- Here are some tips about how not to get blisters.
(peppy music)
20% likelihood that I'm actually gonna have one.
That was not good.
These shoes, still wet.
Morning, trainiacs.
It is 20 to eight on Sunday morning,
and I have one of the longest runs
of my training block, an hour and 40 minutes
in rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.
Nothing but rain, pure rain, like
we're talking just straight up rain.
Not even spritzing, not sprinkling,
not a shower, rain.
I got an idea for how to deal with it, though, here.
(snaps)
How's this for a fashion statement of the year, huh?
Yeah, yeah, we've got my not-so-nice gym shorts
(rustling)
as we normally start off with,
wind on the outside layer, and then
insulation on the inside layer, so
I'll be nice and toasty, and then
this garbage bag will keep me
nice and dry in the core, and I'll
probably cut about 10 pounds like a boxer.
Win, win, win, hello, folks.
Throw on a hat to keep the rain outta my face.
Hat on, a pair of windproof gloves,
and I think odds are like, 20% likelihood
that I'm actually gonna have an enjoyable run.
Wish me luck.
(peppy music)
So trainiacs, that there was a,
that was a fairly wet run, yeah.
That was not good.
These shoes, still wet, bag full
of wet clothes, still wet.
Ruining all the other dry clothes
that are in the laundry hamper.
All right, I got a blister.
Happens when you run in wet weather.
Now, here are some tips about how
not to get blisters, don't do what
I did and get a blister.
You know, I should really turn this
into one of those YouTube channels that
pops blisters and pimples and gets bazillions of views.
Number one, your shoes: get proper fitting shoes.
You want a fair bit of room all around here,
like a half a thumb width all around here
in the toe box, you want some good room,
because if you're rubbing there, or you're
rubbing here, or up there, odds are pretty
good you're gonna get a blister.
Also, when you find a pair of shoes
that are blister-free, that you know work, stick with them.
I did not stick with them.
These?
These, I know that they aren't my go-to shoes,
but I figured I would be a genius
and be like, hey look, I'm a half a centimeter
higher up off the ground, I'm gonna be so dry.
Didn't work, and I got a blister.
Next thing: either keep your feet dry
with something like baby powder that soaks
up a lot of the excess moisture
and causes heat and friction.
I'm a big fan of baby powder because
it actually helps toughen up your feet
a little bit, making them less likely
to get blisters, or keep your feet lubed
with something like Body Glide.
Body Glide or something like Vaseline,
that will help create a little bit less friction.
However, don't create so much that
your foot ends up slipping and actually
causing more friction and more rubbing.
So because of that reason, that there's
a really fine line that you've gotta play
with lube, I tend to go with baby powder
if I want my feet to have a little bit of help.
I've never done this, not a big fan.
Now, socks.
If you find that you're really, really
susceptible to blisters, don't go with cotton socks.
Cotton socks absorb moisture, and
that moisture causes blisters.
Now, if you wanna go get yourself some
moisture-wicking socks, go for it.
However, traditional runners might
make a little bit of fun of you, because
they're really hardcore, and they're like,
"Cotton socks from Wal-Mart, that's all I use."
Or, or, what you can do, is go with
two pairs of socks, and what ends up
happening is the friction actually
happens in between the two socks.
Not bad, eh?
And then finally you can tape or Band-Aid
up the areas of your feet that
tend to get kind of beat up.
This tends to be the gold standard
for a lot of people, especially long,
long, ultramarathon runners; however,
I'm not a really big fan of it
because it's like a crutch that your
feet actually don't toughen up
and develop the blisters that it needs to,
and it's one more thing that could
potentially cause friction, there's a lot
of people that have done taping jobs
that they do 99 times, and the 100th time,
they do it just a little bit off,
and that little bit ends up creating
the worst blister of their life.
Now, the method that I'm the biggest fan of,
that I'm suffering through today,
is just to tough it up, buttercup.
The more you can run in really basic stuff
and get your body used to all of that
basic stuff and maybe go through a couple
tough boats with blisters, the tougher
your feet are gonna be and the less likely
they're going to be to develop blisters,
because you're gonna have yourself
a gnarly set of feet that are gonna be
so callused up that no blister would even
dare setting up shop on your feet.
That is my recommendation.
All right, okay, all right, Pete, look at you.
You been going barefoot and dealing
with blisters all your life, and now,
no blisters, because he's got like that much tough skin.
"I have the toughest skin, Dad."
I know you do, Pete.