On the 8th of July 2019 in my post Walking Ice and Fire about Dermot Cosgrove’s remarkable attempt at walking across Iceland to raise funds for the charity Dogs For the Disabled. This post is to give you a quick update on how this courageous Irishman is getting on. I called my post Walking Ice and Fire and now I wish I hadn’t because now that’s probably exactly what Dermot feels he’s walking on. Only a handful of days in and Dermot’s had it pretty tough. The weather has been bad, he’s been attacked by Arctic Terns and now his feet are disintegrating.
Dermot’s a tough cookie but the constant pain with every step must be exhausting. He is in such a remote area that the only news we are getting are from his daily posts on FaceBook. I can only guess what he’s going through.
Blisters are the curse of the long distance walker. I suffered them on my attempt on the Pennine Way, a 270 mile walk along the spine of England, a couple of years ago. They took me completely by surprise. I’ve been walking for years and not had blisters of any serious degree for over twenty years. Because I never get blisters I didn’t even have any plasters to patch them up and I was very quickly in a bad way with every step agony. My friend had some plasters but the damage to my heels was done by the time I’d finished my third day walking.
So why did I get blisters when I’m used to walking long distances and my feet are pretty hardened? I think the cause was the surface. Much of the Pennine Way is flagged these days so I was walking on hard ground. In the Highlands, where I do most of my walking, I’m normally on soft ground with only the odd bit of hard track.
Dermot’s been on tarmac a lot in these early stages and that is probably what has damaged his feet so badly. He’s also pulling a cart loaded with his gear and food. His blister is on the ball of his foot exactly where he’d be putting pressure pulling the cart. It’s really frustrating for him as he was going really well otherwise, had bags of energy and felt strong.I treated my blisters by covering them with Compeed and held that in place with extra adhesive stretchy sports Elastoplast. Fortunately, I could carry on as I swopped my boots for a light weight pair of trainers that didn’t rub on the blisters.
Here’s a few things I find help me avoid blisters.
• Keep your feet as dry as possible. If your feet get wet the skin softens and you are much more vulnerable to blisters. If it’s hot talcum powder can help.
• I use thin sock liners against my skin underneath my hiking socks. I think that these help reduce friction for me. I know other folk are dead against sock liners, so see what works for you.
• The most basic thing of all is to makes sure you get boots that fit you well (not always easy) and that you’ve worn them quite a bit before you set off on a trek. Don’t buy a brand knew pair of boots and set off on a walking holiday in the Alps. If you want blisters that’s how to do it.
• Also if you do feel a blister starting stop and treat it right away as once the blister develops and the skin breaks they are much harder to cope with. Check your socks for wrinkles and make sure you protect the area with tape if you can.
• One thing you can try is to remove the insoles from your boots if you are developing blisters. This will have the effect of changing the position of your foot inside the boot and may remove damaged skin from friction against the inside of the boot. It may not work every time but it’s worth a try.
• One final trick is to make sure your boots are tightly laced up on a long descent. That will stop your feet moving forward in the boot as you walk downhill and help prevent you getting blisters on the tops of your toes.
Okay that’s it, my few tips for preventing blisters ruining your holiday. Do you have any good tips for preventing blisters? Do let me know I’d be happy to hear them. Gory pictures also a boon.
I saw a young woman on the Pennine Way whose feet were so badly blistered she could only walk backwards. Amazingly enough she completed the route!
Donate to Dermot’s walk HERE
Spare a thought for Dermot up there in Iceland. He’s struggling to complete his 600 KM walk because of severe blisters and he has the added pressure that he is trying to raise funds for Dogs for the Disabled which is a fantastic charity helping people gain independence.
Please help Dermot achieve his goal. It’ll be a big boost to him if folk help out by making donations or, even if you aren’t able to donate, pop over to Dermot’s Facebook page or Twitter feed @dermotcosgrove and let him know you are thinking about him.
Many years ago when I was at the point of collapse after 22 miles running in the Barnsley marathon, a hulking seventeen stone miner watched me run past with the hand of his little boy grasped in his enormous paw.
“Go on flower. You can do it,” he yelled after me. I felt the strength surge back into my legs.
A few words of encouragement can make all the difference.
You can follow Dermot’s adventure on Twitter @dermotcosgrove and his Facebook page Walk for the Dogs; there he plans to post regular updates throughout the walk. You can also donate by clicking HERE