Adventure Racing and Your Feet

Adventure Racing Feet

Anyone who does long hikes, ultra-runs, or adventure racing has had to deal with the agony of the feet. Foot problems are really both long term and short term, the long term problems are things like Plantar Fasciitis and short term problems are things like blisters. Either way there is a pretty good chance if you are involved in these sports you will get a chance to experience both of these, and usually to a severe degree.

Let’s start short term – preventing blisters. In adventure races you usually cannot control the terrain that you will be going though; wet, sandy, rocky, muddy – you might encounter all these in the span of an AR trek. To prevent blisters start with the basics; lubrication and padding. My lubrication technique is simply – I basically dip my feet in Vaseline at the start of the race (or in longer races – the long trek) and hope for the best. I very rarely get bad blisters, so this works well for me. Of course I also have my secret weapons – socks. I always a have a good pair of Smartwools and a pair of Seal Skinz with me. I have found and tried some other types of socks that have had excellence performance, and the question is the $20 pair of socks worth it? Has a pretty basic answer – yes. Seal Skinz work great until you get into the really deep water and then the water seeps into the socks and you end up with your foot inside a water balloon. That is why carrying an extra pair of socks is important – once one pair is soaked, you can change socks and convert your pack into a clothesline to dry out the other pair. I do find Seal Skinz and a pair of ankle high running socks on the inside work great in cold weather to keep your feet warm. Another thing to do if you feel the blister starting (the hot spot) another thing you can do is turn the socks inside out – this will at a minimum move the hot spot to another location and save your skin.

Once you have the blisters – you will have pain, though that can be helped. On blistered feet I simply apply duct tape directly to the skin over the blister. Of course this is only when I am going to need to keep going. If you are done trekking then apply correct first aid for blisters (antiseptic, dry gauze).

The most common long term problem is Plantar or Plantar Fasciitis. This is the searing pain in your heel caused by damage to the Plantar tissue. Since the pain is in your heel – most folks think that putting a heel cushion in your shoes will help, but soon find that only aggravates it more. Prevention means having a shoe with good midsole and arch support as the roots of the problem are the arches. My running shoes that I use are the Brooks Beast – I have never found a shoe as good as that, though I have found some shoes that are close. Basically midsole stability is important.

Of course prevention is not the solution for those with this problem. What I found works (and like a charm) is a Dorsal Night Splint. Just do a Google search on the term and you will find plenty of these. This is basically a little boot you wear as you sleep that keeps the foot in a position (bent ankle) that allows the Plantar to heal correctly. It will rid you of that extreme pain you feel every morning as you step down on your feet and rip all the healing of the night before. I have had severe Fasciitis and this does work for me.

Hope this helps all – and see you out there.