Happy(er) feet

Now that I'm pretty deep into my half marathon training, I'm discovering some of the terrible things distance running can do to the body. I ran 10 miles last weekend and ended up with considerable pain around my right bunion, blisters on the sides of my feet and toes, and horrible chafing all along the seams of my sports bra. What?! My legs seem to be holding up okay. I've had a little bit of pain in my knees and shins, but with careful stretching and preparation, I can keep that at bay. But my poor, poor feet have just taken a beating over the past couple of months.

I've been wearing a bunion regulator at night to try and get my toes back in alignment, a bunion cushion during the day to relieve the pressure, and whenever possible, putting healing balm on my feet to address the blisters. I was starting to worry that my foot issues would keep me from being able to complete this race.

Thankfully, my mom offered to hook me up with a new pair of running shoes to help get me through the rest of my training. I got my feet mapped and analyzed at Road Runner Sports and ended up with custom molded shoe inserts for my arches and a pair of red Mizunos that have been the answer to all of my prayers. These things are a full size larger than the shoes I normally wear, they're light as a feather, and have almost no stitching or structure on the side where my bunion lives. I love them.

My new sole mates

I wore my new shoes for a 7.5-mile run on Saturday, 4 miles this morning, and my feet are feeling fine! If it does indeed turn out that I've solved my bunion problem, I think I should be in good shape for the half marathon in September. Let's hope nothing else pops up before then!