Pain in bottom of feet late in marathons

WattsUp

Hi all - I started running last year (mainly on the dare of a friend, that I couldn't run a marathon).

I got properly measured etc (both at a New Balance store and an Asics store). I have fairly wide feet. Ended up going with the Asics Gel Kayano 25s, which I really l like. They're a bit on the heavy side, but they have held up great, and my training runs have been quite comfortable, even on my long runs of up to 25km.

However, I've now done two marathons, and in both cases, around the 30km mark, the bottom of both feet started to hurt - like, really hurt, and by the 35km mark I was pretty hobbled. Last few km were painful - to go along, of course, with the rest of the pain in the other parts of my legs.

Is this simply a matter of "d'oh, you weigh 83km and you're running a marathon, of course the bottom of your feet are going to hurt after 30km"? Or is it because my long runs were only up to 25km? Could it be something to do with my shoes? (I tried the Hoka Bondi 6 Wide, but unfortunately they weren't wide enough for me feet).

Would greatly appreciate any pointers - thank you!

Cal Jones

Hey WattsUp - I've experienced this myself. First couple of marathons I did, it felt like someone had taken a cricket bat to the balls of my feet once I got past 16 or 18 miles. I changed my shoes to no avail. In my case, more training and more mileage allowed my feet to toughen up more and it's less of an issue now. Yes, losing a bit of weight will decrease the load on your feet, but you also need to get them used to long hours on hard surfaces (unless you're running a trail marathon).