I’m back to blogging and training for the Breast Cancer 3-Day after a month’s hiatus to move.
Lesson learned: No matter how hectic life gets, stake out some time every day to take care of you – train, eat well, and get enough sleep. Chances are, whatever the project, it will still get accomplished, and probably on time.
I had 100 excuses why I didn’t have time
once in 30 days to walk, take the stairs at work, attend Weight Watchers meetings, or pack healthy training food to eat at work. So I gained weight, lost muscle tone and generally made myself feel like – well, you get the picture! It even affected my mood and motivation.
On Saturday, I went to my new Weight Watchers meeting, resumed walking and started cooking and driving past (instead of through) the drive-throughs. And my personal training calendar, while not ahead of schedule as I would like it to be, is caught up. I felt instantly better with long walks and good food.
There’s something to that 1970s phrase: You are what you eat. But I digress. What I really wanted to talk about is
feet.
A reader asked me what I do to take care of my feet and if
pedicures are really such a bad idea when training for a long-distance event.
Maybe as some of yours have, my feet have gotten pretty hard and thorny looking. I look at them and think “iguanas. I have a pair of horned lizards attached to my ankles.” But that hard skin is nature’s way of protecting you as you put more and more demands on those beauties. Learn to love your iguanas.
Are pedicures really bad for feet in training?Here’s an anecdote to consider.
My darling U took me for a pedicure on Valentines Day 2008. How often does a guys’ guy think of doing something like that? RARELY, right, goddesses? So of course I had the pedicure! That was 16 days before the LA Marathon, and I didn’t give it a second thought.
On Feb 25, six days before marathon, I go for a 15-mile walk and come home with a deep, painful blister underneath what was left of the callus on my left big toe. Most of the callus, keep in mind, had been left in a bucket of soapy water at the nail salon.
On Friday, Feb 29, a mere two days before marathon, I take the train to Staples Center in downtown LA to pick up my race packet, and as I limp the three or four blocks down Figueroa Street from the Metro station, I wonder if I would be able to finish the 26.2 miles.
The blister did heal enough so that on marathon day, I had some discomfort, but not enough to stop me. A few weeks later when my blister had dried up and started to peel, I discovered it was a double-decker: a truly spectacular blister with two layers. No wonder my freakin' foot hurt!
So that’s my pedicure story. It’s not scientific evidence. Based on my own purely anecdotal experience, I don’t recommend them while training.
Here’s my foot routine, which I observe as carefully as any professional male athlete, especially baseball players, observe their rituals (you know how they always spit in the same direction, cross themselves, stamp their feet and hit themselves in the head with the bat? That ritual. Mine actually works)
Before training• Shower the night before; don’t use moisturizer on feet, so they are completely dry the morning of walk. Damp feet increase chance of getting blisters.
• Cover sensitive spots with duct tape – just what you need – not whole foot.
• Spray cheap CVS brand athlete’s foot spray powder between toes to dry-lubricate skin. Spray liquid doesn’t work – has to be spray powder.
• Wear good socks that wick. Blends or synthetics work best.
• Make sure shoes are laced snugly. Took me a while to get used to this, but it’s important to shoe fit and to keep your feet from moving around in your shoes too much. Counter-intuitive, I know, but snug laces reduce chances of blistering.
After training• After longer walks, treat feet to a 30 minute soak in
Epsom salts. I don’t know how or why this grandmother’s remedy, magnesium sulfate, is so soothing, but it is. Didn’t your grandmother always have some under the sink in her bathroom? She was right! By the way – it can be used as a plant fertilizer, too. Try it with ice water after a hot summer walk for instant relief from swelling.
• After showering, moisturize feet with body lotion. If those iguanas are getting excessively thorny, I use Zim’s Crack Cream (find it Wal-Mart or Target) to deep moisturize. The stuff is amazing and lives up to all its claims.
I occasionally take a pumice stone to my feet during training to remove rough spots that snag socks and could turn into cracks or tears, but I use a very light touch.
To sum upProtect feet from moisture. Allow your body to build its defenses. It knows what to do.
What preventative measures do you use? How do you care for your feet before and after a walk?
A final thought
My new (non-Olympian) hero, Idyllwild cyclist Mary Collier, who rode a 2,700-mile road race from Banff, Canada, to New Mexico, chooses chocolate-covered espresso beans as her favorite energy snack. In moderation, these might be a good choice for a short-term energy jolt, especially for long, end-of-summer walks. Read about Mary Collier and her journey here:
http://www.pe.com/rss/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_biker08.390c720.html
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