Paul Ronto, an ultra-runner and a staff writer at RunRepeat.com, with Vania Nikolova, Ph.D. in mathematics, and the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU), just released a new, exciting report—The State of Ultra Running 2020. It’s the first-ever comprehensive look at this rapidly-growing segment of the running world. Over a period of five months, they analyzed 23 years of trends including 5,010,730 race results from 15,451 races around the world. It’s the largest data set of …
At Some Point, Everyone Gets Blisters
No one wants to get a blister. And no one wants a blister that knocks them out of contention for a win or a title. In most cases, those getting blisters are runners, hikers, adventure racers, ultrarunners, walkers—those we think of who doing action sports or extreme sports. Do golfers fit that definition? I’d bet many of you would say no. So meet Pablo Larrazabal, a golfer playing in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa. Temperatures were hot. 104 degrees in the first round. He …
12 Days of Christmas Foot Care Gifts
Merry Christmas everyone. Here are my best 12 days of Christmas ideas for foot care success in 2020 - in no certain order. Engo Blister Prevention Patches Squirrel’s Nut Butter XoSkin Socks Kinesiology Tape from TheraTape.com Cover-Roll Stretch Tape 4 inch Drymax Socks Dirty Girl Gaiters RunGoo from FootKinetics The Best Shoes for Your Feet - At your local running, outdoor, or athletic store - Nail Files for Proper Care of Your Toenails - At your local drug …
Kinesiology Rock Tape Sale
Over the years of patching feet, I have found that kinesiology tape works well for almost any type of foot taping. I use it for pre-taping and taping for blister patching. Rock Tape is one of my favorites. And Theratape.com is where I buy my tape. They've been running a number of sales for the past few weeks. Today's sale, good through December 23, gives 25% off Rock Tape with promo code 25ROCK. Here's the direct link the the Rock Tape page. Theratape.com offers Rock Tape, KT Tape, …
Traction Devices for ¥our Shoes
Winter is here and with it comes snow and ice. While many athletes take the winter off, many more continue to run and hike outdoors. To stay safe outside it’s good to consider ice traction devices for your shoes or boots. Two cautions are necessary: If you use traction devices that fit around or over your shoes, be aware that they may fit differently on different shoes. Secondly, each traction device may work differently on different snow and ice surfaces. The traction devices below have …
Your New Fun Read – Kicksology
I love books of all kinds. I found one I think many of you will enjoy. Kicksology: The Hype Science, Culture & Cool of Running Shoes, by Brian Metzler was released mid-October. Here's the cover and the summary from Amazon. This is a book that runners, walkers, adventure racers of all types will enjoy. Be sure to check out the table of contents. Then buy the book and get ready to have a fun and informative read into the shoe business. I know I'm ordering a copy. Here's are the Velo …
When Shoes Rub You Wrong
Recently I was asked the following question: “I lace up shoes in various ways to minimize ankle movement in shoes but still wear down the material at the top of the back end shoes (especially laterally) in all brands but more noticeably in Topo shoes. See photo attached with Ultraventure with 450 miles on the pair (but notice this starting at 100 miles). Any suggestions as to how to prep this area with a durable so shoe fits better and does not wear down? I am currently using duct tape to push …
Fixing Your Feet In Outside Magazine
Every so often I have the opportunity to be interviewed about some aspect of foot care. In September I was called by a Megan, journalist who writes for a number of publications. In 2016 she interviewed me about blisters, specifically, "It's a piece about how blisters can disable even the strongest man on a long run and the tools and technology available to help prevent and treat blisters." Fast forward to September 2019, she called again and this time they wanted a piece "... about how to …
When Blisters Go Bad
Please read this whole blog post. It's important that we are aware of what can happen when a blister becomes infected and goes bad. Several years ago, I wrote a blog post about an actress who came close to sepsis after a blister on her foot became infected. Fast forward to August, two months ago, when Gemma Downey, a 23-year-old fashion model became the center of attention for a badly infected blister on her heel. The headline in UK's The Sun tabloid told the story: Killer Heels - Bister from …
Mandatory Gear for Foot Care?
This post is an editorial about foot care at races – and more importantly, the lack of it. Over the years I have worked many multi-day multi-sport adventure races and multi-day running races. Most of these are six or seven-day events. Adventure races are races where the clock doesn’t stop until the team gets to the finish. Running races are typically stage races where each day is a specific mileage and camp changes every day. Please continue reading – even if you don’t do multi-day races - …
