One of the chapters in Fixing Your Feet is Foot-Care Kits. I like the chapter because it’s important for athletes to have a good kit, in whatever form they need. It could be a basic home kit, a small fanny pack kit, or an event kit. I even describe a 2-ounce kit that fits into a small Baggie. Every kit should have supplies that are important to the athlete himself or herself. A larger kit can have supplies for others.
A kit is only as good as the knowledge the athlete has of how to use the supplies. You can have the best kit in the world, but if you don’t understand how to use the supplies, lance and drain blisters, and how to patch them, and more, the kit will be useless. If you are doing an event where you have a crew, make sure some of them know how to use the supplies too, and know what you expect of them when coming into an aid station.
So the big question is what’s in your kit?
I recently watched an interesting and informative video by Jeremy Palmer from Turku, Finland. His website is about his experiences in running, trail running, regaining, orienteering, hiking, and exploring in Finland.
Jeremy created a video showing what’s in his foot care kit. It’s 25 minutes in length—and is definitely worth watching. It’s a large kit but he talks about that. He admits that he has not used everything in the kit, which is okay. I have stuff in my kit that I rarely use, but choose to carry it anyway. Because—you never know.
Thanks, Jeremy. You made a great video. Here’s the link to the video.
I encourage you to watch the video and take notes. Open your copy of Fixing Your Feet as you watch and compare what he has to what I suggest. Then update your kit. Order some of the stuff you don’t have.
Here’s some solid advice. Do not assume that race aid stations will have what you want or even what you need. That’s your job.
