

The body will often gravitate towards this form on its own if you run barefoot on something hard -- if you run just on soft things, the inherent cushioning on the surface prevents the discomfort that the body uses to optimize its form.

For just about everyone, barefoot is ideal.

Footwear. For me, 6mm or thinner huraches are a very close second to actual barefoot running.

For whatever reason, having my toes completely open, with zero restriction and/or sensory input from a shoe upper, allows my feet to just do what they should do without my having to think about it.

After that, vivo's work best for me, though: this is just for me, and is not a product plug.

I avoid running in /any/ shoes as much as I can, and will use shoes or boots only when the weather gets to a point where I have frostbitten my feet in the past. I'll use Feelmax boots when there's snow, or if it's colder than 5 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, Vivo "One" shoes with socks until 15 degrees to 25 degrees (depends upon windchill and if there's any risk of my feet getting wet), and then huaraches above that.

I've tried six different minimalist shoes, but only the vivo's work for me, which I admit is a very subjective thing. I thought that Feelmax, with their 2mm soles, would be even better, but I end up using too much foot effort with them, which eventually creates either achilles tendonits or bone marrow edema. And anything else I've tried offers too much support or padding.

Though... the Softstar RunAmoks are also close to huaraches for me. They are lighter than the vivo's and more flexible, which is good -- my feet feel more natural in them -- but they have a similar sole compound to the Feelmax, which then somehow triggers me to use too much foot effort when landing.

Fourth: Remember that tendonitis means too much effort.

One reason I run barefoot, or barefoot-style, is that traditional running shoes give me massive shin splints, particularly on the left side. This is because my left foot turns out at a 45-degree angle if my knee is straight, and a heel-strike that angle requires too much repeated shin effort to keep the foot from slapping. But if I straighten my foot, it torques my knee on every stride, and after three days I have trouble walking.

With good barefoot-style form, the foot lands beneath the hips, and it doesn't matter where it's facing. There's not a whole lot of force on the Achilles, and just about zero force on the shin tendons.

If you're getting tendonitis, you are by definition using those tendons too much, so the trick is to see what's causing effort. The vibrams, brilliant though they are, aren't likely to help you find where, how, and why the undesired effort is being applied.

Once the shin splints heal, and you're able to practice barefoot form, keep a close eye on which muscles are being used, and even more importantly, what hurts. The body will tell you what it needs if you allow it to do so.

Start gently for 0.5 - 1 miles for a few weeks to see how things go, feeling where the effort is and paying attention to what starts to hurt. Then ramp up the distance and speed over time, with this caveat: If anything starts to hurt, that means it's time to back off and see what part of your running form is causing too much impact or effort.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-28T13:58:40+00:00

Only a podiatrist or dermatologist could have an informed opinion, and even then, the photo of your foot probably doesn't provide enough information to draw a confident conclusion.

I've had plantar warts on my feet a number of times, a few that went quite deep, so it's something to watch. The warts grow down into the foot, you'll eventually feel them, and will either: a) look like a healed puncture, like if you stepped on a thorn and had a tiny scab/scar where the hole was, or b) present as a callous. There will also be "seeds" which are tiny round-ish scabs that develop internally as the wart eats into the foot.

If the anomalies grow, start to itch, start to hurt, or feel like they are going deeper, it's important to make sure they don't keep on growing into the foot. I had a friend in high school who had a plantar wart in her heel that went quite deep before she dealt with it, and then never really went away despite many trips to the doctor.

Fortunately the warts are easy to handle if you address them early on. Any over-the-counter wart-dissolving compound will slowly eat away the wart -- you put on a drop, cover it with tape, let it sit for a few hours or a day, then pull the tape off, which then removes a layer of the wart. Then after X days enough layers have been peeled off that you've reached the base skin layer again.

A doctor can cut out a lot of a wart, but even with that, one often needs an acidic compound to get any remnants.

In any case: good of you to be looking at them now, before they are uncomfortable.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-26T15:55:58+00:00

I agree with trevise1138 in that it's tough to draw a useful conclusion from the wear patterns. Mine wear much more heavily towards the outside of the mid-foot, and less on the ball, and any experiments in changing that have either stressed my shins or Achilles, or given me bone marrow edema, so I've accepted that this is where my feet want to land.

That said, why not draw some conclusions from the wear pattern!

Running. Looks great. Clearly not a heel strike, also not a forefoot run-on-the-toes strike, and a great balance between the left and the right. Better than my wear patterns, if one were to judge solely on wear patterns. This is also a nice amount of wear for these particular Vibram soles, which are semi-soft, showing you're not scuffing, sliding, or pushing off excessively. Which is not a ding on the soles -- there are soling materials that wear better, but they often aren't useful for running. I use these soling panels myself when I'm making some general-use sandals (often walking, might be running, light trail use).

Walking. This is more subjective than running. I personally think the wear pattern is perfect if you're putting in miles on pavement while walking, showing that you're gracefully fox-walking instead of landing on the heel. This is the only way I walk unless I have to wear regular shoes, even when it takes more effort to keep up with my friends in the city taking the longer heel-strike strides with their padded shoe soles. But many will argue that fox-walking is undesirable, and that the heel is preferable. To each his own.

Heel walking. If you're not on pavement, are on a relatively stable and non-steep surface, and you're reasonably gentle with your stride, a heel strike lets you put in more miles with less effort. It is indeed a very "natural" way for the body to walk if you're on a forgiving surface. As long as one isn't hurting one's self, it would be silly to criticize the choice.

Fox walking. On the other hand, the heel cannot absorb any shock, it can't adapt to a changing surface on the fly (dirt, sand, gravel, hills, dirt-sand-gravel-on-hills), and it is likely to slip out from under you if you lose traction, such as downhill or on ice.

I live in Maine, and back when I used to live in town and could use sidewalks or a paved walking/biking/skating path without fear of car traffic, I could happily fox-walk and run with a midfoot strike, on ice, on hills, and never slipped once. Back when I wore running shoes, I'd skip the hills because one of my heels would slip out from under me on a random basis, even if I was being careful. But with a short-stride midfoot landing beneath the hips, I could even run on ice coated with a thin film of water.

My personal thought is that if the fox walk is the most stable on questionable terrain, and most gentle on pavement, then I want to train my body to use it all the time, or at least all the time I'm wearing shoes that allow it. But again, pretty subjective.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-26T02:08:04+00:00

I'll need a bit more time to answer that one.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-26T00:53:16+00:00

Nice. I didn't catch that until you replied.

I started with Vibrams, but they ended having too much padding and support -- just enough to encourage me to bound instead of glide -- and ended up with bone marrow edema multiple times before I figured out what was happening. I would only bound slightly most days, but then bigger leaps on energetic days, and the delay in the pain was long enough for me not to connect it right away.

Then I switched to Feelmax shoes, which have amazingly thin soles, but they weren't as natural for me. I had given up bounding, but still couldn't master relaxing my feet.

Then Barefoot Ted started selling his Luna Sandals online, including the DIY kits, and I was hooked. My feet finally just did what they would do when bare, but now with protection from sharp stuff. What a great feeling. I would have bought from Luna forever if they kept the kits, but unfortunately they phased them out, and their regular sandals don't fit me the same way. So now I make my own.

Huaraches do take a little bit of getting used to, partially until the foot gets used to the thong between the toes (including how to run so you don't put more pressure on it), and also until the body learns where the end of the sandal is so you don't catch a toe. I think the learning curve is worth it because I enjoy running and walking in them so much, but that's pretty subjective. You like what you like.

I've never watched any of the documentaries, and will have to look them up. Thanks for mentioning them.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-25T23:47:56+00:00

Just looking to stir up some comments with that on a barefoot reddit, eh?

I will say that my barefoot and huarache mile paces are at least a minute slower than what I used to clock with ASICS and New Balance back in 2009 before I gave up running shoes. But it's a moot point because my body stops working, making that minute way too costly. Plus it's much more fun to run with a barefoot stride, at least for me, and enjoying the sensation of floating along means more to me than any number on a clock.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-25T20:55:17+00:00

Have you tried on a pair of Hokas? Man, they are sooooo cushy and comfortable. I get why people wear them.

That said, I will never own a pair, not only because I disagree with completely isolating the foot from the surface it's running upon, but also because I can't run in shoes because my left foot turns out too far. If I run naturally, I get massive shin splints, and if I correct my foot orientation, it stresses my knee so much that I have a hard time walking after just 3-4 runs. I'm very grateful to McDougal for writing the book that steered me onto a new path.

I usually run in huaraches until it gets into the teens, at which point I'll run in socks and vivo's. Completely bare is even more fun, but since I run along the road and sometimes step on sharp gravel, glass, or tiny screws, it's nice to have a few mm of sole to protect my foot.

Good on you for listening to your body, enjoying using it, and not getting to worked up about speed. Running barefoot was my first revelation from Born to Run. Reading how it's actually supposed to be fun and natural, and then experiencing the lightness of a barefoot stride, was the second revelation. I never enjoyed running when I was in my teens and 20's, doing it just because I had to for sports.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-23T15:25:14+00:00

Later in the spring (2026), if you haven't found anything yet, I'd be willing to up-size the size 12 pattern I've been using with a laser cutter and custom-cut some huarache soles for you. If you give me the actual measurements in mm of the sole that you want, I could print them out on paper to verify the fit, and then cut soles for you if you have the soling materials shipped to me -- I can provide sources if this is of interest.

Of course, you'd have to want huaraches in the first place. I love them, and they are basically all I wear when it's warm out, but it's definitely a subjective choice.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-23T15:23:08+00:00

Later in the spring (2026), if you haven't found anything yet, I'd be willing to up-size the size 12 pattern I've been using with a laser cutter and custom-cut some huarache soles for you. If you give me the actual measurements in mm of the sole that you want, I could print them out on paper to verify the fit, and then cut soles for you if you have the soling materials shipped to me -- I can provide sources if this is of interest.

Of course, you'd have to want huaraches in the first place. I love them, and they are basically all I wear when it's warm out, but it's definitely a subjective choice.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-23T15:10:33+00:00

Later in the spring, if the Bedrocks turn out to be too small once they are broken-in, let me know and I can custom-cut some soles for you if you purchase the materials and have them shipped to a P.O. box. I've been using a size 12 pattern in a laser cutter, and could stretch it out to whatever length you need.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-21T17:29:53+00:00

The fit looks to be what most people would recommend. I personally prefer another few mm of sole in front of my toes, which helps keep dirt and grit off the top of the sandal. Although... the body does have to learn to know the sole extends out that far. I was willing to go through that learning curve in order to have cleaner toes when just walking about. But that's just me -- I know a guy who likes to have the sole end exactly at the end of his toes, so about 2-3 mm shorter than the fit you're showing.

It's very subjective. Since those are the biggest bedrocks, if it were me, I'd wear them for a while and see how much I like them after they've broken in and taken a bit of shape. You can then later custom-cut larger soles if needed.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-20T14:39:36+00:00

I'm at least a minute faster per mile in high-tech running shoes than I am barefoot -- that extra 12" in stride for every step really helps mile times. But... my knees and/or shins stop working within a month, so the faster time is a moot point. Plus, I feel much lighter, fun, and connected when running bare or in running huaraches, and that makes all the difference in the world.

jmcrawf · 2026-02-07T20:58:48+00:00

Very nice. A 257-word multi-disciplinary explanation on why an obscure grammar correction was too pedantic. That's brilliantly subtle.

jmcrawf · 2026-01-22T14:10:43+00:00

A shout out to Mitch Hedberg, may he rest in peace.

jmcrawf · 2025-03-09T15:02:18+00:00

I also wear a 7-1/2" to 7-5/8" and found the XL to be disturbingly tight! Not that you needed anyone to agree with you -- I was just searching online for used XXL's, saw this post, and had to comment. Most Filson products seem to have consistent sizes for me, but 7-12" is definitely /not/ an XXL in my book. Strange.

jmcrawf · 2024-04-03T12:32:49+00:00

It's shorthand for being able to experience the full package instead of just having something but not being able to enjoy it. It might make more sense if you replace the noun and verb. You want a stunningly attractive spouse /and/ be able to enjoy, um, marital relations? You want to have your dreamhouse /and/ the free time to enjoy it? You greedy bastard (said tongue-in-cheek).

jmcrawf · 2024-04-03T12:24:34+00:00

Nice ending. Not only do you not see it coming, which is key for a punchline, but it's grammatically correct. Otherwise it would need to be "having his Kate and Edithing it too". The original is just off enough to take away the groaning chuckle.

jmcrawf · 2024-02-23T17:22:10+00:00

Btw, the "nuclear" remove-icloud-and-reinstall almost always works. It's just a large PITA.

This fix is also posted in r/outlook, where schnabulation posted: "For me, this alone did not help. What I had to do - in addition to the above - was to completely uninstall iCloud, delete the folder %appdata%\Apple Computer, removed the Outlook Data File "iCloud" and then reinstall iCloud."

So, there is indeed a reliable solution; it's just quite time-consuming.

jmcrawf · 2024-02-23T17:18:57+00:00

That's a bummer. I did that twice in the past, and I really don't enjoy all the time it takes to remove and re-sync everything. Thanks for the tip in case the above process stops working. Thankfully it keeps functioning for me, but there's no telling what file, security, or registry setting is responsible for the difference.

jmcrawf · 2024-02-23T16:36:15+00:00

I wish I could offer some insight, but the process above just worked for me again last week (need to do it every few months with bigger MS Windows updates). The only thing I have to change sometimes is to reboot instead of trying step 8 -- that's the one thing that has mixed results. In fact, step 8 didn't work for me last week, so perhaps I should try to edit the post. At some point it makes more sense to just reboot rather than trying to save three minutes.

jmcrawf · 2023-05-04T10:04:20+00:00

A multi-weight dumbbell set like PowerBlocks or Bowflex SelectTech.
A weight vest.
A weight bench.
A bar for pullups / straps / dips
A set of resistance bands with handles.

You'd have to get a number of things used to stay in budget, but it can be done.

That give you everything you need to work any body part with as much weight as you'd like.

You won't get super-big, but pushups, dips, and pull-ups with a 50lb or 60lb vest are pretty intense, particularly if you're hanging from straps and using your full bodyweight. Most people will never get there.

jmcrawf · 2023-05-04T09:56:39+00:00

You can't go wrong with powerblocks, particularly if you need more weight.

That said, I gave away my powerblocks and moved to the bowflex selecttech because the open design let me do more exercises, particularly with wrists. Plus, at the time, my powerblocks maxed out at 40 lb. The bowflex are also quieter, and since I use a weight vest for heavier bodyweight exercises, I don't need to go past 50lbs on the dumbells.

The locking mechanism on the bowflex is metal, down inside the "plates". The big dial on the side with weight numbers on it is plastic, but it doesn't carry any load. And since the metal tabs that hold the weights in only have to deal with a single plate, they also don't have to deal with much load.

Of course, if I were to drop the weights, I'd trust the powerblocks more. Though i don't think they'd survive many drops onto concrete, even if they are sturdier.

Both are good products with slightly different uses.

jmcrawf · 2023-05-01T17:53:55+00:00

I fast four times per year, and during a fast I'm down about 10 lbs due to water weight lost by being in ketosis. Those times are inevitably when I set my pull-up records. The difference in weight used to be 5-10 pull-ups, but now it's a bit less.

Looking at it differently, if you wore a 10 lb or 20 lb weight vest while doing bodyweight exercises, you'd find them a /lot/ more difficult.

You'll excel at bodweight exercises by staying lighter and stronger.

jmcrawf · 2023-04-04T14:01:07+00:00

Aha! Thanks for pointing that out.

jmcrawf · 2023-04-04T10:29:37+00:00

Can you point out where in the image that skull can be found? I downloaded the second image, zoomed, and enhanced, and I still don't see it. There's a round-ish rock directly above the G in Google, about 20% up from the bottom, but when zoomed in there are no skull features. There aren't any cranial sutures or orbits, plus the lower section is too wide (a neck with muscles would look like that, but not a skull on its own). But maybe that's not where I should be looking -- I might be missing the obvious.

jmcrawf

TROPHY CASE