Before the pedants start, the spelling the title is intentional. The topic of this post is about possibly the most important bit of kit that you will use for the Parish Walk - your own feet.
It is so important to keep your feet happy and look after them so as to avoid repeating those horrid photos that pop up on the internet of blisters, toenails and missing skin each year.
I will start with a quick training update.
It has been a really hard couple of weeks for me. There have been some work and home commitments that have meant that I have had to turn my training schedule on its head.
Rather than evening training, I have had to replace some sessions with very early morning walks - leaving the house at around 3.45am and being home by 5.30am.
The key for me is to try and not impact on family life too much and by going our super early it means that they really wouldn’t know that I have trained that day.
We are now only a week away from our family skiing holiday and I cannot wait. Although skiing is not a break as such it is different and it is a chance to get away, relax and recharge ready for the work up to the Firefighters’ Memorial Walk in April.
Everything is going well and I am making sure that I train in all weathers. This morning was horrific with the wind and rain but I feel good that I made myself get up and get out!
I have said it before but you cannot guarantee the weather in June and you really do not want to be starting in conditions that you are not used to. Today was a great opportunity to see how my feet cope again in really wet weather and that my socks and trainers are up to the job.
The good news is that everything is going to plan.
The other thing that I am doing, which I am not sure whether I have touched on previously, is stretching. I am making sure that I do my 15 minute stretch routine every night without fail. I find that this makes a massive difference to my recovery and allows me to keep going. Of course, I still get stiff and sore sometimes but there is no doubt that it would be so much worse without the stretching.
I would urge everyone to take the stretching seriously.
OK. The feet!
I have covered some of this at a very high level in other posts but I am including a bit more detail here.
I started with lots of ideas about my feet and how to care for them back in 2013/14. I read various theories and lots of people talked to me about different ideas.
Some people swore by filling their socks with vaseline (yuck) whilst others used women’s pop socks under their walking socks.
I read somewhere that some people had found success with hardening the skin on their feet and had done this by going to the beach each day and dipping their feet into the salty sea water.
I did not have time to do that each day but some internet research showed up that others had used surgical spirit with the same effect. So I decided to go down that route. Every night for 6 months I would wipe surgical spirit across my feet, toes and ankles with cotton wool balls. Madeleine loved this routine (or maybe not) with the bedroom smelling like an operating theatre every night.
I have to say that it did work. The skin hardened in the places where I had previously blistered and that has remained the case to this day. My hobbit feet are something that I am quite proud of.
This did not stop the blisters entirely but it did help a lot.
A friend mentioned that they were taping their feet with zinc oxide tapes for the long walking events and they showed me pictures of how they did it.
I decided to follow suit and copy them. To be honest I have never looked back and I have found that it works so well. So much so that I really have not had a blister from the Parish or the 100 Mile in the last few years.
I soak the tape off in a bath after each walk and there is barely a mark on my feet.
Here are some pictures of how I tape my feet. Apologies for the state of the battle hardened trotters!
I start with taping the balls of my feet...
Then the ankle...
And then the tape is anchored on each side of the foot...
This is what has worked for me but it does feel a bit weird the first time that you try it. You will be convinced that the tape is coming off or moving but it doesn't. Instead it flexes and creases with your movement.
Now the race routine starts the night before with this ritual:
2. Feet get taped just before bedtime the night before
3. Wear a pair of normal socks for bed to protect the tape - not race socks
4. Try to sleep as best you can
5. After breakfast on the day of the walk put on the race socks - Hilly twin skin for me as nothing else has worked too well. If they feel a bit creased or that they have not gone on correctly then take them off and try again. Do not think that it will do and that it will probably be fine - it probably won’t!
6. Race trainers on. Again, if they feel like they haven’t gone on correctly then sort it out. I mess with my laces probably a dozen times after that to loosen and tighten them when they feel a bit odd. It is probably paranoia but I want it to be comfortable when my feet start to swell up.
7. Do not touch the feet, socks and trainers again until I am finished walking. I do not change shoes or socks. if I do get a blister then I suck it up and keep going. I have found that moving things around causes a whole world of problems. I used to try and use Compeeds as I went but all that happened was that other blisters formed around the edge of the plaster and then the plaster got buried in my foot and I could never get it off.
I am of the opinion that if you can get to Jurby with your feet in relatively good shape and with no real blisters then it becomes a mental challenge to finish. Physically you are in good shape and so you then just have to get your mind straight - even if blisters start after that you can walk the last part dealing with them.
I hope that people can take something out of my ideas. The only thing that I can say is, as with everything, to test it for yourself on a long training walk and then the Firefighters’ Memorial Walk. Do not go into the Parish Walk with brand new ideas and trying things for the first time.
My plan, as always, is to start the Firefighters’ in a pair of relatively new trainers that have done about 20 or so miles in training. If all goes to plan and they work well then they will be taken and put back in the box with the socks that I have used never to see the light of day until the start of the Parish. By that point they will have done around 60 miles and so will still be quite new and have lots of life left in them. Personally, I do not rely on the good old faithful trainers for the long events as I want my feet to be as cushioned and comfortable as possible.
I will probably post my next entry when we are back from holiday and I am recharged (hopefully not fat on cheese and meat and wine with the Alpine diet).
Keep going, keep focused and happy walking.
No comments:
Post a Comment