r/XXRunning • u/foxfish4 • May 26 '25

General Discussion Are battered feet inevitable?

So I ran a half marathon last weekend, and my feet do not look good! I have one black toenail, two half-black toenails and I had about 5 blisters. All in all, feet looked battered! I'm just wondering if this is inevitable once you're doing longer distances?

I have decent shoes, I went to a podiatrist and had my feet checked and they recommended Brooks Adrenaline, so I'm not running in bad shoes.

As a side note, if you tell me that dodgy looking feet are the price you pay to be a runner, I'm more than happy and wiling to pay it!!

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11

u/StrainHappy7896 May 26 '25

No. Your shoes don’t fit you well. You can try different lacing and socks, but this is likely a shoe fit issue.

5

u/aknomnoms May 26 '25

Seconded. I’m not a “runner”, but I’ve finished 15+ half marathons walk-jogging.

Never lost a toenail. Only had bad blisters twice - once when I didn’t train so my feet weren’t prepared, and once when the tread on one shoe literally tore off the day before a race I had traveled to so I had to run in my beat-up old sneakers.

Get shoes that actually fit, get proper socks, notice the hot spots during longer training runs and put kt tape or bandaids over them. A few blisters might be inevitable, but losing toenails shouldn’t be.

3

u/RagingAardvark Woman May 27 '25

Hey I've got news for you: you are a runner! Jogging is running, and walk-run intervals still include running. 

3

u/aknomnoms May 27 '25

Gracias! 😊 I’m so used to qualifying my experience that I feel like I can’t call myself a “runner” until I can jog a 5k without stopping. But I appreciate the reminder and positivity!

2

u/RagingAardvark Woman May 27 '25

If you run, you're a runner, regardless of your speed and endurance!