Fixing Your Feet: Injury Prevention and Treatments for Athletes Paperback – August 2, 2016

I've been very fortunate not to have found the mileage point (or conditions) at which my feet start to blister yet. However, I knew as my training runs started to pass 26 miles, it was only a matter of time. Especially with more time being spent on trails.This book is like the encyclopedia of foot care for the ultra runner or hiker. I've already referred it to a few of my fellow mileage maniacs.if you've read the forum posts where athletes talk about duct tape and krazy glue to fix blisters and wondered if there was an alternative... then read this book. There is so much great information inside both for taking care of blisters ahead of time as well as ways to care for them so you can keep racing/hiking if they do occur.

Fixing your feet is a must read for anyone who runs, hikes or performs any other activity that causes extreme stress to the feet. John does an amazing job identifying and describing the myriad issues that can plague the feet during extreme activities. The book is laid out in a way that addresses issues independently and not necessarily in a particular sequence. He includes anecdotes and real world experience of people who have learned the hard way about how to properly care for their feet.I struggle with blisters and his chapters on prevention and treatment have helped me all but eliminate them. After hiking nearly 48 miles across the Grand Canyon and back I climbed to the top of the rim with only a small blister and sore feet. Contrast that with the first time I made the trip I had blisters on all 10 toes and large blood blisters on my heels. John's book made the difference.

This book makes me rethink the way I take care of my feet. The strength of this book is the measures we can take to keep our feet healthy at all times and prevent foot injuries from happening in the first place.I love to hike and I know from my own experience that walking in the wrong footwear and wearing poor fitting socks made from the wrong material can potentially lead to more injuries than just a few small blisters. I am grateful that John Vonhof has put together so many tips which can be applied by anyone, even if you are not an athlete. On my next big hike, I will definitely take a small emergency foot care pack with me.

My crew sent this to me after my first 50-miler (run) that ended in soul-crushing blisters. I swear I trained with everything I used in my race. It's true that my longest training run was 34 miles, but my blisters started at about mile 20. Not sure what happened, but I have taken most pieces of advice in this book seriously (my amazon account and bank statement can attest to that). That being said, this book could be condensed to about 10 pages. I think I've read that I should pre-tape my toes if they are troublemakers about 15 times so far. Also, the author's judgy attitude from time to time makes me a bit irritated that I put money in this guy's pocket (not only was this sent "anonymously" to me, but I also purchased it the day before it arrived at my doorstep). Look, we all do dumb things and we all have moments where we don't think things through completely. I'd be really embarrassed if I found out a medical "professional" that fixed my feet, helped me out with muscle cramps, or nursed me back to consciousness with glucose and an ice bath derided me in an internationally-sold book. None of these things have ever happened to me, but I feel like I'm one sleep-deprived, desperate to avoid a DFL finish (or worse, a DNF!), glucose-crashing poor decision away from any one of these scenarios. And I agree with those people that say it is mostly for runners. I think people in other sports or with general ailments can get good ideas from this book, but you'll have to see what works best for your situation (i.e. a self-supported backpacker worried about lugging extra weight for unneeded foot-fixing supplies). I think that is even true for runners though; not everything listed in this book will apply to everyone.

This book is chock full of information for the serious athlete, especially one who wants to prevent (or treat) serious foot problems. Vonhof's writing style is easy to understand, and it's obvious he has the knowledge and experience to back up his opinions. The book could benefit from a better editor, there's a lot of skipping around, disorganization and repetition in each chapter, but that doesn't make me discount the knowledge at all. In fact, Vonhof doesn't just give you his own best practices, but introduces you to things others in the field think are better, too. I'm still in the process of figuring out exactly what is causing my sudden blisters after 10 years of endurance running, but I know the prevention will be somewhere in this book!

I usually don't have problems with my feet but one run in a new brand of shoes gave me a blister on my heel and the skin tore off. With a big race on the horizon, I was not able to take time off from running. I tried several suggestions in this book and found the one that worked for me.This is actually my second copy. The first copy accidentally got water logged. While it is good to read once, this book is more like a reference manual than a book for reading. It is a definite "must have" when you encounter foot problems. But also, buy it now just to learn more about problem prevention. It is better to have a copy for when you unexpectedly need it.