Preparing Your Feet for the Long Trail

admin May 8, 2008

By John Vonhof
Put together a group of people planning for the long trail and ask them about preparation and you will likely get the stock answers: packs, sleeping gear, food, clothes, and footwear. Not too many will answer “Feet.”

Without proper preparation, you will likely spend time on the side of the trail, trying to fix your feet or modify your footwear in order to continue. Whether your long trail is several hundred miles, or several thousand, preparing your feet is essential. With summer hiking almost here, let’s look at ways we can prepare our feet.

Time on Your Feet
It is important to spend time on your feet—in the shoes and socks you will wear on your hike. You can get by with minimal feet time for a short trail, but the long trails require a strategy. Put in enough hours to help your feet adapt to the stresses to which they will be subjected. If you train by doing six-hour hikes, you will be really good at doing a six-hour hike. Learn from successful ultrarunners who know the importance of at least one long training session per week and add a long session to your week’s routine. As you get closer to your start date, make the sessions longer and more closely resemble what you will encounter on the trail.

The weight of your pack and the change it means to your gait will have a stressing affect on your feet. Just as important is learning to do back-to-back training days. Teaching your feet how to adapt to long sessions, on consecutive days, will further your odds of success.

Strengthen Your Feet and Ankles
Long distance hikers need strong ankles, feet and toes. Maneuvering over bad trails and roads, and going cross-country, with a loaded pack, is easier when your feet are used to such stresses. A turned ankle will ruin your day and possibly your trip.

One key to strong feet and ankles is conditioning. The body needs power and strength. Legs are strengthened for climbing hills and backs and shoulders for the stress of wearing a pack. But conditioning means more than getting your body in condition. It also means getting your feet into the best shape possible for continued hiking.

Strengthen your feet and ankles with several exercises:

  • Stand on one foot on a pillow or similar soft and unstable cushion and try to maintain your balance, first with one foot and then the other. As your ability to balance increases, move into short controlled up and down knee bends.
  • Balance with one foot flat on the ground and the other leg bent back at the knee, as if you were in the normal support phase of a running stride. Start at 30 seconds at a time and practice until you can hold your balance for several minutes. When you have mastered this step, close your eyes and do the same thing. Repeatedly losing your balance and then recovering gradually strengthens the ankles even more. Doing this exercise with your eyes closed retrains you to quickly react to changes as your nerve endings detect a twist or turn when the foot hits the ground.
  • Stand on one leg and slowly rise all the way up onto your toes and then slowly lower your heel to a flat foot. Balance yourself as necessary. Start with 25 repetitions and work up to 50 daily.

Healthy Feet Are Flexible
Healthy feet should be flexible. You can increase flexibility with simple stretching exercises. They include walking barefoot, using bare feet to pick up one marble at a time, scrunching a towel with bare toes, and writing the alphabet with your toes.

Keep Your Toes Happy
Toenails that are too long can rub against the front of your shoes and catch on your socks, which can lead to a black toenail, wear holes in your socks, and cut into other toes. Toenails should be trimmed regularly, straight across the nail—never rounded at the corners. Leaving a bit of nail on the outside corner of the big toe will help in preventing an ingrown toenail. After trimming toenails, use a nail file to smooth the top of the nail down toward the front of the toe and remove any rough edges.

Skin Care
Use a moisturizer, like Skin MD Natural, on your skin to avoid hardened skin and callus buildup. Pay special attention to the heels, the balls of the feet, and the bottom of the toes—especially the small baby toes.

Understand your Calluses
Calluses are controversial. A callus is thickened skin caused by recurring pressure and friction—usually a sign of ill-fitting footwear. Many people feel calluses help protect their feet from blistering. Others have blistered underneath calluses and know that these deep blisters are almost impossible to drain and treat. My suggestion is to work at reducing your calluses with creams and file them as smooth as possible.

Think Comfort
In order to cover many miles, day after day, your footwear needs to fit well. That means wiggle room in the toe box, a heel that grips, supportive and cushioned insoles, and shoes or boots are comfortable. Do not skimp on socks. You should use only moisture wicking socks that have a flat toe seam. Toss them when they become threadbare on the bottom.

Work Our the Kinks
Work out the kinks before you hit the trail. Find the best shoes and socks for your feet. Learn how to trim your toenails and reduce calluses. Select the proper insoles that provide support to relieve any pre-existing foot problems. Strengthen your feet and ankles. Know how to patch blisters and what should be in your foot care kit.

Feet that are conditioned and cared for will reward you with many good miles. We can all remember a hike where we were unprepared and our feet gave us problems. With a little effort, we give ourselves a better chance at success on the long trails.

By John Vonhof - Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatments for Athletes; 4th Edition, 2006, Wilderness Press. Subscribe to the free Fixing Your Feet Ezine and Happy Feet blog at www.fixingyourfeet.com.

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