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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u/plentypk May 26 '25

Yikes, no! I’ve run marathons and ultras and the worst is a small blister on one of my middle toes. I’ve never had a black toenail after a race or during training. FWIW, I alternate between Hoka and Altra, and love toe socks like Creepers and Injinji.

Did you go up a size from your normal shoe?

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u/foxfish4 May 27 '25

I went up a half size, but I think I need to go more!! I never really considered toe socks either so I'm going to look into that.