Hot roads and split calluses

runningteeth

Barefooters
May 31, 2021
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1
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Shiloh, Il
I started running barefoot back in May and I've been overall enjoying it, but I have a few questions for you experienced barefoot runners.
1. How do you deal with hot surfaces? So far the only solution I've found is to run on surfaces that are not heated so much by the sun. I've made sure my cadence is around 180-190 so my feet don't stay on the ground too much, but my feet are still getting a little burned.
2. How do you prevent and treat split calluses? My family seems to have a genetic predisposition towards dry, split calluses in our feet. I have used O'keefe's Healthy Feet on the cracks and it has helped, but I'm wondering what other solutions are out there.
Thanks!
 
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Welcome!

I wouldn't recommend running on asphalt or concrete during the hottest times of the day. It's best to just run in the early AM or late PM during summer. Some people can and have conditioned their plantar skin to the extreme surface heat, but I don't think it's worth the pain and effort to get there. Be careful of treadmills too, as the belt can really heat up.

There are some dog paw cream solutions for cracked paws that can be used on human feet that you could try. Some barefooters have sworn by it. Mushers use it on their huskies when the weather is frigid and their paw pads tend to crack.

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I'm not a runner but I'm always barefoot and I live in Israel where the sun and heat can be brutal.

I've noticed that heat tends to be cumulative. If I'm wearing long pants and have already been walking on hot surfaces, I need to get to cooler surfaces faster and maintain less contact with the ground, compared to when I have been in the refrigerator section of a grocery store wearing shorts and walk onto hot pavement from that. Reducing length of ground contact per step (walking fast or running) helps, but only for a few minutes, until the heat accumulates.

For you as a runner, your entire body heats up and the heat has nowhere to go if you're running on hot pavement in peak summer heat, even if you wear shorts. This could lead to burns as your feet don't cool between steps and the pavement is already very hot.

My take would be to not run at peak heat. For me that's about 12-4. The pavement temps vary a bit, so get an idea of what times are better where you want to run.

I still haven't burnt my feet yet, even the times I was sure I would. Almost stepped in dog crap once getting on a tiny weed of grass in a sidewalk because of the insane heat.
 
I tend to avoid running in the heat of the day on hot paths, it just isn't fun, particularly if you're dealing with asphalt rather than concrete.

As for split heels, I get a few of these and the best advice seems to be to find some sort of heel balm or foot cream containing urea as an active ingredient. Try to get on top of fissures before they split if you can.
 
Like others I tend to run in the morning before the pavement gets too hot. If I have to run when it is hot I wear my genesis sandals.

My heels will dry out and split occasionally. I just use petroleum jelly on it and it seems to work well.
 
I commute by running. Once it was hot and everything was ok until I had to run over a black path of rubber. I didn't noticed right away but after 500m I felt like when I run over a Lego block. I got a nice blister and had to stop for a month as I could feel the burn for a long time. So it is not worth and I avoid running on dark surfaces as they are hotter. Still there are people that do it but it requires slow conditioning to avoid what happened to me.

As for cracks on the skin, I have used a balm climbers use. They are expensive but really good.
 
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Hi there,
I think the suggestions above would be my reccomendations also. The sun is a brutal here in Adelaide with summer temperatures reaching 45C at times, I wouldnt even consider running in the afternoon during days like that but I will get up just before sunrise to run as the ground will be cool.
In the summer I prefer to run on light coloured concrete, I avoid bitumen, brick pavers and most of all dont stand on metal grids (I measured the temp at 50C on grids back when I first started). Grass and damp sand is good (I live close to the beach) but beware the hot dry sand.
I have blistered my feet in the past but that was all part of the learning experience, adaptation is the key.
Good luck

Neil
 
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