More getting used to *standing* heat during the heat wave

[Daniel W. Rouse Jr.]

A heat wave between 90 and 95 degrees F is forecast for the next few days.
This will give me some amount of time to get used to hotter standing heat,
especially on blacktop asphalt whenever I encounter one during normal
shopping trips.

Standing full foot already burns quickly enough just in the mid-80's, but I
know I can extended that all the way to having to close my eyes, clench my
teeth, and the feet to pre-tingling before needing to cool the feet.
Ideally, I'm going to stop standing full foot before that, since more
frequent intervals of slightly lesser burning are more productive than less
intervals of too much burning. Depending on how hot during peak
heat--sometimes I only need to lift the toes and the balls of the feet off
up (easiest done holding onto something), sometimes I just need to stand on
the edges of the feet, and sometimes I need to roll on the feet. The goal is
to get as much heat as possible while making sure I'm still able to walk
without *immediately* needing a cooler surface or shade.

This is where there is a risk of blisters: If pre-tingling occurs and does
not cool down enough when walking, then I need to find a cooler surface or
shade soon enough. If I cannot find a cooler surface or shade, and the feet
get past pre-tingling into tingling--then I know from previous experience
that the watery pinching feeling means blisters have formed even if they are
just white marks on the sole that haven't yet filled with fluid. I do carry
a small barefooting first aid kit with a couple of needles in case of
blisters, some band-aids in case of cuts or if I jam my toe against
something hard enough to break a toenail, and tweezers in case of wood or
glass splinters--but ideally I should not have to use the first aid kit if I
keep the burning threshold below pre-tingling as much as possible while
walking.

Realistic standing conditions on sidewalk would be as long as it would take
standing to wait for a pedestrian crossing signal--ideally standing full
foot until it gets all the way to pre-tingling before standing on the edges
of the feet or rolling on the feet, waiting until pre-tingling when rolling
on the feet to find a shade spot. Realistic standing conditions for an
asphalt parking lot would be standing for as long as it would take to cross
the parking lot--even if it required some standing on the edges of the feet
or rolling on the feet after becoming too hot to stand full foot for
longer--because when it's that hot enough, then the heat will eventually
build up to just as hot when walking as does more quickly when standing.
Street festivals and farmer's markets usually give a good balance of
asphalt, sidewalk, shade, and even some grassy areas--but I'm not going out
of my way to find those. Swap meets are not realistic until I am so used to
that much heat that I can stand full foot and the heat equalizes--and
obviously I'm not going to be used to that much heat for that long in just a
few days of a heat wave (and if the temperatures do not stay mostly
consistently hot and increasing more gradually, I'm not even going to get
used to it at all this summer).

That much heat from that much standing for longer, then continued heat from
walking after standing, will mean that I will have flip flops with me. If I
have to put them on for a moment to cool off the feet, then I can always
take them off again, but I'd rather do that for making getting used to the
heat more productive instead of getting blisters.

As usual, I expect almost the entire foot to be dirty and even reddish from
as much heat as possible; however, after washing the feet any permadirt will
only be in the pattern of someone with a normal arch, even if almost the
entire foot remains reddish for hours.

(And for those who may continue to pass judgment or otherwise criticize--I'd
like to remind some of them that they've known or still know others that
prefer barefoot as much as possible. Rough surface tolerance varies. Heat
and also cold tolerance varies. It's still the same idea--not wearing shoes
unless it's necessary to wear shoes.)