Take Care Of Your Feet

I've learned a lot of important lessons in taking care of your body while training and performing for big races/challenges, but perhaps the most valuable of them all is foot care.

I'm lucky. I've got great feet.  I'm shocked by how good my feet are.  26 years of soccer and my feet are still super duper.  Training for an ultra: still great feet.  24 hour races, 36 hour races, and all the obstacle course races in the world have yet to break my feet down.  Yes, they get pruned and a little nasty looking, but they retain their structure. And when you have structure to your feet, you can keep going.

Three Simple Rules

Rule 1: Socks and more socks

While most races only need one pair of socks, many of the races that I do require to be in water, mud, and anything else that can ruin shoes, socks and inevitably feet.  In a previous blog I talked about my favorite socks, but essentially, I stick with my favorite brand now--Darn Tough socks.  I rotated through six pairs in my 36 hour race.  We are talking about the Ultimate Suck--it required me to be walking in water for 6 hours with 50 lbs on my back-- it sucked.  Among other things, I swam through disgusting ponds, rucked through mud, carried really heavy weight for many, many miles, and while all this is going on, I steadily rotated socks.  This kept my feet relatively fresh (as fresh as they could be).

Rule 2: Lube

Friction kills.  Keep your parts lubed--feet, groin, nipples, armpits--any one of these can rub raw and cause terrible discomfort.  My lube of choice is Trail Toes.  Body Glide works well, but Trail Toes seems to stick for a long time.  Trail Toes also has a great foot and body care guide on their website.

Rule 3: Shoes and inserts 

People go on forever about shoes that fit and stores that stress the importance of this for a reason: it is super important!  I use Salomon shoes.  Between the Sense Mantra, Speedcross and Fellcross my feet had the best overall shoes that I could afford.  I need a little extra support for my feet though for challenges that require me to carry weight.  For that I use Superfeet.  My feet are super flexible, so when added weight stresses my body, my feet tend to bow a bit.  The inserts kept my feet from breaking down and also kept them comfortable.  Unfortunately, a couple of water soaked races later, the inserts broke down on me; however, their customer service sent me a brand new pair for free!  I don't think the inserts are necessarily designed for 36 hour races, but for everyday running and lifting, they hold up great.  In fact, they are in all of my everyday shoes as well.  

There you have it

Moral of the story is take care of your feet and they will take care of you.