How did I ever run without Injinji socks?

I tried writing an ode to my Injinji socks to illustrate just how much I love them while also keeping my post concise. It turns out ode writing is really hard. I’d rather my poems just rhyme with each line. So, no ode.

I’ll keep this short, though. The short version of the story is that my sports massage person suggested I try Injinji toe socks to help keep my toes from getting squished and aggravating my bunion injury. At the time, that injury was keeping me from training for the Newport Half Marathon, so I was willing to try anything to get back on track.

I ordered the socks but wasn’t expecting them to fit. I actually bought a pair of toe socks at a running store in 2010 after getting black toenails  and painful blisters while training for my first half marathon, but the smallest size was huge and I returned them.

The Injinji socks were totally different. They were cut just like all my other running socks, and while they were a little difficult to get on at first, they fit perfectly! When I wore them on my very first run, I knew these socks were right for me. The pressure I felt on my bunion disappeared because my toes were more correctly in line, and I could feel it. It felt like a huge relief; a weight lifted that I didn’t even know was on me.

The best part of these socks, however, was when I resumed my training and became aware of their magic.

Let me backtrack – when I trained for my first half marathon in 2010 my second toenail on each foot turned black,  hurt, blistered and eventually fell off. It got better when I stopped training, but once I started training for another half my toes turned black at the first long run. I realized this is just how I am and accepted that I no longer had pretty feet.

When I trained for the marathon, those second toenails took a turn for the worse. I won’t go into more detail than that and I won’t share the picture I have (you are welcome) but I will say this: to fix my problem, I had to borrow my friend’s dog nail clippers.

And when I started running again this past March after a winter break, my toenails bruised, hurt and turned black from my very first three-mile run. That was it. I caused permanent damage and now even short runs affected my toenails and stopped them from looking normal. But I accepted that this was the new me.

So I was shocked that as I ran with the Injinji socks, my toenails began healing. The more I ran, the better they got. They stopped being black and thick (sorry) and they started resembling normal human toes again!

[Source]

In other words, these socks cured my black toenail/blister problem. I ran 6 miles, I ran 8 miles, I ran 10 miles, I ran 12 miles and I ran 10 miles again. Normal toenails. No pain while I ran, no pain after, no blackness or bruising.

I ran my half marathon. No pain while I ran, blister on one toe after, slight bruising, no blackness. But I ran the race in the lightweight version. I also own the slightly thicker, regular weight version, and I plan to use those when I run the Richmond Half in November. Still – to have normal looking and feeling toenails after a half marathon was previously UNHEARD OF for me. And my bunion didn’t hurt at all, not once.

I won’t run in regular running socks ever again. It’s a shame because I recently bought some new pairs, but I can’t go back. I also won’t wear regular socks to spin because I can feel the difference even there. And now that Refine is switching to sneakers, I’m ordering even more pairs so I only work out in these socks. While they are still slightly annoying to put on, they are very much worth it.

TL;DR – If you have bunions or blisters or black toenails, Injinji socks might cure you.

Do you have any of those ailments? Have you ever tried toe socks?