My post title’s rather grim sorry but I thought I’d give a good warning that I wasn’t going to have any actual blister photos.. I hate it when people upload war wounds on Facebook or social media without warnings.I’m quite squeamish.
Anyway before the blister talk…this weekend started off with some fun shenanigans with a bunch of friends for one of their birthdays. We started off in Pizza Express and despite my very best intentions the pudding menu lured me in…chocolate fudge cake again. Not nearly as good as Zippers I must say but I persevered. Tough times 😉
One of the guys that came out had just had DOUBLE knee surgery a couple of days ago and was walking on crutches (though he said he had been told to be in a wheelchair!) and our table was downstairs which was just ridiculous. But like a soldier he got down (and later, up) those stairs! Incredible. I couldn’t even imagine getting off the sofa let alone going on a night out.
Lots of drinking (well, a little bit of drinking for me being the biggest lightweight in the world) and dancing and I was ready for bed. It’s been quite a while since I last saw 2am! Having been up since 5.20am I was absolutely pooped.
The 5.20am wake-ups have been due to getting in my runs before work. I don’t actually mind it – I much prefer waking up early and getting it done than having it hanging over me all day. But all this running is making me tired! I was supposed to run parkrun on Saturday but that was never going to happen after a 2am night out and feeling slightly delicate meant running was totally off the agenda. Wise decision I think!
So I’ve been acquiring some rather horrendous blisters due to buying slightly more firm insoles for my trainers. They’ve absolutely savaged my feet. The problem is I keep running on them which doesn’t really help heal them…Compeed blister plasters have been a lifesaver (though ridiculously expensive!!) and I’ve even gone so far as to tape my feet up using zinc oxide tape (which I got from Amazon if you’re interested).
Lifesavers
The problem is I really need those insoles because I’m so flat footed, but getting used to them is just hell. But they are getting better thankfully.
Compeed plaster on the right, and taped up on the left
Tape does help, but honest to God it is an absolute bitch to remove afterwards, as you can imagine.
I had planned to do a local 10 mile race on the Sunday and was all but raring to go on Saturday but with my blisters still not feeling amazing and having not run further than 6 miles since the marathon I thought it would be best to give it a miss (incidentally my coach had said this to me but I had chosen to ignore him…whoops). Sensibly instead I ran 7 miles at home, knowing that if I had any issues I could get Ben to pick me up rather than embarrassingly DNFing in a race with the lame excuse of bad blisters.
The 7 miles went well, nice and relaxed running and no blister issues, but it was tough. My endurance has just plummeted. I think it was a good shout about not doing the 10 miler but I did miss the fun.
Later in the afternoon we went to Nando’s and ate lots of chicken which is always good. After getting home and walking Alfie, I was absolutely pooped. Really makes me concerned about a half marathon I’m meant to be running (not racing) in a couple of weeks. Not really sure about that anymore! If 7 miles is tough 13.1 miles isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Need to mull this over…
How was your weekend?
Have you ever had issues with blisters? What are you failsafe ways to recover from them?
Is it silly for me to do the half marathon? It’s usually a distance I’m OK with and I could get a 10 miler in this weekend…
Luckily (touch wood!) I’ve spent my running years pretty blister free. Occasionally I’ve had one on the tip of my second toe (stupid odd sized feet!) but that’s never stopped me from running. I had a couple in the same place as you when I first started but nothing major and then my feet must have hardened off! My trainers are amazing though and a lot of it is probably down to the fit of my shoes. I stopped wearing specific running socks as well. They are so expensive and just made my feet overheat in the Summer.
Hope your blisters heal soon!
Mary recently posted…Birthday celebrations
Considering all the miles and ultras you run that’s pretty good going on the blister front!
Yeah not sure about the specific running socks. I tend to stick with ones that don’t slip down (little trainer socks are always a fiend for this). But it’s just because of these bloody insoles. My feet do eventually get used to them but it’s just taking a while this time – probably because I’m running more consecutive days so haven’t given them time to heal.
We did Pizza Express this week too. Sadly, my margherita pizza wasn’t near as tasty as it usually is.. even had a real smell going on. Seeing how I count down to our pizza nights, I was a bit let down. Probably didn’t help I had some mega pregnancy hormones going on that day. Haha!
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Oh no sorry about your pizza. How annoying 🙁 Especially if you were really looking forward to it. I had a salad which was good (aren’t they always?), but we had a big sharing starter of meats and dough balls and that was quite tasty.
Ooh I can totally sympathise with the blisters! A combination of compeed and zinc oxide tape worked a treat for me and let them heal up whilst I was continuing to run on them. I found the least painful way of removing the tape was in the bath 🙂
Autumn recently posted…I’m Ready
Oh good to hear that combo worked for you too. It’s just managing them at the moment… eventually they’ll go away I’m sure but it’s taking ages. Ahh the bath is a great tip!
Having a tough run is normal! We all experience it. Don’t let one tough run get in your head, you are a strong runner now you just need to be confident that your blisters will heal and your body will work with you!!!
Staci @ Hoosier Running Mom recently posted…Making the most of it
Thanks Staci. It’s true – one run does not define you. And nor does an injury for that matter. But blisters do hurt like hell and are damn annoying hehe.
Blisters are no joke. I permanently suffer from them because my feet are so wide, and my little toes are both just one huge mess of blister at this point. I always wear k-tape on the backs of my heels along with plasters because otherwise my shoes rubbing them results in either blisters or multiple layers of lost skin. I have the opposite problem to you because I have high arches, and those create their own set of problems – oh to have perfect running feet!
I’m sure you could do the half, but you have to ask yourself if you’re truly okay with whatever finishing time you get and can trust yourself not to try and race it. I discovered the hard way that there is no such thing as a no pressure race. Also, I worry that increasing your distances so quickly and in reasonably big chunks could injure you again. Perhaps ask your coach what he thinks? That’s his job after all 🙂
Jess recently posted…Newcastle Town Moor Marathon Fail ~ 3:41:11
It’s funny because when I first got the blisters I was like “pfft they’re just blisters! Not a proper injury.” But I was hobbling at one point which really woke me up to how bad they’d gotten.
There’s never a good ‘style’ of foot to have – too low arches = problems, too high arches = problems. Nightmare.
I would honestly be fine with whatever time I got as I know I’m not in any good shape – so it would be a disappointment without a doubt if I did try for a time. I’d rather go into it running “slowly” as a training run so it’s good excuse why I didn’t get a good time. The half is around where I grew up and there’s no medal but there’s loads of people I know doing it, so would be nice to be there to enjoy the day with them, you know? Rather than hear all about it on Facebook…Hmmmmm. But yes I will talk to my coach about it – I think I’ve become his most annoying client with the amount of pestering I do!! Hehe.
Ouch to the blisters- in such a painful place too. I tend to put on a plaster and leave it there for as long as possible- not medically recommended!
With the half, there is no doubt you could finish, but it depends on how fast you are going to go I suppose.
I can sympathise with the late nights too- I was at a wedding on Saturday and got home at about 1am- then I had to have a drink, get ready for bed etc- that was a late night for me!
Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Edible Gifts for the festive season
It’s annoying because it’s literally on the bottoms of my feet so can’t really avoid putting pressure on them.
I’m honestly not bothered about a time. It would be similar to when I did Brighton earlier in the year and just ran it for the miles. It’s tough because I have a friend running it as her first half so wanted to be there. Well, I’ll support her anyway even if I don’t run!
I had horrendous toe blisters when I was ultra training, they just couldn’t heal after long runs as I was still running. It took a long time for them to look somewhat normal again!
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I can imagine you’d get blisters with ultra running – no matter how comfy the shoes are to begin with! I guess with sweat and feet swelling it’s just bound to happen eventually. Runners’ feet are just always going to look horrendous 🙁
Ughhhhh, blisters suck. I have never had them from running (I’m not a runner!) but its bad enough getting them from new shoes so can’t imagine what RUNNING is like with blisters! Ouch
lucie recently posted…Quinoa Citrus Salad with Avocado and Edamame
Oh new shoes are awful. I always get it on the back of my heels. I hate shoes that don’t give either and will just always give you blisters no matter how long you’ve had them.
Sorry to hear about your blisters Anna, how rubbish! Hope they heal up soon!
I’ve used those compeed things and they’re fab but so, so expensive. James had really bad blisters after the half marathon but they’re all healed now, thank goodness!
Claire @ Flake and Cake recently posted…Beaching and Bouldering
Ahh glad James is better now. I think new trainers should come with a free pack of Compeeds haha.
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