Waterfront Marathon - The Blister Report

UltraQueenga · Postby **UltraQueenga** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:59 am

I went into this race hoping for a decent time, but not a PB. I aimed at 4:00 or slightly under and I managed to pull it off in 3:58:43. It's been a busy season and I am not done racing yet. My achilles have been a bit sore since Haliburton.

The Team Part

This was the first race where I ran with somebody for the better part of the course. We had a great time supporting each other through the tough parts. I learned that anytime two or more people run together, running becomes a team sport.

My friend and I ran a steady pace, guiding ourselves by the 4:00:00 pace band and my Garmin. We stuck together, built a small 2:30 min. buffer and tried to keep it and extend it. We had a pit stop at km 27 and lost a little over a minute there. We hammered on together until I could no longer keep up the pace and I encouraged my friend go ahead at around 35km. I caught up with her at the foot of Bay St in my last 2km surge. We finished strong and we both got a sub-4:00:00, which is what we were aiming for.

The Pain Part

One of my finish line photos might show my ultimate sign of pain for this race: I held up my right hand with my index finger and thumb showing the size of the blister on my right arch. Ouch!! Around km 12 I started feeling something was bothering me, felt like a crease in my sock or something. Minutes before I ran by cheering Lightning and CK (who snapped a photo of me) I stopped to check my shoe only to realize that I had a dime-sized blister. With inflation, prevailing NE winds and sunshine, the thing grew into a quarter-sized blister by the time I reached the finish line.

Around the 17-18km mark where the 1/2 and full marathon split, I was strongly considering bailing and finishing with the half-marathoners and put myself out of misery. I was afraid I would run on the outside of my foot, mess up my gait, (my knee, hip, back) and do more damage than I want to think of. But I decided to stay on and as the kms went by, it occasionally felt as running on a pad. Then it popped and I was a bit happier. It was an interesting exercise in pain endurance. I was okay as long as I could park my pain outside my mind.

I'm not sure what caused my awful blister because I put BodyGlide on my feet, ran in my race shoes and socks. I may have missed a spot or got a crease in the sock when I put my shoes on. No idea, but it's a lesson to be super-careful in the future to coat my feet in BodyGlide.

The Maniac Sighting Part

I want to say special thanks to BMan, who was out at a couple of places cheering me and other maniacs on. Thank you, sir! It sure kept me going on that out-and-back to Woodbine!
Also big thanks to maniacs and cheer-leaders extraordinaires BJH, fe.sweetpea, Lightning, CK!
Special encounter and brief chat with Midge. It was very nice to meet you!

Tred Miller · Postby **Tred Miller** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:12 am

Good job on toughing it out.

BJH · Postby **BJH** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:14 am

Yet another impressive race Kinga! Well done! :clap:

tgilpin · Postby **tgilpin** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:40 am

Congratulations on another great race!

Strider · Postby **Strider** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:53 am

Another one in the "bank' - way to tough it out. Hope there is no serious issue. My Achilles are really sore too after Haliburton - Ice and Advil.

Rest for a day or two

Doonst · Postby **Doonst** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:57 am

Nice time Kinga! Take care of those feet, you have miles to go before you rest.

Midge · Postby **Midge** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:59 am

tough lady, nice smile

great report

pleasure to meet you

blows my mind that you do so much, what she does not highlight in her report is that she not long ago ran a 50 miler and next week is due to run a 50km - serious mileage

cgraham · Postby **cgraham** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:06 am

Nice job.

Hope your foot feels better by Saturday's race.

trixiee · Postby **trixiee** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:09 am

I know a gal named Kinga. And she's awesome!

Way to go, once again!

I like the way you parked the pain outside your mind. I need to remember that for future reference!

CinC · Postby **CinC** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:21 am

I can empathsize with you on the blister thing (check out my race report from the Lethbridge marathon eariler this year - there are pictures of my foot and mine didn't burst! :wink:

)

I know your pain - and I was the same - no clue why it formed - same shoes, same socks, etc, etc....

thus, a HUGE congratulations on your result! That's awesome!

HCcD · Postby **HCcD** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:01 am

Nice job, Kinga, despite your blisters and recent ultra-events you've been doing ... Amazing recovery you have ...

TheBman · Postby **TheBman** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:05 am

K.......you rocked it in a big way....it was AWESOME to see you in SOOOOO MANY places!!!

I was tired just watchin!!!!

Way to go!!

Bman

Darth Tater · Postby **Darth Tater** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:38 am

Running with a blister is not fun - way to gut it out!

scrumhalfgirl · Postby **scrumhalfgirl** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:45 am

Congrats on a solid performance - what a strong season you have! The girl can run ultras-galore, but a short little marathon gives her blisters!

MrsStrider · Postby **MrsStrider** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:57 am

Wow! Awesome time. Way to go especially having to endure the blister pain. It's incredible how much they hurt.

Congrats!

UltraQueenga · Postby **UltraQueenga** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:00 pm

I've had blisters before. In fact, at Haliburton 3 weeks ago I had a nasty one after 50k that made me literally grunt at every step in my last 2k. I had completely lost it then. But the victory was so sweet, I didn't even think about my stupid blister.

Yesterday at the marathon I wanted to see what it would feel like to just keep going with it, knowing that it would get worse along the way. Now I know.

No photos of my blister, because as soon as I came home, I took a shower, lanced my blisters (1 dime-sized blister on top of a loonie-sized shallow blister), drained them again, poured alcohol over the whole thing, screamed, cursed and then put a DrScholls medicated blister pad on it.

It is a bit painful to walk today, but I think it will heal ok. :pray:

I'm not sure how it will look by Saturday, but I'm considering taping up my arch somehow. :think:

Otherwise, the legs are okay, not sore, not very stiff. I hope I might go out for a run on Wednesday to give my foot a chance to heal. Stupid evil blisters! :evil:

casual-runner · Postby **casual-runner** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 1:01 pm

Congratulations :clap:

..
poured alcohol over the whole thing, screamed
..

My suggestion would be to apply alcohol internally and sing after it

UltraQueenga · Postby **UltraQueenga** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 1:24 pm

casual-runner wrote:Congratulations
..
poured alcohol over the whole thing, screamed
..

My suggestion would be to apply alcohol internally and sing after it

I later applied alcohol internally, but with no musical effects. Maybe it was too later after the fact. :think:

purdy65 · Postby **purdy65** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 3:42 pm

Ouch on the blister!

And kudos for doing a sub 4 hr despite it!

Amazing!

Hope that blister heals fast! You still have alot of running to do!

Lisa

Ed Fizz · Postby **Ed Fizz** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:12 pm

Great run yet again Kinga!!!

QuickChick · Postby **QuickChick** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:06 pm

You are a woman of steel! Way to go. Ouch... that blister sounds yucky. Thanks for not posting pics! :lol:

Jogger Barbie · Postby **Jogger Barbie** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:33 pm

Ow, ow, ow. I don't know how you ran such a great race with a painful blister (or should that be blisterS) to cope with for so long. You are one tough lady! And I'm in awe of your mileage. Best of luck at the next event!

Sandra · Postby **Sandra** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 6:37 am

Congratulations on a great time, sorry you had to put up with that blister pain!

5km · Postby **5km** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 11:42 am

Congratulations and well done!

Postby **Marg** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 6:15 pm

I was expecting a photo of the blister! ;-p
Way to go Kinga, you are such a racing machine...

Waterfront Marathon - The Blister Report

Waterfront Marathon - The Blister Report

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