I couldn't find mention of this elsewhere, so I thought I'd ask if anyone else has encountered something similar to what happened to me.
This past Saturday I ran a half marathon (The Big Lake Half Marathon in Alton, NH) and ran into a problem I've never had before. I planned to run it barefoot and had only brought a pair of flip-flops with me to walk around in before and after the race. When I arrived it was pouring rain in buckets and the flip-flops were more of a hassle than anything else so I left them in my vehicle. I arrived about an hour and a half before start time, picked up my packet, checked my bag, and walked over to the start line, all the while barefoot and getting drenched. Finally the rein stopped just before the race started. However by that point my feet, like the rest of me, looked pretty close to pickled. I started out with the rest of the pack, the only barefoot runner there, and got off to a great start. The air was humid, but the sky was still overcast and the pavement cool from the rain. Puddles had formed here and there and all in all it was a great morning for a run...until about mile seven or eight. Something didn't feel right with my feet. I was feeling little pebbles and small cracks in the road that normally would have escaped my notice completely. Then they started to hurt. I slowed down, took even more care where I stepped, but it made no difference. Finally I stopped to brush some wet sand off my feet that was stubbornly clinging to them and realized what was wrong. My feet looked like they'd been sitting in the tub for hours. My normally callous and tough soles were pink and wrinkled, soft from standing in the rain for almost two hours before I even started running. I fished the race with caution, but examining my feet afterwards I found several tender spots where the skin had worn away, like I'd taken a 13.1 mile emory board to them. It's been a week and they're almost back to normal, but I'll be hesitant to run so far with wet feet again. Has anyone else experienced.something similar and if so, what have you done before, during, or after to alleviate the situation and/or aid the recovery?
This past Saturday I ran a half marathon (The Big Lake Half Marathon in Alton, NH) and ran into a problem I've never had before. I planned to run it barefoot and had only brought a pair of flip-flops with me to walk around in before and after the race. When I arrived it was pouring rain in buckets and the flip-flops were more of a hassle than anything else so I left them in my vehicle. I arrived about an hour and a half before start time, picked up my packet, checked my bag, and walked over to the start line, all the while barefoot and getting drenched. Finally the rein stopped just before the race started. However by that point my feet, like the rest of me, looked pretty close to pickled. I started out with the rest of the pack, the only barefoot runner there, and got off to a great start. The air was humid, but the sky was still overcast and the pavement cool from the rain. Puddles had formed here and there and all in all it was a great morning for a run...until about mile seven or eight. Something didn't feel right with my feet. I was feeling little pebbles and small cracks in the road that normally would have escaped my notice completely. Then they started to hurt. I slowed down, took even more care where I stepped, but it made no difference. Finally I stopped to brush some wet sand off my feet that was stubbornly clinging to them and realized what was wrong. My feet looked like they'd been sitting in the tub for hours. My normally callous and tough soles were pink and wrinkled, soft from standing in the rain for almost two hours before I even started running. I fished the race with caution, but examining my feet afterwards I found several tender spots where the skin had worn away, like I'd taken a 13.1 mile emory board to them. It's been a week and they're almost back to normal, but I'll be hesitant to run so far with wet feet again. Has anyone else experienced.something similar and if so, what have you done before, during, or after to alleviate the situation and/or aid the recovery?
