Hot Asphalt, Huarches, and Plantar Skin Conditioning?

[Chad_1376]

Sorry for the goofy title..

It's getting hot out. Ground temps are already over 100*-F and beginning to get painfull. I've ordered some invisible shoes for daytime running this summer. I'm wondering, however, how fast I will lose my hard earned plantar skin conditioning. Is there some distance/frequency of runs I should shoot for to keep my skin relatively thick and tough? Maybe one BF run per week over the summer (or something?) I'd hate to go back to full BF in October with baby soft feet again.

FWIW, I typically run about 9 miles/week (3m x 3 days).

 

[Rusinque]

You could find a place to run with shade.(or at night) Ive also found that "hydrating" your feet works well. (For me)..
And just because you wear InvisibleShoes every now and then, doesnt mean youll lose your tough skin.

 

[Chad_1376]

By mid July here in 'Vegas, I'll be lucky if the lows get down to 9o, and highs will be 105-110. Even in the shade, the sidewalks are hot. I got though last summer by getting up at 5:00 a.m, but there's days when I just couldn't get up. At least that early, the roads are only "warm".

 

[Zetti]

It seems like your mileage is already pretty low. I'm not sure how long you've been running BF, but to answer your original question I would guess that doing anything more than one of those 3mi runs a week with invisible shoes would be the most you would want to do in order to preserve the conditioning that you have.
It seems like your best bet would be to get up early or run late instead of using huarches (not that I have anything against them...I just know how much nicer going BF is...and I'm assuming you feel the same way).

 

[rickwhitelaw]

Hey Chad, We are practically neighbors. Vegas is a rough environment in the summer and i'm not sure what you are going to do for barefoot running except for getting up early and like you said, it can even be hot then. As for foot conditioning, I don't think you will lose much of your plantar toughness if you can get in at least 2 runs in per week. I was worried about losing mine over the winter and it didn't happen. It would benefit you most to run in rough conditions like gravel, sand with debris , or chip seal, and it might be cooler than the asphalt. Except, I don't know of any places to run without glass everywhere in Vegas. Are you close to the Red Rock area or Lone Mountain (that's a nice barefoot hike if you can avoid the glass at the bottom, I did that one last year in 90 deg. weather). Good luck, come up to Utah if you need a break from the heat.
Rick W.

 

[SillyC]

Chad - last summer, I visited Texas during July, when it got up to over 100 every day. I went running every morning when I was there, and every morning I brought my huaraches just in case. I found that the white pavement stayed pretty cool until well after sunrise. 5AM was not necessary - if I got out at 7, the pavement was just fine.

That said, I think you'll be fine if you wear huaraches. I've gone months without running barefoot because of snow, and I haven't had too many problems with sole conditioning in the spring.

 

[JosephTree]

You could try to find some trails for variety. They're often not so hot, but I don't know anything about Vegas except for the unforgivingly expensive parts that tend to be A/C'd.