a little and a lot

Thursday, October 23, 2008

She's Superfeet-y!

(The subject title is supposed to be chanted like the phrase in the classic song, "Superfreak.")

Ok, grossed out readers & friends. I finally took my nasty blood blister, my recently purchased new shoes (Nike Zoom - Bowerman Series), and both types of socks that I have run in (Balegas & Thorlos) to Fleet Feet yesterday (my friendly neighborhood running store that I have now been frequenting for years). I walked in and held up my flip-flopped foot and said "Help me!" Being the avid runners that they are in that store, they did not even bat an eyelash. What a strange breed of people, these runners that are willing to get purple blisters and have their toenails fall off all for the sake of putting one foot in front of another for a very long time.

They advised me to lance and drain the blister (ewwww, I know...), put zinc oxide on it (to dry it out), and to cover it with a bandaid. Then they advised that I could get a product called "New Skin" that looks like nail polish to brush onto the blisters, which would make the area harden.

In addition, I had identified two things about my running that may be contributing to the blisters: (1) my socks (which I bought at the end of the summer/beginning of fall) feel a bit tight and they kind of smoosh my toes together, and (2) when I run high mileages (for over an hour and a half), my feet are getting fatigued and I am most likely "toeing" when I run. (Imagine yourself pushing the toes of your feet into the ground first when you're running--that is "toeing.") Soooo...the nice Fleet Feet man swapped my size small Belega socks for mediums. He then cut some Superfeet insoles to size and inserted them in my shoes. The larger socks will hopefully give my toes a little extra room, while still fitting my feet (you don't want extra fabric hanging out down there). The Superfeet insoles will provide more stability so that when my feet do become fatigued, they will remain in the correct spot in my shoes.

Last night, Dr. Nick performed my minor toe surgery. All went well. Nothing hurt, although I did get a bad case of the Heebie Jeebies. Today, I will cover my blister with New Skin, cover that with Moleskin, and cover my feet with a liberal amount of Body Glide (Tesney, yes we use it religiously at our house! And yes, Ashley it does sound a little questionable. ha!). Then I will put on my larger socks and my new and improved running shoes and jump back into my running schedule.

The Fleet Feet workers gave me congratulations and high fives. They told me a blister of that magnitude of grossness officially puts me in a class of elite runners. Yessssss...

8 comments:

Unknown said...

whoa. dude.
glad the surgery is over and you're all doctored up.
I have those Superfeet inserts and they are great. Let me know how today goes for you.... good luck! sorry this comment isn't witty

Jane said...

Sounds like you have a plan! You go girl!

L said...

woohoo! you're elite! that's awesome!

angie c said...

Man, I avoided your blog for days so I didn't have to see your feet. Sorry, I don't do feet.

And we have your Season 2 ready to deliver. Can't say enough about it. So addicting. Like a drug, addicting.

Julie said...

I love minor operations performed at home!!! If you need surgery #2 and Nick gets too ooged out wait until you are around here at the holidays and I will totally operate!!!!

Brooke said...

just wanted to say "ew" again for the record.

Ashley @ pure and lovely said...

hahaha! glad you're making progress. even if it is with questionable products.

Ashley @ pure and lovely said...

ps now i have that song stuck in my head.


Adopting Rhet: Click on the timeline above to read more