Does anyone run in toe socks?

[Susie]

I am still hobbling around a bit from Sunday and expect to be wearing Birkenstocks to work all week, a leftover from some really terrible blistering during the run of my half ironman on Sunday.  I changed my socks in T2, so I had fresh Balegas, but that lasted for like 5 minutes.  In HIMs I use water and ice to cool off a lot (much more so than a regular HM, since a HIM run happens at noon in the summer), and wet feet mean blisters.  I could feel them before I was even 5k in.  I get them on my toes, especially my smallest toes, from rubbing against the neighboring toe.

I'm noticing that it isn't a freak thing, it's every HIM, and I need a solution!  Body Gliding my toes doesn't seem like a workable solution for tri's.  Either you put it on before the race and sand sticks to it and/or it comes off after the swim, or you're wasting time in transition putting it on.  Calvin suggested that he knew cross country runners in high school who sprayed Pam on their toes to deal with the wet sock blisters that they'd get running during the snowmelt (kind of gross).  

If toe socks worked though, that seems more appealing.  With some baby powder ahead of time, I could put them on in T2 instead of dry Balegas.  Do they work?  Do they make the toe box of your shoes feel tight?  I am about ready to try a pair, but curious if others had success.

Any other suggestion that you might use for, e.g., rainy long runs that would not take a lot of application time immediately pre-run would be welcomed as well.

[shellfish26]

I loved them when I wore them, and now that I am thinking about it, I can't remember why I stopped. But I wore the thinnest ones and they were completely comfy.

On the other hand, I am not sure that it would save you any time to wear them. Because they can be a little tough to put on and make sure that all of the toes are sitting in their holes tightly. I wonder if it might be quicker to use something like Aquaphor and slap it on your feet quickly with your regular socks.

[chw57]

I wear them for trail running and I LOVE them

[Wines Not Whines]

No advice with toe socks, but I put BG on my feet and toes to prevent blisters. It literally takes about 5 seconds per foot. I do a back-and-forth swipe under the arch of my foot, and also across the top of my toes. It's a very quick process.

[keweenawlove]

I've never tried toe socks. Have you tried the Smartwool lightweight running socks. I swear by them for running, especially in wet conditions. My last marathon training cycle, I did an 18 miler in the pouring rain and didn't get any blisters.

For the more timing consuming end, an ex-Marine at the Boston Marathon told me Desitin and baby powder. The Desitin helps keep away the moisture and the baby powder reduces chafing. It seems to work pretty well and holds up better for me than Vaseline.

[Susie]

Aug 19, 2014 11:05:09 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

No advice with toe socks, but I put BG on my feet and toes to prevent blisters. It literally takes about 5 seconds per foot. I do a back-and-forth swipe under the arch of my foot, and also across the top of my toes. It's a very quick process.

It sounds like you blister in different places than I do.  Arches and tops of toes wouldn't get the spot for me.  I'd PIP but it's gross.  Basically I have a giant blister on my smallest toe that wraps from the top all the way to the bottom, along the inside of the toe.  It comes from rubbing against the neighbor toe.  It'd take some angling to get a BG stick in there.  Something like Aquaphor that doesn't come in a stick would get at the spot better, but my transition philosophy is always to have as few moving parts as possible.

I already put my socks on before laying them out in transition (to stretch them out) and put baby powder in them so they slide on easier.  I was hoping a similar strategy would work with toe socks.  Or I could pre-goop the socks like @vtcupcake suggested.  I guess there's only one way to find out.

Aug 19, 2014 11:05:57 GMT -5 keweenawlove said:

I've never tried toe socks. Have you tried the Smartwool lightweight running socks. I swear by them for running, especially in wet conditions. My last marathon training cycle, I did an 18 miler in the pouring rain and didn't get any blisters.

For the more timing consuming end, an ex-Marine at the Boston Marathon told me Desitin and baby powder. The Desitin helps keep away the moisture and the baby powder reduces chafing. It seems to work pretty well and holds up better for me than Vaseline.

I have some thin Smartwools, but I have the same problem with those:  my toes still rub together and cause blisters.  It's not sock-on-toe, it's toe-on-toe, if that makes sense?  That's why short of toe socks that separate my toes, I'm not sure changing socks some more will fix it.

Desitin could be another product to try pre-gooping socks with.  Powder alone doesn't do it (I already do that) but powder + something else might.  

[Wines Not Whines]

Ah ok, yeah BGing that area would take a lot more effort.

This may sound odd, but have you tried wrapping the problem toes in a bandaid or moleskin, even before they blister? That's another tactic I've used with areas that get repeat blisters, and it works for me.

[pixy0stix]

Wouldn't toe socks just create more area to rub. The fabric would rub against itself which would rub against the skin?

I have no experience in this, and really just wanted to comment and say that my toes curled under reading about your blisters.

[Susie]

Aug 19, 2014 14:47:58 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Wouldn't toe socks just create more area to rub. The fabric would rub against itself which would rub against the skin?

I have no experience in this, and really just wanted to comment and say that my toes curled under reading about your blisters.

The idea with double layers of fabric is for the movement and friction to occur fabric/fabric instead of fabric/skin.  So with toe socks the hope is that the fabric covering each toe stays in place relative to the toe it's covering, and the friction is between the two fabric layers, just like if you wear liner socks under wool socks to hike, and the liner stays with your foot, the wool sock stays with the boot, and the sliding happens liner/sock instead of sock/skin.  That's my system for hiking, and it works pretty well.  Obviously I don't know if the analogy holds with toes!

Not gonna lie, the blisters are ick.  I have races both of the next 2 weekends but neither involves running and for that I am grateful.

[keweenawlove]

Just to throw a suggestion out there - have you looked at shoes with the wider toe box to make your toes less squished in there? I'm guessing your shoes aren't too small if they're fine when it's dry with a little extra space to move might help.

[Susie]

Aug 19, 2014 15:25:00 GMT -5 keweenawlove said:

Just to throw a suggestion out there - have you looked at shoes with the wider toe box to make your toes less squished in there? I'm guessing your shoes aren't too small if they're fine when it's dry with a little extra space to move might help.

I have done every single half marathon and half ironman I've ever done in Asics Nimbus 14s, lol.  (Not the same pair, obvs.)  I feel like the toe box is big enough - I can move my toes all around while running, stretch them out, etc. - but who knows.  I run in 1/2 size bigger than my foot measures.

I will have to try something new anyway as soon as my stash of 14s is gone.  I hated the 15s, and the 16s are out now.  I will sooner start from scratch than try the 16s.

[Wines Not Whines]

Another suggestion is to try Wright socks. They're double layer running socks, similar to the liner socks you described, except both layers are thin and they're attached to each other. I have a few pairs and I really like them.

[spunkypenguin]

I have developed the same problem with between toe blisters on my long runs. I've been using Wright Socks up until now, but ever since 16 miles, those haven't been doing the trick. After a pretty nasty 18mi where basically every little toe had a blister, my friends suggested the toe socks. I ordered some Injinji's and wore them on my 20mi yesterday and no blisters...even though my feet were soaked because it was 1 billion% humidity. My little toe still seems to get squished, but I think that's a form issue b/c it has happened with three different shoes.

On my 14mi between the 18 and 20, I slathered up my toes with Desitin (since I had it with me on vacation), which also seemed to help...but it is messy.  It might be easier in transition, though.  I can imagine putting toe socks on wet/sweaty feet could be difficult.

[Susie]

Thanks for the tip spunkypenguin!

[badgergirl66]

What about the tri glide stuff? I forget the name, but it's a spray. Could you put that in the transition area and quickly spray it on? I've used it before and it worked really well (forgot body glide for a half but a friend had the tri spray stuff).

[badgergirl66]

What about the tri glide stuff? I forget the name, but it's a spray. Could you put that in the transition area and quickly spray it on? I've used it before and it worked really well (forgot body glide for a half but a friend had the tri spray stuff).