Friday, September 19, 2008

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Last Sunday I ran my longuest run yet: 18 miles (29 km). I decided to run it in my LunarTrainers. I do prefer the Free 3.0 but I can't help but wonder if I should run a full marathon in such flimsy shoes. Anyway I decided to run in the Trainers, which have a more cushioned feel. I also decided to run with the Running Room group, which was going out for 23 km. The run was uneventful except for the fact that they Gallow-walk (they walk a minute after every mile or so). After about 20km someone pointed to my left show and I noticed a fairly big bloody area. I had noticed a small pain ealier but I figured I forgot to trim the nail of my small toe and decided to ignore it.

Nike LunarTrainer

When we got back to the store I kept going for a 6 km loop. With only a km or so to go I noticed that my right shoe was almost half soaked in blood. I ran 500m and decided to stop, just shy of 29km.

When I go home I took my shoes and socks off with some trepidation. There was quite a bit of blood.  I put my running shoes in the washer and washed them in cold water but the blood didn't come completely off. Makes me look tough I guess!

Well, the right foot, which was the worse, had nothing wrong with it. I could not find anything. One of my nail was a bit painfull so I figured that some pressure lifted it up a bit with every step and a bit of blood seeped continuously. The left foot had less blood but indeed, the nail of my left toe had dug into its neighbour and caused some bleeding. My biggest surprise was a HUGE blister on my big toe. The picture below was taken 5 days later. It was deep and painfull and I didn't dare run on it so I took 4 days off. I've had many blisters, on both feet, running in those shoes. They seem to grab at the bottom of my feet. 

5 Days after the run - good enough to run

Today, the pain was gone and I decided to do my scheduled 5 miles tempo run but I ran in my Karhu M2 running shoes. I've never had any blisters in them so I figured they would help. The only issue is that they are from my "pre-forefoot running" period. Ever since I changed my stride, I've used them only once or twice and the last time I did, I experienced quite a bit of pain in my right knee after about 5 km.

Karhu M2

Well after 3 miles, I had to stop running because of a shooting pain on the side of my right kneecap. Same as before. Damn. 

So with 10 days to my half-marathon and 29 days to the full, I don't know what shoes I'm going to wear. That's just great!

The Karhus are out of the question. I could barely run 10:30min/mile after the pain appeared and even then I'm not sure it would have stayed away long. I went straight home.

I really like the Free 3.0s but they feel like they're barely there. I'm sure I can run the half in them, but a marathon? I find the bottom of my feet becomes a bit sensitive after 20km in them.

Nike Free 3.0 - just like slippers

The LunarTrainers feel great when I put them on but they have a squishier sole then the Frees. That's probably why my toes squish together when the bottom of my foot and toes sink into the material.

I don't have much time to decide. Tic toc tic toc...

1 comment:

Jamie said...

Damn, that is a rough blister, especially for 5 days later!

Not sure what advice to give you about the shoes, but definitely hold on to the ones with the blood stains. I have a pair of socks with a big blood stain from my half iron and still wear them. I consider it a badge of honor. :-)