Toenails are for sissies

after my first race in 2 years on sunday, i gained two black toenails (one on each foot, the toe next to my big toe.)  a bit tender but not bad.  went to attend to my feet and toenails last night and caught underneath the toe and a fair bit of blood came out (I suppose the black toenails were a blood blister.)  I have since cleaned and put a plaster on but am wearing open toe sandals at work today to give them a bit of air.  they are however a bit tender/sore.

my questions are

1 - is there anything i can do/put on them to relieve this soreness?  i want to train this evening and i am taking part in a 3k on sunday and don't want to temporarily cripple myself.

2 - what can i do to prevent this happening in the future?  is it possible i need to replace my shoes as it is 2 years since i did a fair bit of running and i have gained 3 - 4 stone in that time.  would this have a bearing on my toe problem?

Sorry for going on a bit.  And thanks in advance for any pearls of wisdom you may have.

 I had a similar problem with both my big toe nails on a long run.  The nails went black, they were raised and very sore. I had to go to work in flip flops in the middle of winter.   I applied pressure on the nails so the blisters underneath burst, squelched the fluid out then bathed them in surgical spirit.   They were clean and dry within a couple of hours and i was able to run again the next day.  The nails eventually fell off, but never bothered me anymore after that.

Yes, if you're going to start running again i would advise a fitting for proper shoes.

Good luck with the 3k

I second LWJ - get fitted for new shoes.

Not much you can do about the toes now, but they will heal and grow out - eventually.

Keeping the nails short helps.