Foot Care

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I have been asked by a few people training for pre-selection for advice on foot care. This section is intended as a basic guide only.

The first thing to say is that there is no magic formula to prevent blisters and foot problems. Everyone gets blisters, its inevitable. The only thing you can do is to try to reduce the number and severity of the ones you get and to treat them properly to heal them as best you can.

Over the years I have heard about and tried out dozens of different ways to try to harden my feet. These range from old wives tales such as soaking them in vinegar, lemon juice or urine, to other techniques such as running along a sandy beach bare footed for an hour a day. I have come to the conclusion that none of them are very effective. The best thing to do is just stick to the basics. Make sure your boots are the right size for your feet (not easy if there army issue), make sure you wear the boots well in and wear two pairs of socks (one pair thick, one thin). Some guys also like to smear a thin layer of lubricant on the inside of their boots, although I don`t do this personally.

If, or rather when your feet start to blister it is important that the right action is taken. Wash your feet thoroughly. Take a sterilised needle, make a small hole in the end of the blister and squeeze out the water. Dry it off and then apply the protection. The rich bastards among you can buy some Zinc tape (this stiff is brilliant, but not cheap), the others can apply a plaster. Thats it. Simple. The only other thing you may need is some painkillers, as running with feet full of blisters is agony after a few days.

LOOK AFTER YOUR FEET. YOU ONLY GET ONE PAIR! (unless your Steve Austin).