Kinell it's hot out there!

Popped downstairs to have some food today and found my dad had left me a note asking for me to go to the shop round the corner and pick up some stock cubes. I took that as an excuse to finally get away from the computer and out of the house and into the sun for a bit. Enjoyed a 15 minute barefoot walk each way. This is a shop i've been to barefoot a few times now and never had any hassle.

But it's pretty hot out there. I could actually feel the pavement burning my soles. It was a gradual thing, fine to start off with, but over time my feet started getting a bit sore. However no blisters or anything. I've a feeling that having gone barefoot through much of may at university and stuff I've built my feet up sufficiently in order to be able to handle that better than I might otherwise. So my feet will recover soon and I'll be able to take on hot pavements again. I've over done it before and had blisters that kept me from walking too much for a number of days. I'm going to remember that and try and do things gradually at first now that the pavement's heating up.

 

I know what you mean; walking home the other day wasn't fun. I had a good 2 and a half mile hike from summer school; lots of darting across asphalt and walking in the grass.

 

I took my dog for about a 2km walk the other day. About halfway I noticed I had blisters on both my feet. Walking home wasn't fun

Will this change over time? Or is it likely that pavement will always burn my feet?

 

It'll change. Wait 'til the soreness of the blisters has settled down and you can walke comfortably again (don't release the fluid immediately, wait until it doesn't feel too sore). Don't peel the dead skin off either - it'll act as a protection for a while for the new skin developing underneath. That protection will mean that your feet will be pretty tough in the area where you got the blisters, which will be pretty important. The rest of your feet where you didn't get blisters should intheory be fine again. A lot of walking around barefoot in the heat will then thicken your skin overall and you'll be able to handle it fine. It's like any other kind of physical fitness, the more you do, the more it builds up and the more you will be able to do. Just don't over do it at first!

Today I went out again, it was pretty hot - went out to vote barefoot, and then decided that I mustn't waste the day indoors so grabbed a book and walked into town where there's a large green area. It wasn't as hot as the day before yesterday but pretty warm. My feet felt absolutely fine and they still feel fine, not sore at all which is an improvement on how things were at first. Also I walked straight across the drive in front of my house which is full of gravel (the large sort), without any discomfort, and I'm in the habit of expecting discomfort normally. All signs that my feet are definitely getting stronger.