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I have started to run barefoot because no shoe suits my feet perfectly. I ran a half marathon yesterday and made my PB too, I am happy. But during the course of running I developed blisters. I enjoy the pain but I am scared that it may lead me to a bad injury, if I continue this.

So my question is, is there any tape for barefoot running? I have heard of some tape but I don't know how they refer to it.
How do they refer to it?

Or is there any better ways to avoid blisters?
I can't afford the five fingers shoe. Please help

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4  
Perhaps even better would be to ask how to prevent blisters while barefoot running. Then the answer would be some kind of time or perhaps something else – Ivo Flipse♦ Jan 28 at 9:58
I think it is OK now, thanks for editing. I remove my other comments. – Informaficker Jan 28 at 10:15
How long have you been running barefoot before attempting a half-marathon? – Wayne In ML Jan 29 at 17:51
@WayneInML I had done 33 km in 3 stints before attempting this half marathon. – Freakyuser Jan 29 at 18:06

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

You say that you've started running barefoot, how recently? If it's very recent, your feet are not accustomed to that sort of serious strain. No callouses have been built up, they're as soft as a baby's because of the foot coffins we wear all day long.

Start out slow, work up to the distance you can normally run while wearing shoes. Consider this a 'new workout' since you need to build up tolerance, primarily callouses and running style, where you have probably not had them in the past.

Update 1:

You said in one of your later comments that you were able to do 33km in 3 stints, so I'm going to have to assume you could do 11km at any given time. That's just shy of half of a half marathon (quarter marathon?). Essentially, you doubled your distance to reach that half marathon, where you experienced blistering. That doesn't seem all that strange to me. I know when I switched to running barefoot, the distance I was comfortable running was cut way down until I got accustomed. Granted, I'm no marathon runner and I don't pretend to be, but I went from 10-15 km to dying after 5 km.

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I accepted this answer but still I am expecting some tape or cream or something for the feet. – Freakyuser Jan 30 at 7:03
2  
The best way to avoid blisters is to not over do it and go way over what your feet are accustomed to. Like anything else, it will take time to build that endurance. Taping your feet restricts the foot's ability to flex on striking the ground and I can't imagine that being beneficial at all. Even in shoes, your feet expand and contract when bearing your body's weight. – StyxRiver Jan 30 at 21:04
up vote 0 down vote

I do some barefoot running, but sometimes it is too cold or too hot. In such cases I am wearing Altra Adam shoes, which are essentially loose socks - they allow me to spread my toes.

I do not have blisters.

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So basically your advice boils down to: wear some protection? – Ivo Flipse♦ Jan 29 at 22:27
1  
I would protect the soles of my feet, at least ofr the time being. – Alex Jan 31 at 1:39
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In case that you looking for a way to protect your feet from getting blisters, you may want to run in simple sandals, something like the Tarahumara tribe uses. You can search Google images for "Tarahumara sandals". They usually made of old tires. You can prepare them by yourself. You only need hard rubber, laces (thin rope) and tools. You can find the instructions by searching "invisible shoe" in Google.

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Well, this would answer the OP's need for inexpensiveness. – Eyal Feb 3 at 15:53

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