My feet are fairly tough, from layers of blisters over the many years I have been running. But I have been reading on some ultra forums that it is wise to take better care of your feet and try and make them as supple as possible before a long race. Doesn't that leave you open to more chance of blisters? I have always tried to make my feet harder rather than softer. What do you think?
This has been debated by the LDWA for years (especially for 100's). Two camps, two ideas. It seems to come down to "whatever works for you". But you don't know what works untill you've tried it - and that can be very painfull (talking from experience). Loads of advice on "treating" feet to make them soft, all manner of concoctions and potions.
I suggest barefoot, this seems the obvious solution.
Don't roll with a pig in poo. You get covered in poo and the pig likes it.
Soft. It's not natural to have loads of hard skin which we then encompass in cossetting shoes. If we were naturally barefoot this would be worn off by what we walk on / in naturally. Soft and supple all the way. Hard skin doesn't protect. As I started to move towards more minimal footwear and some barefoot running I observed that a stone covered patio in my back garden my children - then 4 and 6 - could walk on these stones barefooted without discomfort while myself and my wife hopped up and down in pain and had to cover our feet. We cover our feet from an early age and they lose the capacity to deal with the ground. My children didn't have hard, calloused feet just supple, sensitive feet that moulded naturally to the ground. Hard calloused feet will also be a big problem if you ever get a blister below that layer - try getting to that! I've seen this on the Marathon des Sables (a great 'school' for learning about feet and blisters, by the way)
Just remember your kids are probably the weight of your leg so they don't have quite so much pressure on their feet.
I scrub my feet a bit with a stone/skin remover occasionally to remove what could be any cracks or where a lot of hard skin forms. I never get blisters but I'm quite careful about shoes socks and I'am quite light footed. A bit of a sole and toughness definitely can't be a bad thing though, I don't want babies feet and I can run on fine gravel
Thank you for your input. I tried my first 100 about 4 weeks ago and found blisters forming below the hard skin. Because of the thickness of the skin they still haven't healed properly. I think I will try the soft approach next time. But as you say you don't know until you go long. I don't have any problems of runs of 30 miles or less but 40+ and there's a good chance of an outside heal blister.
I am afraid I must disagree with Nigel about soft feet being natural. In my late teens in Australia I went through a "hippy" stage and had long hair and went barefoot 99% of the time for a couple of years - my feet got very hard/tough and I could walk on all sorts of surfaces without discomfort. What is best - hard or soft - inside shoes is another matter.
Could any ultra runners with soft, supple feet please tell me if they have to tape them before or during an ultra?
I think the hard foot thing is a military thing.. I remember reading it years ago.. they rubbed surgical spirit into their feet to toughen up the skin..
Seems strange as the skin will crack and develop sores anyway..
I sometimes tape the nails, keeps them down.. but just vaseline my feet..
i think supple strong skin is better than hard or soft. same for climbing with skin on the hands. hard skin just cracks and soft skin just comes off. supple and tough is best.
dont know where im going, dont know where ive been, all im doing is running, running to have fun.
That makes sense but how can I achieve that?Originally Posted by fellrunnerreuben
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