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Question:

My wife is getting ready ffor the Atlanta Marathon in 2 weeks. Recently on her long runs, she has had lots of problems with blisters between toes, black and blue toenalis, and very sore toes after her recent long runs ( 20 miles).  What causes this?  What can be done to correct it?  What can be done to prevent it? She wears Nike Air Pegasus, which is one of the few shoes that she can get in a narrow size for her feet, although this years model seems to be wider than last years model.  Also, I wouldd characterize her as a runner who runs more on the balls of her feet than on her heels.  Other than this problem, she has not had any other running problems in the last several years.  She runs here in Atlanta, so her training runs tend to have lots of hills in them. Any advice is appreciated. Magdi N. Azer

Response:

  My wife is getting ready ffor the Atlanta Marathon in 2 weeks. Recently   on her long runs, she has had lots of problems with blisters between toes,   black and blue toenalis, and very sore toes after her recent long runs (   20 miles).  What causes this?  What can be done to correct it?  What can   be done to prevent it? I’ve been trying to deduce the real cause of this and am getting close (as well as black big-toe nails) – blisters too. When doing an LSD, I’ve noticed that after a while, on the downhills, I get lazy an let my feet become "brakes".  This causes friction, most of it concentrating on the major points of contact between foo & shoe.  The sole of the foot’s impact zone is large and conditioned, thus (typically) little chance of hot spots. However, the biggy toe (with me anyway) starts rubbing against the underside of the upper.  The problem is that the more painful it becomes, the worse my gait becomes, and the more accentuated my braking becomes.  I notice that I’m grateful for (uphill) inclines when they’re really sensitive. LSD’s are one possibility.  The other is really fast workouts like treadmills and track.  I’ve found that the exaggerated "pull" and/or "pushoff" heats up that area really quickly. My big left toe has been purple for about two years.  My big right toe is catching up When they become sensitive, the blisters come along for the ride.  They’re a side effect of bad running style due to the pain. Opinions and one data point only. How to overcome it?  Wish I knew.  Jumping into a more comfortable (spongier) pair of shoes does the trick for a while (like Brooks Kona Coast).  I tend to train in racing flats anyway (nike Niobe, Kona Coast and a Mizuno flat). Good luck. — Paul Big Ears Menon Computer Science, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia Ph: +61 3 660 3209/2348 Fx: +61 3 662 1617 ICBM: lat 37^ 50′ S long 145^ 0′ E WWW: http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/people/TSG/pnm.html

Response:

My wife is getting ready ffor the Atlanta Marathon in 2 weeks. Recently on her long runs, she has had lots of problems with blisters between toes, black and blue toenalis, and very sore toes after her recent long runs ( 20 miles).  What causes this?  What can be done to correct it?  What can be done to prevent it?

I have also had the same problem with blackened toe nails. The problem is caused by trauma from the toe hitting the upper of your shoe. Downhill running with a poor gait (usually when your tired or stiff) is one factor. I wear slip-lasted shoes with orthotics. The shoes are flexible, but I think my feet tend to slide on the orthotics especially during downhill running. One cure I’ve found is to lace the shoes so that the toebox gets pulled up slightly. To do this for, say, your left shoe, run the lace from the inside bottom hole straight across the tongue to the outside top hole. Run the rest of the lace through the holes normally, ending up on the top inside hole. (I borrowed this idea from a Runner’s World article a couple years ago.) When you tighten the shoe, the toebox will lift slightly to relieve pressure on the big toe. I’ve run with my shoes this way for a couple of years now and just have a calous on the outside of the little toe to show for it. Another thing to avoid are the padded socks if you’re going to do a lot of downhill running. They take up the room you gain with the modified lacing. I find they’re ok if my feet are cold or I’m running a long race on fairly flat terrain, at which point my shoes loosen up from sweat. Hope these suggestions help.

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   My wife is getting ready ffor the Atlanta Marathon in 2 weeks. Recently   on her long runs, she has had lots of problems with blisters between toes,   black and blue toenalis, and very sore toes after her recent long runs (   20 miles).  What causes this?  What can be done to correct it?  What can   be done to prevent it? I’ve been trying to deduce the real cause of this and am getting close (as  well as black big-toe nails) – blisters too.

My toes are very close together, so I always coat them with Vaseline before running.  Furthermore, because I have had so many problems with irritated big toe nails, I cut a hole above both of them in all of my training shoes with a razor blade.   This has provided tremendous relief, although it has obvious drawbacks in sloggy weather… David F. Monti, Race Results Weekly "Race results by fax first thing every Monday morning…"

Response:

| My wife is getting ready ffor the Atlanta Marathon in 2 weeks. Recently | on her long runs, she has had lots of problems with blisters between toes, | black and blue toenalis, and very sore toes after her recent long runs ( | 20 miles).  What causes this?  What can be done to correct it?  What can | be done to prevent it? | | She wears Nike Air Pegasus, which is one of the few shoes that she can | get in a narrow size for her feet, although this years model seems to be | wider than last years model.  Also, I wouldd characterize her as a runner | who runs more on the balls of her feet than on her heels.  Other than this | problem, she has not had any other running problems in the last several | years.  She runs here in Atlanta, so her training runs tend to have lots of | hills in them. | | Any advice is appreciated. | | Magdi N. Azer | The black toenails are caused by your toes hits the front of the shoe. Sounds like her shoes may be a size too small in length. This might also be causing the blister problem but can’t say for sure.

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| My wife is getting ready ffor the Atlanta Marathon in 2 weeks. Recently | on her long runs, she has had lots of problems with blisters between toes, | black and blue toenalis, and very sore toes after her recent long runs ( | 20 miles).  What causes this?  What can be done to correct it?  What can | be done to prevent it? | … | Any advice is appreciated. | Magdi N. Azer I wish I could help your wife figure out the cause of this problem.  I’ve never had this type of problem.  You mentioned the width of the shoes– perhaps more crucial is the length.  Does she have enough toe room? I am another AZER, and this name is pretty rare!  Could you get back to me on the e-mail?  I’d like to see if we’re related.  Most of my relatives are in Massachusetts and California.  (I’m the only one in my family who lives in Atlanta.)

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Black toenails are a common problem among ultramarathon runners. If they don’t hurt, don’t worry about it.  They will fall off in 3-4 weeks.  It takes 9 months for the big toenails to grow back and to repeat the cycle.  I’ve lost both big toenails after separate 100 mile run attempts. #include "disclaimer.h"                |____|

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