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?

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In May, I stepped up onto a step and felt a sharp pain in my foot near my big toe.

It hurt that day, and then I forgot about it. I went to Cancun for Memorial Day weekend, ran on the treadmill a few times while I was there and felt fine. But after I got home, any time I did workout that required stepping up onto something, the pain came back.

Eventually, it started hurting when I ran. And then it started hurting almost all the time. I could see the problem — the bone/joint/thing below my big toe was inflamed and red, and sometimes the pain went from the side of my big toe down the side of my foot. My first instinct was to use this as a reason to make Andy rub my foot all the time, so I kind of liked it.

Also, I thought it was probably nothing. I mean, it was just one weird step. So I began training for the Newport Half Marathon in September, which runs right past my office and near my apartment in Jersey City. I decided to “train for real” for the first time, and that meant interval speedwork and tempo running.

I probably chose the worst possible time in the history of my foot to start running fast intervals.

My foot wasn’t getting any better. I really thought it was just a bruise. But it seemed to be getting worse and last week I went to a foot doctor where I had an x-ray. He told me what I already suspected: I have a bunion.

Here’s what I learned from the doctor:

• Bunions are genetic.
• I always had it. I never noticed it because it never acted up. Training for and running a marathon did not irritate it.
• That day I stepped weird — THAT injured it and “woke it up.”
• My bunion is very minor.
• My current situation can be resolved.
• My bunion will get worse over time. (Thinking of my grandma’s feet, I’d have to agree with that one.)
• My insurance might pay/help pay for orthotics which will take the pressure off the bunion part of my foot when I run, which will help right now and over time.
• The bunion will continue to shift and get worse but there are measures I can take to keep it at bay.

(WARNING -CLOSE UP FOOT PHOTO COMING STOP READING IF YOU HATE MY FEET)

What the hell? Why is there always something? I’ve had more than my share of injuries over the years, and I totally understand overuse injuries. But all I did was take one weird step. ONE! Granted, I’m sure running and working out over the last few years contributed to my bunion being so susceptible, but still. I was ready to “train for real” for the first time! Speedwork! Things that I didn’t previously understand and scared me. 4 x 800. Or, 8 x 400 as I did by mistake because of my terrible reading comprehension skills.

Before I was a runner, I swear I had really pretty feet.

Here’s what the doctor told me to do:

• No running for a week
• Ice and take anti-inflammatories if necessary
• Wear flip flops a lot less often, because they likely contributed to it getting worse
• Get a cortisone injection
• Go back to see him in a week, at which time he can check how it is doing and tell me if my insurance approved orthotics

That was last week. I got the cortisone injection on the spot, but it hasn’t been the amazing wonder drug it usually is for me (I’ve had cortisone injections in my shoulder and hip in the past). Tomorrow morning I’ll go back and find out if I’m getting/paying for/paying partially for orthotics and see what he says about when I can run again.

I’m guessing I’ll need more rest because it’s not looking or feeling much better. I’ve been going to Refine and substituting exercises that would aggravate the bunion, and it’s actually comforted me hearing that many of my Refine instructors had this same injury themselves from years of dancing in pointe shoes but are now pain-free.

And now, when I wear certain closed toe shoes, MY BUNION POKES THROUGH.

Who else has bunions? Comfort me by telling me you are also deformed.

tl;dr: My foot was 100% fine while doing all things marathon, I took one weird step and now my foot is forever ugly and I am worried I won’t be able to run ever again for the rest of my life.

ETA: The doctor told me Toms are just as bad as flip flops so I sabotaged my own recovery. Don’t make the same mistakes I did, kids.

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