Busted pinkie toes, new shoes, long ride, dilema, please help!

Triathlon Forum
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my new 6.6 sidi have arrived! i need to get them on the road to check cleat position, etc.

Sunday i have a grueling 130 mile ride over the hills of Kentucky. this will be the hardest ride yet for IMWI prep; and quite possibly the hardest ride i’ve even done in my life. so my feet MUST be in decent condition, otherwise i’ll be in deep shit!

the dilema is that my pinkie toes are really busted up! they’re blistered, inflamed and raw from Wed night long run in high humidity and heat. i’m very concerned about my feet not being fully healed for this ride! but am trying not to panick. to make them better i have cut small hole in blisters, soaked feet in epsom salts, taken ibuprofen, and not worn any shoes (only straw flip flops for a few minutes) since Wed night!

while the toes are better today, they’re still beat up badly on the undersides of pinkie toes. when i put shoes on there is less pain, but still hurts…this needs to get alot better for Sunday.

so, my questions are:
-should i run today? i’m not sure this will do anything for my blisters/swollen feet in way of making it worse or not. making blisters worse is my concern; i need feet in good condition for Sunday.

-i was thinking of waiting until Sat night to try new cycling shoes; allowing more time for feet to heal. if shoes are not perfectly set up; i was just going to ride in former shoes in order to “get the ride in”, and if tweaks need done on new shoes, do that after Sunday’s 130. i know former shoes aren’t ideal–but i can make them work enough to “get through”.

-is there anything else i can do to exedite healing?
-if the shoes feel “good” Saturday night, is that enough time to know they’ll be fine for Sunday?

i appreciate any advice!
this is not about “sucking it up”, rather i need a good strategy that will help me be successful Sunday.

lastly–dealing with blisters has really sucked! this has been a huge problem all throughout this IM training. cripes, you people that don’t get them, you are lucky SOB’s! :):):):):):slight_smile:

thanks for any help!
blister queen kitty

2

bump. desperate, shameless, bump.

3

HTFU? And come with the real group Sat instead of the Sun ride :wink:

4

Here is what I would do:

Please note I am not a health care professional and I have been know to excessively batter my body in the past

I would soak (yes, submerge) both feet in hydrogen peroxide to get ride of any infections. Then I would put new skin, etc. on any yet open wounds. Then, as a “finishing coat” I would put 3-in-1 antibiotic ointment on all the spots. I would then ride like he!! and see what they looked like after the weekend. Most likely, I would have to resubmerge in hydrogen peroxide and wear sandals for a couple of days. Yes, I would keep running and just deal with the longer healing times.

Please also note that I think blood stains on any piece of clothing is cool.

YMMV.

5

i still don’t know what HTFU means.

and no… forming a 28-30mph paceline at mile 90 and getting dropped is probably not what i need for a long ride. but knock yourself out!

seriously, i’ll happily ride with you guys like that for 60-70 miles, but not 120. ya’ll are notorious for this paceline deep into the ride. and who am i to say, “don’t do that”, i know you guys cannot help yourselves! ya bunch of caged animals!
that is why i specifically told you, Millard, and Roger i would bow out…this way you can go ahead and hammer your hearts out without having to think about me. (and i will have less pressure…all i need to do is get quality mileage and distance in at my ironman pace of 18-20).

now, for the feet, any chance you will help me with advice? i’ll make you cookies to bribe you for some advice that will help me get better?

please?
(sobbing kitty…)

6

I think you still owe me a cake from the pedal question. But seriously, first of all, you shouldn’t do 130 miles in a new untested pair of shoes. You wouldn’t run a marathon in brand new shoes, would you?

There are actually bandaids you can pick up at the drugstore designed for blisters. Superadherent and waterproof and padded so I suggest you try those on the blisters. Never strip the skin off if you must “pop” them. If that’s not available, then I would use either a small amount of triple antibiotic on the blister and then cover it with moleskin to protect it. If you get the coverage and padding right, you should be able to ride pain free although I won’t vouch for what you’ll feel when you change the dressing.

Good luck, kitty. I’ll just add oatmeal raisin cookies to the devil’s food cake to your running tab. :wink:

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BTW, the H stands for Harden, the rest you can deduce. :slight_smile: I didn’t say it.

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i’ve got your hard right here…

:slight_smile:

thanks for all advice; i’ve soaked again in salts, and am going right now to get the bandaids.

do wonder though if i could just get the pinkie toes cut off. they are the root of too many problems these days.

9

HTFU? And come with the real group Sat instead of the Sun ride :wink:

you’re on my shit list punk!
better watch out for your wheels!

:stuck_out_tongue: lol…

10

Its not blisters but I’ve been riding with a smashed up toes for the past 2 weeks (foot stool accident while running for the phone . . . ). Actually, it hurts the least when my foot is in my cycling shoe. I can ride for hours but it hurts to walk. Your foot should not be moving in the shoe and your toes actually don’t have that much pressure on them if your shoes fit right so you might be pleasantly suprised as to how your toes handle the ride.

I would not do a 130 mile ride in brand new shoes (brand new anything for that matter). If nothing else, the initial cleat placement could be off enough to really mess you up over that distance.

11

Now that is the Spirit! Get angry and ride like the caged animals that we are :wink:

Also, try some body glide on your poor toes. BTW - the new pedals aren’t going to help your toes much … Good luck!

12

To stop blisters get some Sole socks. They are pretty amazing.
For your trashed feet, New Skin and duct tape. Good as I can do.

13

I don’t condone doing a 130mi ride on brand new shoes with an untested cleat position. If you can get out for 20-30mi today on your new shoes/cleats, and everything feels good, then you can probably get away with it. But if you find your cleats are off 1/3 into the ride on Sunday and don’t stop to fix it (or fix it in time) you could very well injure something.

Set your cleats, and test them today. Test them again tomorrow, if you can. Only then should you do a long ride with them on Sunday.

As for your toes, I’m the wrong person to ask - but it sounds like you’ve had some good advice already. Maybe put some blister powder in your sock before the long ride…

14

I get blisters all the tme.
By and large, I just ignore them and get on with things. The really bad ones seem to become calluses after a while so that’s not nearly so bad. And everything fixes itself when you taper! Of course, I definitely don’t have pretty feet any more LOL
Band aids do help. Also nice socks. And riding harder/finding other stuff to focus on so that you’re not distracted by your feet during the ride :wink:

Really don’t do a long hard hilly ride in new shoes. You only have to get the cleat position off a little bit to bug your knees and that’s definitely not something to ignore.

Good luck!

Miranda

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If the feet are swollen, why dont you lay down, scoot your butt up against the wall and hold your feet up against the wall in the air for 10-15 mintutes just to get stuff flowing. Then wrap up the toes, keep them dry and do your ride. People do it in badwater all thee time. and then after you have done this, HTFU and do your ride.

16

If the feet are swollen, why dont you lay down, scoot your butt up against the wall and hold your feet up against the wall in the air for 10-15 mintutes just to get stuff flowing.

I hear that’s a great way to flush out all the toxins…

17

Here are some things that I did during my “backpacking days” - that I now do when needed after difficult long runs:

  1. Soak feet in VERY COLD WATER. I mean, painfully cold.

This seems to have a healing effect on blisters - in addition to the obvious anti-inflammatory effect of icewater.

  1. Arnica gel onto sensitive areas - not onto blisters themselves, but calluses or ‘touchy’ areas.
  2. Legs-up-the-wall. I think this is most helpful in the hours immediately after the workout, but I suppose it can’t hurt to do it a day or two later.
  3. If blisters persist by the next workout, use moleskin or some kind of second-skin. Don’t put it on till right before your ride (your feet need to air out first).
  4. I would definitely skip a Fri run or anything else that might keep me from being in top form for a Sun ride - if that Sun ride is one of the most essential long rides of the season. Which it sounds like it is, for you. Can you ride today, instead?

good luck…

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thanks everyone. it’s been helpful. i’ll just HTFU, and wear old shoes for 130–plus follow the witch doctoring advice ya’ll given me so far. should work.

~kc, out.
PS–rroof, me and my new kick ass pedals are flipping you the bird. i’m just sayin’…