Walking Injuries

This page is hidden away except for those of you who really like looking at damaged feet. Walking long distances puts a lot of strain on the body, and if you’re learning as you go along then you will damage yourself. If you also sign up to events every two weeks for a year then you will carry those injuries for a long time. I didn’t take pictures of every blister but here are some of my highlights from the year 😉

Left foot inner heel blister that goes through most of the skin
My left foot inner heel. There was a similar blister on the outer side of the foot. This took 12 weeks to heal fully as I kept making it worse with each walk.
Right foot outer heel showing a very deep blister
My right foot had worse blisters and they went very deep. This was painful to walk on and took nearly 3 months before they disappeared completely once I knew how to prevent them from getting worse!
Left foot showing a very large blister across the ball of the foot
On the fifth walk this was a new type of blister covering the ball of my foot. It was deep and had multiple blood blisters below the main blister.
Right little toe showing multiple layers of blister all split
My little toes have probably suffered the worst over this year. Every walk they turn into a blister no matter what I do. My toenail keeps growing back and then falling out.
Left little toe split and bleeding
For some reason my toes just can’t handle the pressure and split. Taping has helped but they always end up bleeding and with no toenail after 100km
close up of big toes showing bruising
My right toe is badly bruised but doesn’t hurt. That left toe with the long nail had been pushed into the root after 100km of walking. This was very painful.
Big toe showing initial bruising
It took a few days before I felt brave enough to cut the toenail and a lot of the bruising was starting to show now. It was sore to walk and I had to keep my toes taped together.
Big toe showing bruising
Two weeks and one event (100km) after the initial injury some of the bruising was starting to come out form the rest of the toe. Toe nail is still firm but very sensitive.
big toe showing deep bruising and bleeding
5 weeks after the South Coast Challenge and 2 events later (150km), this is how the toe looks – still incredibly sore to even the gentlest touch.

If you had any reaction at all to what I’ve put myself through in the name of charity then please donate -I’m asking for 1p per km walked (£11.40) or anything more than that you feel you can give: Janet’s Ultra Marathon Walks (cancerresearchuk.org)

Every penny goes to helping Cancer Research UK fund life-saving treatments for people with cancer.