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Looking after your feet in an Ultra
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I'm hoping the replies will not be 'Oh I can run 100 miles without a blister' if it is I am jealous.
I have 5 pairs of shoes and I alternate depending on what I am doing. I have my Boston 3's which I done a 30 miler in and came away with no blisters. However they are coming towards the end of their life. I also have a spanking new pair of Salomon XR's but I just am not getting on with them. I done a HM the other day and the blood blister on the arch on my foot was horrendous! I also have a new pair of Adidas clima cool something or other (Very Blue) and they seem to be OK. I done a 20 miler yesterday in them and although they didn't rub they did aggravate the existing blister from my Salomons.
Now I think in all my shoes bar the Salomons, I could get a 50k done without any real problems. But I have a 56 miler in a couple of months.
Now I always carry a kind of small first aid box with blister plasters scissors for tape etc
In my eyes prevention is better than cure because in my experience patching up a blister after it has happened usually worsens things.
How many people tape their feet before all long distance races? If you do what do you use and does taping cause any problems? I would have thought it would cause rather sweaty feet? Do you take another pair of socks for instance?
Just looking for foot care tips and advice to try out before the day?
Thanks in advance
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Comments
I'm afraid I'm the never blister sort you hate (sorry!) so this may be of limited use, but I swear by Bridgedale wool socks. Wool seems to stay comfortable and not rub even when sopping wet/muddy.
My other find is dirty girl gaiters http://www.ultramarathonrunningstore.com/Dirty-Girl-Gaiters-s/1898.htm. If I can keep the crap out of the shoes then life is much more comfortable. I think the pink skulls would be just your thing...
I used to tape my feet then put sudocrem over but now I just put sudocrem on blister-prone areas and not a blister since!
Yes Peronel I hate you
Interesting about the sudocrem???
Cragchick, I got some injiji socks on order after watching a lecture on youtube so that should stop my toe blisters. I used to use vaseline but stopped so I might start that again. Plus the talc is a good idea.
So nobody completely tapes up their feet? I for some reason thought it was a given.
I just know that really bad blisters will ruin your day. The fitness and the mind is all there, for it to be ruined by a bloody blister will not be great!!
I just found the tape created new friction points and I'd get a blister next to it.
Sudocrem is great as it doesn't wash off if you feet get wet and is supposed to be better for your skin than Vaseline too
I've used Vaseline and twin-skinned socks and they have worked fine for up to 50-miles and some very wet conditions. I;ve recently twice got a small blister (non-painful, mainly just dead skin) on the inside of my left big toe so I suppose Injini socks might be worth trying. However, I have a pair of ToeToe socks and so far find them so irritating I rip them off within minutes of putting them on, which might limit that option - or are the Injini ones much more comfortable? (The Toe Toes, three of the toes are more than half an inch too long, which is irritating, and anyway I hate the feel of the socks between my toes.
I thought I was getting a blister on NDW50 this year but it was an "invisible blister"/pressure point and probably related to my gait changing due to my little ankle problem. Will be interesting to see what happens on the Lakeland recce next weekend.
Cragchick...the issue with Vaseline is that it it a petroleum product anI has a drying effect on your skin, so if it wears off and your skin gets wet it will result in your skin absorbing more water than it should. Sudocrem is more of a moisturiser and contains more natural oils to act as a barrier.
I found twin skin socks a nightmare unless they were on just right.
+1 for "fixing your feet", also agree about sudo creme, -another tip is changing socks on longer ultras- a massive boost after about 30 miles to clean your feet with some wet wipes, put fresh sudocreme, and clean socks!- Gives a chance to deal early with any hot spots, before they blister.
UltraCas; thanks for that; may have to try switching...
I swear by Thorlos socks. Very rarely get blisters and I change them half way through ultras.
DOne 21 miles yesterday in my Salomons that give me blisters after 13-15 miles. Used my new Injinji socks with sudocrem and I got minimal rubbing
It might be the future 
Take a look at the book CC mentioned.
Also check out this blog entry http://debsonrunning.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/best-foot-going-forward.html
Very interesting read WIB well done. I will have a looksy on Amazon at the book as its pay day tomorrow
Like I said before my body pysically will let me run far, mentally I have no problem but it only takes a blister to ruin everything!
As an alternative to Duct/Duck tape, have a look at Leuko tape, I discovered this stuff when crossing America. It's amazing! It sticks to anything and stays stuck for as long as you need it, even with sweat and dirt on your feet. It's even sticky enough to fix broken kit! My first aid kit is now basically just Leuko tape, scissors and Ibuprofen.
Always swore by vaseline, but will be trying out sudocrem, I had the Wall to contend with yesterday so didn't want any change in the run up to my long event.
I use toe toe socks I find them no differnt to Injinji, for comfort and fit, but they just seem to wash and last better.
When I did a 107km hike recently I went with a combination of Injinji socks and Durex Passion Fruit lube on the toes/balls of my feet and heels
My feet actually finished it in better condition than when I started because instead of my heels being rather dry and cracked they had been nicely moisturised and were smooth and supple
They smelt a lot fresher too!
So this will be my plan when I'm next running longer than a half marathon distance, then hopefully i should never have to worry again.
I would hate to finish a run, take my shoes off and not have the smell of hours of running flood out.
I'm pretty happy with that, but the misses was less than impressed when i met her at a pub after training once and took my shoes off under the table.
It took her about 5 seconds to notice that i'd done it, so she imagined it wouldn't have taken long to disperse around the pub
Its much heavier than Vaseline so doesn't all get absorbed + has lanolin and an anti-fungal; massage a little into your skin all over your feet, then spread it on any problem areas - and I mean spread it!
Don't be put off by it's primary purpose (treating chapped udders in livestock!) - it's widely used by humans and utrarunners too.
Took my shoes off to check at half way on the SDW and still had a visible coating on my feet; was a little odorous though!
Blister prevention is one problem that I have never really managed to nail.
I probably have a lot more to learn from other people here, than I have to give.
This is just my take on it, and I'm probably coming from a different angle than most people.
I cannot use these blister pads, or anti-blisters products/creams etc, because I'm allergic to the ingredients. So its kinda annoying when they get listed as compulsory kit on events, eg Lakeland 50/100, as I end up carrying a product I will never use!
I rarely get blisters - this I put down to 20 years of martial arts, barefoot on rough floors, constantly getting splinters, coming home literally with black feet from the dirty floors we had to train on.
You lot are softening your feet up with 'products', when basically you would be better off toughening your feet up. I'm not saying go out running with bare feet (although it would probably help), but rather, walk around the house barefoot, build up the layers of hard skin and callouses on your feet so they can take the pounding on ultras, get socks that are comfy and shoes that don't rub.
SDW100 last week, zero blisters, one pair of X-socks for the whole run, ditto Inov'8's same for whole run, gaitors to prevent stones getting in. No products added to feet and feet healthy throughout. Unfortunately same could not be said for some of my fellow finishers - feet like cheese and massive blisters to match, mostly around where they had missed tape.
Oh and by the way, when I finally took my shoes off after the 100, the smell was 'houghin' as we like to say in Scotland
!
I always wear Hilly twinskins and have since time began and I use Xenofit on my feet..which contains deer musk
sorry lovely deers!
When I feel like being a bit girly I do give my feet a bit of a pamper, oh and I always have my toe nails painted
even though they have a tendancy to drop off!
Tigerspaw, that's interesting, because my sports background is years of yoga and a preference for being barefoot whenever socially acceptable. I wonder if that explains why I don't blister?
Peronel - I think any sport along those lines, yoga, martial arts, ballet, where the feet are conditioned over a number of years, is going to be of benefit when it comes to toughening the feet up for running. Callouses and hard skin might not look very pretty, but they don't hurt as much as blisters
.
See I've been told that too. If you have softer skin you are less likely to get problems. I've been using all kinds of cream and scrapers to get my feet super soft. Got Marathon on Saturday so will be rocking up with soft feet Injinji socks and sudocrem