Getting to the foot of the matter.

Feet are weird.

I don't much like the look of them (they can be horribly ugly - unless you're a small child, in which case they are utterly adorable). Mine are especially sensitive: they're quite small, they hate any form of heel on footwear (they pretty much hate footwear actually), they blister ridiculously easily and they don't seem to have a setting that's between freezing and boiling. My biggest hurdle in preparing for this walk was to make sure that I kept my feet happy.  If my feet aren't happy then the rest of me is miserable too. The thing is, they are soft - like a baby's - which is why they blister at the slightest thing and they quickly go back to being soft again once the blister heals. This is not good when you have to walk for 15 miles a day.  You need gnarly, hard, calloused skin. You need to be tough and resilient. You need the kind of feet that make people say: "For F%&K"S SAKE! PUT THEM AWAY!" if they inadvertently catch sight of them, say - on a beach, or some such place that the sight of the naked foot would not be unusual. I actually, for the purposes of this walk, want that.  Of course if they ever did become like that, I wouldn't be able to look at them myself because they'd make me want to puke.

So far I've done alright. A few of the blisters that have appeared there have developed into callouses. I'm proud of them. They are a symbol of my hard work and perseverance. Luckily I can't see them unless I manipulate my foot, so my dinner is staying put for now. The heel on my right foot though is proving to be a bit of a nuisance.  I think it must be its shape. All shoes rub on it and I have had to resort to wearing blister plasters* (like Compeed (the link is for information only- not for advertising)).  These work remarkably well but my heel isn't toughening up.  I decided to go without yesterday and the result was red and raw and nasty so the blister plaster went back on again.  It's not cheap keeping me in plasters but they are as much a part of the necessary kit I need as are waterproofs and walking shoes.  Without them my sensitive feet could scupper the whole trip.

Which would be annoying and a bit of a weird reason to bail.


* A plaster is often referred to as a Band Aid in other parts of the world but actually Band Aid is a trademarked name for a plaster. I just thought I'd throw that in there for the purposes of global clarity. You're welcome.