This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Banish your


blisters


Don’t let your feet stop you from finishing


BY ERIC MARTINAT


“Hold up a second guys!” Ray- mond called out from behind. “I’ve got a hot spot.” Oh no, I thought. Forty minutes


into a six-day race and this happens. Unbelievable. Sure enough, as the hours passed, Ray’s feet slowly dis- integrated into destroyed pieces of flesh. He had to stop and wrap them in duct tape to hold them together. As testament to Ray’s fortitude, he pressed on through the pain. One year later, it was my turn.


Dozens of hours in wet shoes in the first trek section of the “Raid the North Extreme” in Yukon Territory caused my feet to swell and crack. Scott Marshall, the race Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) gave me the bad news: “You’ve got a pretty good case of trench foot going there. Just try to keep your feet dry.” Dry?! Webster’s definition of impossible: “keeping feet dry in an adventure race!” As the miles wore on, my pain in-


creased exponentially. After six days, and what should have been a cruise to the finish, I had to drop out. I couldn’t continue. With each step, a shot of lightning fired up my spine. My feet were finished. So was I. “Damn!” I swore aloud, as the helicopter lifted off from the remote checkpoint. “This will never happen again!”


32 ottawaoutdoors N O Everyone knows that blisters (as


well as other foot problems) cause great pain. Hiking the most beauti- ful trail on a perfect day can be a nightmare if your boot has rubbed a hole in your heel. “People don’t realize the impor-


tance of their feet,” says Dr. Debra Dunlop, an Ottawa chiropractor. “Bio-mechanically, like an improp- erly laid foundation, foot problems can affect the overall efficiency of your physiology… This affects over- all athletic performance. Your feet are very important.”


THE BLISTER TRIANGLE Have you ever heard about the


“Blister Triangle”? Imagine the three sides of a tri-


angle labeled “heat,” “moisture” and “friction.” If you reduce or eliminate one of these triangle sides, then blisters probably won’t form. You can reduce moisture by


wearing socks that have moisture wicking properties and shoes that either keep water out (sometimes impossible), or breathe sufficiently to let moisture out. Adventure racers


Getting the most out of your feet


requires you to be both proactive and reactive. Proactively, you’ve got to understand what causes blister- ing, then condition your feet and select the proper gear. Reactively, you’ve got to learn how to deal ef- fectively with problems once they occur. Generally, if you’re more proactive, you won’t need to be as reactive.


JUNE 17 - 19, 2011 MOONEYS BAY PARK, OTTAWA Largest Dragon Boat Festival North America’s


Free Admission | Live Bands Non-stop Racing | Children’s Area


WWW.DRAGONBOAT.NET TO PADDLE OR VOLUNTEER VISIT


www.ottawaoutdoors.ca


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