A month ago I wrote a blog post about two multi-day races in Europe that are implementing a triage system for medical care at aid station – the outcome of their being overwhelmed by the amount of treatment and time that their participant’s blistered feet were requiring. Here a link to that post about Providing Foot Care for Athletes.
In this post, I want to expand on a quote from their website that I included in the original post. It was about the 6Ps of foot care.
They stated that foot care is easily divided into several phases, what they call the 6Ps: “Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance” and provided a thorough list of preparation, prevention, assessment, and treatment suggestions. “Proper Prevention” means in the months before the event, “Prevents” means during the race, and “Piss-Poor Performance” is what happens if you fail to follow the first three Ps. Let’s talk about these one-by-one.
Proper Preparation – In the months leading up to your race, and even race to race, you, and you alone need to be responsible for learning proper preparation. You need to learn how your feet respond to being wet and maceration starts, to being in sweat soaked and dirty socks, and when your feet are caked with dirt and grime. You need to learn about the best lubricants and/or powders, and insoles. You need to learn what causes the hot spots and blisters and what steps you can take if or when they develop. You need to practice taping or whatever strategy you plan to use. This is your job – not your crew’s job – and not the medical or non-medical people at aid stations.
Prevents – You need to know what to do when you develop hot spots and blisters, and have the materials and tools, and even more importantly, the skills, to fix your feet. This focus on “prevents’ needs to happen in the months before your race and during the race. It’s about proper toenail care, skin care, callus reduction, shoe and sock selection, whether to wear gaiters, preparation for a variety of weather conditions, and of course, putting the required and necessary training miles on your feet. This also is your job – not your crew’s job – and not the medical or non-medical people at aid stations.
Piss-Poor Performance – This is what can happen when you fail at any of the first three Ps. Your performance suffers. Your race may be over. In many races, medical volunteers will try and help patch your feet. Some races do not have the luxury of dedicated medical volunteers for all the aid stations, much less the finish line. You cannot and should not count on a race having medical personnel to help with your foot care needs. Just because there is a doctor, nurse, or EMT at an aid station, that doesn’t mean they know how to patch feet. You cannot and should not count on races to have the foot care supplies that you want for your feet. If you will have a crew, work with them so they know how to work on your feet with your supplies.
Some runners may feel I am being too harsh as I tell you these are your responsibilities. Let me share a story from years ago. In 1985 I ran Western States for the first time. After crossing the river at Rucky Chucky, I had blisters in the arch of one foot. Someone at the far side offered to help patch my feet. After lancing the blisters, I had a wad of gauze taped to my arch, which changed my gait. I finished the race, but learned a lesson. The treatment, while well intended, was not the best for my foot. I learned to take responsibility for my own foot care. For the next three years running Western States, I managed my feet – and I’m sure that experience helped fuel my interest in foot care.
So my point in expanding on the 6Ps in this blog post is to reinforce the notion that foot care of your feet is your responsibility. If there are medical volunteers at a race, and they know how to patch feet, and have the supplies – and the time, consider yourself fortunate – but don’t count on them being there.
Please feel free to agree or disagree with my position, and share by commenting below,
