Foot preparation for ultra's / adventure racing

[Deleted User]

(I've also posted this in helath/injury to capture as many people as possible) I am in the process of gathering data across the wider running community, from weekend warrior to elite athlete, in an attempt to find out what foot preparation runners undertake before and during an event.  This can be the day of the event or the weeks and months of prep that is put in before the event. Are you a fan of surgical spirit, or do you rather wax your feet?  Is talc your go to prep? Do you tape your feet, and if so what do you use (Duct tape, Gaffa Tape, Zinc oxide tape, Kinesiology tape, cellotape! (please no)). Socks - none, one pair, two pairs, waterproof? How do you cope with blistering? How do you cope with blistering in a multi day event?  In multi day events, how do your feet stand up to the extreme enviorments (eg, desert, jungle, the north).

The reason for this is that I have seen runners from all types of events from a jog round the block, to eventers from the Marathon des Sables or The Spine Race and everyones advice is different. There are so many myths out there as to what works and what doesn't and the variation between runners is huge.

Please share with me what has worked for you....and what definitely hasn't....I look forward to your responses.

Kind regards

Ablefeet

 

booktrunk

This from Badwater...

http://www.badwater.com/training/blisters.html

 

Fellrnr guide

http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Taping

 

There is some blokes website that has a great thing on feet and i cannot remember it.

But personally my key to not having any issues is injinji toe socks... The thin grey liner ones, around £9 a pair, they are nice and thin and go on under any other socks, so wear your normal socks that you are comfortable with and then wear these underneath and they are great.  They are available at lots of places. Here is just one the sites.

http://www.peteblandsports.co.uk/products/injinji-liner-coolmax-crew-.htm

I love em, i'm sure there are some that hate them, but they really are good, I recommended them to someone who said he could never run over 2 hours without blisters, had no problems as soon as he wore these.

[Deleted User]

Thanks booktrunk, the links will be very helpful.  I've had a look at John Vonhof's book before and there's some interesting ideas in there.

Glad the toe socks work for you.  Do you do any skin prep?

booktrunk

Nope, nothing at all, make sure my nails are short so they don't wear through the socks, and that's it.

3 x 50m and a couple of failed attempts at longer ( both abandoned due to pre existing injuries), no foot issues at all.

GeeeM

Tape my feet for anything over 50 miles after having a few issues with sore feet above 50 miles. I initially used this guide but have adapted it a little since then http://traviss.co.uk/wisdom/foot_taping_for_ultras.html

Always in Injinjis and I use Dirty Girl gaiters which keep dust, stones, rocks and other debris out of my shoes.

I swear by Gehwol foot cream - amazing stuff and use it immediately after a long run and for a couple of days afterwards. Plus any time I feel like a bit of pampering

 

[Deleted User]

Cheers GeeeM, nice little guide - how have you adapted it and did you have problems with what was suggested?

Injinjis seem to be very popular. With regard to the Dirty Girl gaiters how did you end up chosing them - had you trialled other porducts first, and what sort of events have used them on?

Which Gehwol cream do you use as there are multiple different types which I've had experience with over the years. Pampering.....happy feet

GeeeM

 

 

hi Ablefeet, 

Taping - I tape my big/little toes, instep and inner heel areas only. those are the areas where I can get rubbing... 

Gaiters - I do a lot of running in sand, (on the Wales Coast Path), my shoes have built-in Velcro for DG Gaiters so they were the natural choice. They were a revalation - where I was dumping sand out of my shoes every 5 minutes, I now don't need to take them off and my feet come out clean  

i use the Gehwol Foot Cream Extra - this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gehwol-75ml-Foot-Cream-Extra/dp/B0013G8IMW

These are my feet before and after running the South Downs Way

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peronel

I put socks and shoes on, I get to the finish, and I take them off again.  Perfect feet every time.  No idea how I get away with it, but it seems to work.

Fell Running Guide

I wear Injinji toe socks for some longer runs.  I like them but they are a real pain in the *** to get on!  Also Inov8 Debris socks if I know the route involves scree, loose rock etc.

Ben Davies 15

When I worked as a dustbin man, a lot of the guys used to soak their feet in vinegar to pickle the skin. 

Bare Knuckle boxers in the 19th century, used to soak their hands in turpentine, or a mixture of vitriol and gunpowder.  

Perhaps we are missing a trick here?

tricialitt

INjijnji socks, sudocreme on toes, v short toenails ( filed down), and innov8 gaiters. Of course, this might be luck, but after having to surgically remove the remnaants of a toenail after an ultra in april last year, the recipe above seems to have sorted the troubles over the last 2 ultras and 2 marathons. Not tried anything more than 50 miles, so maybe I'm just not doing enough to caues problems ! 

 

Peronel

Ben, have you ever tried gunfire?  Tea with a shot of rum and a sprinkle of gunpowder. Fabulous way to start a morning.

Would probably do wonders for the feet, too.

Ben Davies 15

Peronel, apparently Blackbeard used to drink rum laced with gunpowder.  What exactly does the gunpowder do?

ian bowles 2

Burts bees wax hand cream on the feet every night 3 days before a long ultra.

 Same on day of race. 

 First Spine race was dry so used talk during the race . Medicated talk for the full Spine as immune system gets hammered leaving you v prone to athletes foot.

 Second Spine. wax only with Army Surplus waterproof socks and two pairs of merino blend socks under the waterproof socks.

 I always run ultras with a min of two pairs of socks.

 Blisters not a problem for me. But Spine Medic Team hate compeed type blister plasters. Compeeds weld them self  to your foot after 24 hrs and can cause secondary blisters around their edges. After 24 hrs removing them can tear what was healthy skin letting in infection.  

Spine medics use small patches of shaped mole skin held in place with Kinesio tape.

 So for short races perhaps compeed but long ultras no way.

 One other thing, 6 days of Spine racing leads to scary foot swelling compared with a 100 miler. you need at least one size up and add an extra insole at the start to take up the slack before the real swelling begins. And elevate feet as often as possible (sleep sessions with feet above head)

[Deleted User]

Thank you so much for all this feedback, all extremely useful, looks as though the INjinji's are very popular.  Compeed can wreak havoc with your feet.

tricialitt

As some one that ended up with a compeed- type plaster glued to a half- attached toenail at a race earlier in the year- I agree that those plasters are a major problem for longer events- I needed to get the toenail and plaster both removed under local anaethetiv a couple of days later!

Mokshaeight

For a month or more prior to the event will jog once a week around the local  track bare foot for a mile or two, usually on my warm down.