Iron Pol

As endurance athletes, we are accustomed to taking care of our bodies.  Our clothes are designed to be lightweight and wick away moisture.  Our shoes are engineered to correct a variety of gait issues, minimizing injury.  We wear hats, glasses and sunscreen to protect our heads, eyes, and skin.  Heart rate monitors and power meters provide feedback regarding our effort.  And we listen to our bodies when training and racing.

And still, the odd injury can crop up.

I've completed a dozen half and full marathons.  I've logged thousands of miles pounding the pavement training for those races.  While my triathlon resume is a bit shorter, I completed two half and one IM distance race in 2007.  For the most part, I've been injury free, and I've NEVER had a blister on my feet.

The closest I ever came to injuring my feet was in my first triathlon.  That's the one where my chain broke half-way through the 15-mile bike and I ran the rest.  Barefoot.  Sore feet?  Yes.  Blisters?  No.

So you can understand my shock when I took my shoes off yesterday and found not one, but two blisters on my toes.  Somehow, the two biggest toes on my left foot (I guess that would be "the big toe" and, what, the "pointer toe?") rubbed together leading to these blisters.  Extremely odd.

The worst part is that these did not occur during training.  My feet were fine, yesterday morning, after my seven mile run.  No, these blisters developed at work.  In my dress shoes.  And remember, I'm an accountant.

So, thousands of miles of running, no blisters.  And I somehow manage to get TWO blisters while sitting at a desk.  Doing accounting things.  Apparently closing is far more demanding on my feet than the thousands of miles I logged in training, last year.

I need a rest week.

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