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70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward
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 2011-10-03 2:49 PM |
 113 |  Subject: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forwardI did my first HIM the weekend before last. I had a very good swim and what I considered a great ride (15 minutes faster than my goal), but then the run was anything but fun. I know some of my run problems stem back to conditioning and pushing harder on the bike than I thought I was, but my main problem was that at about mile 5 I developed a very large blister (about the size of a nickel or quarter) on both feet in the middle of the fleshy pad part of my foot behind my toes. The last 8 miles hurt with every single step. I had run a HM before, and had two or three 12-mile runs in training and had never suffered from blisters. That's why I'm confused over what might have caused the blisters during the race, and what I can do to avoid them moving forward. Just FYI, I actually took the time to change socks between bike and run so I could have dry socks to avoid any possibility of blisters. I'm planning another HM in November, a marathon next May and possibly an IM next fall, so need to figure out what might have caused this problem. My guess is shoes too loose, which is how I like them, but it's also how I wear them in training so that might be a bad guess. Thanks for any info/advice. |
| 2011-10-03 2:58 PM in reply to: #3709606 |
Elite 3498    Laguna Beach | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward Hmmm. Blisters hurt. Something went wrong, and I think it could have been the socks- although I'll conceed that's a guess. It could more likely be a conspiracy of the socks, the time of day (yup), what you ate and drank on the bike and maybe having wet feet and the shoes. No worries- it is utterly fixable. Firstly- get yourself a copy of John Vonhof's excellent book, "Fixing your Feet". It is the authoritative tome on blister prevention and treatment. Read it. You'll never have a foot problem again. Look at the things you can control- your shoe fit, toughening the skin on your feet, etc. Socks are iffy since, when they get wet, they tend to create more problems that they solve. Personally- I don't wear them until I get to Ironman distance, and then I am very careful about how they fit along with shoe selectio and I am sure to test them wet and soaked with pee (ewwww) before race day. |
| 2011-10-03 3:04 PM in reply to: #3709617 |
Member 108 San Diego | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward Tom Demerly. - 2011-10-04 12:58 PM I am sure to test them wet and soaked with pee (ewwww) before race day.
I think that racing in the desert has done something to the mechanism in your brain bucket... Now you are peeing on your feet to test socks... |
| 2011-10-03 3:04 PM in reply to: #3709606 |
Champion 19812  MA | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward Were your feet wet? Or get wet from run...like dumping water on your head? Did you change your run gait at all? Did you wear same socks as you normally run in? |
| 2011-10-03 5:01 PM in reply to: #3709606 |
| 113 | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward Thanks for the replies. I'll certainly get that book. Blisters are far more painful than I would have expected. Kathy, my feet were not really wet, but might have had some little mud globs on them still from an extremely muddy swim exit. I wore the same socks I always do, very thin dry-tech type socks with no cotton in them. I even had sprinkled foot powder in my shoes, which I nearly always do before long runs in case of a little moisture. I could have changed my stride a little coming off the bike, I guess. I have done several bricks after long bikes, but only for two or three miles -- never long ones. |
| 2011-10-03 5:02 PM in reply to: #3709606 |
| 113 | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward Edited by markch 2011-10-03 5:02 PM |
| 2011-10-03 6:03 PM in reply to: #3709606 |
Expert 1258 Marin County, California | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward How old were your shoes? Two thoughts on this: first, is in the excitement of a coming race I tend to lose track of how old my shoes are...and I use a light shoe(Asics Sky), am a natural fore foot striker and they will be fine one day and the next they are trashed, they go 'over' that fast. On and behind that cushy foot pad is where I feel it in a bad way. |
| 2011-10-03 6:42 PM in reply to: #3709606 |
Pro 5361 | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward Funny- I got blisters in my HIM too. I attributed mine to 1. using my race shoes, rather than my normal distance shoes. as-I just don't have as many miles in them and didn't really use them for runs longer than 6mi in the past. 2. using bungee laces that didn't hold my feet as snugly, exacerbated by 3. brutal steep up and down hills on the run. I didn't pee in my shoes... so I'm not considering that to be a reason. Tom- really? you test this? |
| 2011-10-03 6:43 PM in reply to: #3709606 |
| 113 | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward My shoes only had 50 or 60 miles on them. I had worn them some, but was alternating them with an identical older pair to keep them fresh for the race. So I don't think that was a factor. Good thought, though. Thanks. |
| 2011-10-03 6:49 PM in reply to: #3709606 |
Master 8250 Eugene, Oregon Bronze member | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward Haven't done a HIM (yet) but plenty of marathons and HM, and some Olys, so just some thoughts. Maybe your feet swelled more than usual due to the length of the event (time on bike plus run) and there was more friction. Or they were damp when you started and got wetter. I often end up getting blisters in long races (but rarely in training), probably due to the amount of water I end up pouring over myself (tropical heat), which I don't generally do in training (since I have to carry all my water). I find it helps to put baby powder or similar in my SOCKS--this absorbs some of the moisture and keeps the socks from scrunching up. This has helped in tris and I intend to do this in my next HM. |
| 2011-10-03 9:10 PM in reply to: #3709617 |
Master 2912 ...at home in The ATL | Subject: RE: 70.3, blisters and uncertaintly moving forward Tom Demerly. - 2011-10-03 3:58 PM Hmmmmm. Tom, either you read Vonhof's book AFTER you did the 1999 Marathon des Sables, or you and I differ on the definition of "never have a foot problem again." Hmmm. Blisters hurt. Something went wrong, and I think it could have been the socks- although I'll conceed that's a guess. It could more likely be a conspiracy of the socks, the time of day (yup), what you ate and drank on the bike and maybe having wet feet and the shoes. No worries- it is utterly fixable. Firstly- get yourself a copy of John Vonhof's excellent book, "Fixing your Feet". It is the authoritative tome on blister prevention and treatment. Read it. You'll never have a foot problem again. Look at the things you can control- your shoe fit, toughening the skin on your feet, etc. Socks are iffy since, when they get wet, they tend to create more problems that they solve. Personally- I don't wear them until I get to Ironman distance, and then I am very careful about how they fit along with shoe selectio and I am sure to test them wet and soaked with pee (ewwww) before race day.  Seriously, I agree - this boom has a lot of great advice. I cannot say that it has kept me from ever having foot problems, but all of my blisters, black toenails, etc since I read it have come from a breakdown in form (no matter how slight), which I'll betcha played into the OP's problem. |
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