Training & Nutrition - Hot Feet

I ride an EZ Sport Ltd no clips, the shoes are Shimano M120's. After a few months of building up I've started to do 20 miles, today I did 30 miles for the first time.

Now that I starting to increase the mileage I've started to notice a burning sensation where my foot makes contact with the pedals (stock pedals). It starts around 15 to 17 miles. Once I get off the bike and walk a little my feet feel fine. The heat also disappears when I take the shoes off. Today around 25 miles the heat started to increase and by the time I stopped was really burning. I've been told it's normal and part of my feet getting used to the mileage.

Does anyone have any idea why it is happening and what I can do to avoid it?

Thanks.

It is likely you are suffering from a malady called Morton's neuroma and/or metatarsalgia, or more commonly "hot foot". Long-distance cyclilsts, as in randonneurs and RAAM-riders, know a fair bit about it.

It occurs because the nerves that run through the ball of your foot are getting all squeezed up between and under the many little bones there (the metatarsals). There a number of reasons for this, including shoes that are too small/too narrow, and shape of the sole. There are remedies:

1. Loosen the laces/straps on your shoes. You should be able to arch your toes inside the shoes.

2. Wear thinner socks. This is especially so if the shoes are a snug fit in the first place.

3. Get new shoes that are a half size larger and if need be use a second pair of thin socks to bulk up. Your toes should *not* touch the front of the toe box at all. Take off the second pair of sock if your feet swell. Long-distance riding results in this and the larger shoe size helps. Sandals may be another option because the straps are infinitely adjustable.

4. A favoured trick for some long-distance riders using clipless pedals is to move the cleat backwards from under the ball of the foot. Now, using the foot near the arch rather than the ball may go against what many think is good pedalling technique, but Race Across America (RAAM) riders found out very early on that moving the cleat back -- even to the point of extending the slots -- took the pressure away from the bones and nerves in the ball of the foot. Move millimetre by millimetre until you find the most comfortable position. If you have toeclips and straps, use spacers to between the clip and pedal so the middle of your foot moves forward and nearer the pedal
spindle.

5. The solution for my own particular problem with Shimano shoes, apart from moving cleats back, was to build an arch "button" with pieces of electrical tape. The idea is to create a 5mm bump in the sole under the ball of the foot so it spreads the metatarsals away from the nerves. I did this just before a particularly arduous ride last year, and it worked. The simpler (but more expensive) solution is to invest in a pair of Specialized shoes that already have the button in the inner sole. Just go and have a look at a
pair, and you will see what I mean. Or, there are pads available from pharmacies that go at strategic locations on the soles of the fee that spread the bones on the ball of the foot.

6. Some cycling shoes (all my three paris of Shimanos, for example) have thin, relatively soft sole linings that compress and I can feel the underlying hard plastic. I replace them with quite hard sports inserts.

7. If you are using clipless pedals of the Shimano variety, I think you can get clip-on plastic platforms that can help spread the pressure across the sole of the shoe. Time Atacs now come with a platform MTB pedal. If you use Look or Time pedals with the big cleats, there isn't much more that can be done. I don't know much about other pedal types.

You need to be cautious, as nerve damage may become permanent, especially if you consistently do long distances. The metatarsal button may feel counter-intuitive at first, like a stone or twig under your foot, but I found it actually does work. One pair of my Shimano shoes doesn't have the button, and I continue to get hot foot problems even on comparatively short rides.

Rowan,

Thank you for the post, education and help.

As I can only ride on the weekends (work and temps 100 plus) I will try your suggestions and get back to you with the out come.

Again, thank you.

Sometimes on a long ride, I will get some symptoms of hot foot. I've discovered that if I clip out one foot at a time and then scrunch up and flex my foot within the shoe in the unclipped foot and then do the same with the other, it often makes a dramatic difference. Many times I had so much pain in one foot or another I felt I had to stop but after doing this, the pain has almost completely gone away.
If you're not going up a hill, you can pedal with just one foot for a while without too dramatic a loss in speed. Anyway, I've learned to do this little trick routinely whenever my feet get "hot." On a typical 60 mile club ride, I'll usually do it once or twice during a ride, each time for only 20 seconds or so for each foot. If my feet are uncomfortable I also take my shoes off and rub my feet through my socks whenever we break long enough to warrant it.