Toe woes

When I purchased my shoes 2 months ago at the New Balance store in BBK Plaza, Albert the store manager checked my feet size and told me that my right foot was one size bigger than my left. Now this was the first I had heard about this kind of thing and was quite surprised actually.

I got myself the size 12, 4E shoes after trying them out and finding them quite comfortable. The shoes were a little stiff on the first few runs, but after a few runs it started to be a lot more comfortable. It is only in these last few weeks where I've used them on my 20k runs, did I start to realise that my big toe nail and the one next to it (right foot) seem to be quite painful. I believe this is the result of my toes being jammed into the top of my sneakers while I run, causing what doctors call blunt trauma.

From reading some articles online, the main cause of this seem to be ill-fitting running shoes. I must admit however on my recent long runs, my toe nails were not as short as they could have been. Perhaps this could have made it worse.

Speaking to Tey recently on the PM's chatbox, he told me to get more than one pair of training shoes since I train on average 5 days a week. Now if at all I manage to convince my wife this is really necessary, I wonder if I should still try another New Balance model since the NB680 stability shoes I use now does not seem to be the best fit for me? Having just checked my mileage log, a quick calculation says that this pair has clocked about 320km in the past 8 weeks.

The other problem I seem to face on long runs are big, painful, water-logged blisters on the toes. Having solved the chaffing problem I faced on my thighs by using some petroleum jelly, would the same product help if used on the toes? I tried taping the toes with the cheap plaster I bought but it seemed to make it worse. Another contributing factor I believe is that I probably sweat buckets on my long run, causing my shoes and socks to be soaked and squishy at the end of each run.