Planning ahead for 2nd IM next year includes avoiding a problem I had in my first one in 08, a massive deep tissue blister/swelling under my right foot which turned me into House MD without the cane at mile 8 on the run. (next day the skin fell off the entire front of the foot, both cool and weird at the same time). Never had that kind of problem before or after.
I have finally concluded that it started on the bike with a “hotspot” in the same area at around mile 80. I had not had problems on 100 mile rides before using a pair of Carnac shoes, but I was using a pair of Garneaus that had been broken in and very comfortable but in retrospect had not gone longer than 60 miles. Brain fart on my part, I know.
I am very happy using Speedplay pedals but given their small surface area, this could also have contributed. My Carnacs are done with and no longer available in that model.
I would prefer not to switch to another pedal since I use Speedplay’s on the road bike as well, which leaves finding a new brand of shoes that have really, really stiff soles. Shoe weight is not a concern and for the purpose of long rides can be regular bike shoes rather than tri specific shoes.
Any suggestions? (sorry for the long intro)
Update: Thanks for the suggestions, maybe I phrased the issue wrong and misused the term hotspot. My theory is that the swelling in my forefoot was initiated from the pressure of the pedal through a too thin bike sole, then compounded on the run. The idea to add an insole to spread the force is a good one.
As for the surface area of the Speedplay pedals, I imagine its area of the cleat that matters.
From Bicycling Mag the other day. If you can get past the typos, you will learn that cyclist get a burning sensation in the met heads and that aftermarket insoles will help. The burning is caused, in part, from carbon soled shoes which are super stiff so the weakest link becomes the foot. In this case the natural foot flaws happen along with the collapsing of the transverse arch. Another situation is with softer soled shoes, non carbon, and small pedal interfaces. With this combination the foot is basically supported by something the size of a $.50 piece in near the met heads. As the rider pushes on the pedals the trans arch collapses again.
It will need to be a rigid insole like Superfeet. Soft, gel like insole will not support the foot.
I am very happy using Speedplay pedals but given their small surface area, this could also have contributed. My Carnacs are done with and no longer available in that model.
According to Speedplay they have a larger surface area…
Regardless the pedal shouldn’t make much difference.
Why do you think going to a stiff/stiff sole is going to help?
Have you tried moving your cleats forward or backward slightly? I used to get hotspots and cleat position was a key factor in it. I moved the cleat back slightly and fixed the issue.
I suffered from hot spots for quite a while and then found some info that seemed to show that the problem was caused by pinching in the metatarsals of the foot. I purchased some Specialized inserts with their built in metatarsal buttons and my problem was resolved.
I typically get the hot spot on only one foot the earlier of 5 hours or 80 miles. This season I decided to try and figure out how to get rid of it, and best I did was put these insoles into my bike shoes. I happen to have Morton’s foot, but the insoles really support the arch and as others have suggested, metatarsal pads can help eliminate the hot spot.
The good news is that I rode 170 miles with no hot spots a few weeks ago! I am buying a pair of these for my other 2 pairs of bike shoes.
I happen to use Dura Ace pedals and used to use Speedplays, but just switching pedals did not eliminate the hot spot. The insoles did.
I’ve used speedplay for about 5 years through an IM and a bunch of century rides. I developed a problem with my left foot early on and made myself a little crazy trying to figure it out. I finally realized that my left foot is almost a half size smaller than my right foot but my cleats were in the same position on both shoes…when I scooted the cleat back slightly all my problems were solved. I haven’t felt a hotspot since. Good luck!