Heat and blisters? Now I don't care.

[Daniel W. Rouse Jr.]

I've now reached a point in getting used to heat that I don't care if I get
blisters.

I can now stand on sun-baked coastal asphalt full foot for much longer
during the later part of afternoon peak heat hours 3pm to 4pm, with
temperatures in the mid 70's to lower 80's. Yes, after a couple of minutes
the burning does start to gradually close to painfully hot--but still never
so hot that I have to close my eyes and clench my teeth--so it's a matter of
whether I want to keep standing with that much equalized burning heat, or
slightly make the feet slightly cooler just a moment. If I want to cool off
the feet--all it takes to cool down the burning feet is standing on edges
the feet for less than a couple of seconds, or simply taking a couple of
small steps away from that hot spot on the asphalt. Sometimes the next spot
is actually slightly hotter, but it's still over a minute of being able to
stand full foot before it starts to become uncomfortably burning hot. On one
such occasion, I found myself in a realistic standing for longer on hot
asphalt scenario while waiting for a parking lot tram for probably over 10
minutes. I only had to cool off the feet three times while standing--twice
by simply taking a couple of steps off the hot spot, and once more standing
on the edges of the feet for just a couple of seconds. Walking is completely
a non-issue, since at most it feels slightly hot, but never uncomfortably
hot.

Inland is a lot more challenging, since it's hotter in both the air and on
the asphalt. I'm still becoming able to stand for longer full foot--probably
around 5 seconds as the asphalt becomes burning hot, a couple of additional
seconds until it's painfully burning hot, and then pre-tingling starts to
occur about a second after that--with temperatures in the low to mid 80's
and even some humidity. Standing on the edges of the feet--and even moreso
rolling on the feet--makes standing very doable for several more seconds,
even in the low 90's. Walking still burns after a while, but I can also
deliberately build up more heat while walking by standing until it's even
hotter, then walking. In the low to mid 80's, the heat after a few times of
deliberately standing before walking again is quite burning hot, but never
painfully hot enough to have to close my eyes and clench my teeth--even
during the middle of afternoon peak heat hours 2:20pm to 3:30pm. Mid 90's to
low 100's are going to be a heat tolerance barrier, and so that's why I've
decided I don't care if I get blisters.

Obviously, too much heat too fast for too long can cause blisters. Blisters
end the barefooting immediately to prevent them from becoming larger or
bursting open. But if I want to get used to that much hotter heat, they are
a risk. This includes standing full foot for longer past just the onset of
pre-tingling before rolling on the feet, standing full foot for longer to
onset of pre-tingling before walking, walking up to when feet get to
pre-tingling, walking as the feet get past pre-tingling to full tingling...
all very effective ways of acclimating to higher heat, especially closer to
afternoon peak heat. This isn't new--even the barefoot FAQ mentions that
through gradual acclimation so barefooters report they can greatly increase
their tolerance to heat--so it's just matter of when I decide I'm used to
enough heat for if I go out for longer during afternoon peak heat.

So for getting used to summer heat--the more heat I can tolerate, the
better. Not getting blisters is ideal, but if the feet blister as pushing to
tolerate more heat, then they blister, and I don't care as long as I can end
barefooting immediately and go home. If it's on the Internet it's not always
true, but taken at face value--there are even Yahoo Answers about going
barefoot on hot asphalt and getting blisters, barefoot forums mentioning hot
asphalt and blisters, barefoot running forums mentioning getting blisters,
and dance forums mentioning blisters. Therefore, it's a normal part of
getting used to hotter heat or increased friction that blisters may occur if
done too much too fast. The main concern about third degree burns is
generally only for temperatures over 100 degrees closer to afternoon peak
heat--primarily in the desert areas and/or desert states--and the web images
that do show large peeling blisters with red raw skin underneath are
obviously from way too much friction or heat after they obviously got
blisters. I'm not going to risk third degree burns.

The ones who have negative opinions about blisters on the soles as part of
getting used to hotter or longer distance barefooting don't matter. They can
comment all they want, shake their head all they want. Blisters will either
eventually reattach and result in tougher skin at the blister part, or the
blister will heal and peel away, also leaving tougher skin where the blister
peeled away.

[Daniel W. Rouse Jr.]