Blisters on pinky toes - that curve under 4th toe

Question
Dear John - I am about 3 weeks from my 2nd Ironman which will be my 3rd marathon. I'm 33 yrs old & suffer from blisters on my pinky toes after running about 2 hrs.  Unfortunately I am not a super fast runner & finish 26.2 miles in 2:30.  I am usually looking at 5 hrs of running.  So to run the rest of the marathon with painful pinky blisters can get distracting.  I wear sauconys with lots of extra room in the foot area - I have tied toe socks, toe sleeves and this evening athetic taping them apart. That was the worst yet - it must have been too tight & gave me the worst blood blisters & regular blisters on my pinky toes I have ever ever had (still managed to run 3 hrs). It is usually worse on my right pinky toe but with the help of the athletic tape the left is worse tonight.  I feel very strong and am thinking I might be able to run much faster if I could solve the pinky toe problem.  Up until this point I have just toughed it out - But I would really like to improve my running time and cant do it without some help with the pinkys. Who knew those little things could cause such problems?  I have not seen a dr about it - just starting to look into other solutions.  Any advice or help would be very much appreaciated.  Do other people have this problem?  Thank you Sevy

Answer
Hi Severine
It seems like you have tried everything and have considerable room in your shoes.Friction always seems to be the case the longer we go and in your case a full ironman.The one thing you have not mentioned is VASELINE.This is what i would put your complete focus on and how you use it for a great run.You are going to lose a little time in your 2 transitions from swim to bike to run but you will more than make it up by properly applying and satuarating vaseline in your toebox and inside sox and toes in your first transition from swim to bike.This is in my opinon Severine is where the problems start do to water in sox and if it is a ocean swim the salt water, it's worst because of the salt.It then little by little the friction starts on the bike as you start to toe off on the pedals.I would again repeat this proccess from the bike to the run by another round of saturating the toe box,sox and toes.You can prepare your 2 shoes bike,run and socks ahead of time so as to help your transition.I would also add a little vaseline to all parts of both shoes but with a larger focus on toe box for sure.If you would like to talk about your situation your welcome to call me here in albuquerque at 505 271 5909 any time.Any other questions just get in touch Severine.I really believe this program will work for you if you choose to work with it.Would love to know how you do if you get a chance.

All the very best to
you and your toes

John