Now My Blisters Have Blisters

Using the combination of athletic tape and moleskin taped over my arch blisters worked out very well. On my 18.2 mile run today, my arches did not hurt at all thankfully. However, now I have blisters on my right foot where the tape seams were located. So I have blisters as a result of my blisters. Ei Yi Yi! What next? On the bright side, the blister on top of my toe did OK. I managed to paint it with a few layers of liquid bandage last night, which helped to seal it tight, and I also managed to get a corn pad to stick this morning before putting on my shoe. It may have bled a drop or two, but overall, did great.

I can't say the same for my knee though. Last week after my 16 mile long run, I had a lot of knee pain the next couple of days. It was the same old pain that I had during the Vegas Marathon. I think I've reached my limit of combining speed workouts and increasing my distance. I'm on the verge of breaking myself again, likely a result of a tight ITB. I've been stretching really well, and the mid week runs felt great though. But, near the end of my 18.2 mile run today, I knew I had pushed it too far. I ran 15 of the 18.2 at marathon pace, (it feels better during the run if I run faster), but I'll pay for it after the run. The last 3 miles were kind of a death march, so I definitely went "too" far. Ugh. I did find a way to swing my leg in a circular motion though to help prevent the pain, but I fear the damage has been done.

On a bright note, even though I may have "broken" my knee again, I did manage to break my weekly mileage personal record with 51 miles. Yay me? Hmm.

A Bloody Blister

Ok, this is getting out of control. The blister that I got yesterday broke open tonight on my 9.5 mile run, which then soaked the top of my shoe with blood. I didn't even realize it during the run since it was dark, and the run was going so well. In fact, I was very surprised to see the blood, since my foot didn't hurt much at all after the first mile or so. Se la vi, this may turn out to be a very troublesome spot.

Yet Another Blister

The new shoes have given me another blister, this time, on the top of my middle toe on my right foot. I was able to solve the arch blister problem by getting some moleskin and using athletic tape to tape the moleskin over them, which worked OK. But, the top of my middle toe rubbed on the shoe, and new blister developed. Hmm. Can a running shoe be defective?

The Love/Hate Relationship with New Shoes

I decided to break in a new pair of shoes today since my current shoes have about 500 miles on them, and my knees were starting to hurt during the runs with them. A few months ago, I bought a couple more pair of my current shoe when they went on clearance, and they've been sitting on the shelf in storage. Today was the day to break out a new pair.

The shoes are Wave Rider 12s. This will be 4th pair of this same model of shoe, so in theory, there shouldn't have been a problem. Same shoe, and it should have worked out perfectly. But, after a 16 mile run today in the new shoes, I've got huge blisters on both feet on my arch. So, was it the shoes, or was it the combination of running on a snow/ice covered trail which changed my running gait, and also that my feet got soaked since I stepped in some fairly deep puddles toward the end of the run when I was tired and making stupid mistakes. I'm not sure, but they're fairly painful. This should be fun.