Except for one tiny issue - my toes. Allow me to elaborate.
While at the Race Expo is DC this past weekend, my friends and I spent time shopping around at all of the stands. We particularly enjoyed the booth that sold funny running-inspired bumper stickers. One in particular stood out to me, and read "Toenails are overrated." It can be typical, although not especially healthy or fun, for runners to lose toenails. This is due to the repeated impact of your toes on the inside of your running shoes. A simple solution to this issue is making sure you keep your nails well-groomed and maintained by regularly cutting them short, as well as wearing properly fitted footwear. Avoiding excessive hills if possible is also advisable.
But some of us just have to learn the hard way.
The fiasco with my toes began just days before running my first half marathon. I was in the process of moving when the incident occurred. (General note to readers: it can get a little gory from here - photos included - read on at your own risk - you have been warned.) I was assisting in lifting a couch to carry it to the moving truck and I was not wearing any shoes. My toenails were already pretty beaten up from having trained all summer in an exceptionally hilly city while wearing shoes that were not of the highest quality. As I lifted the couch, I stepped my right foot back, and the heel of my right foot caught and snagged the big toenail on my left foot. As I continued to move my heel swiftly back, I ripped the large toenail off of my left foot. Ouch. But it was quick and while a little bit bloody - not too terrible. Just kinda gross. The ER doctor (as my mother insisted we head immediately to Urgent Care) said that there is nothing that can really be done once a nail has been ripped off other than wait for a new one to grow - which can take anywhere for 3 to 8 months! He advised I wear closed-toe shoes at all times (little did he know I work at a company where we wear flip flops everyday.) It took time for the nail to grow back - probably around 8 months for it to be completely healed. To this day it is not 100% "normal" but it works for me.
my left foot - big toe healed!
Fast forward to last Sunday evening. The large toenail on my right foot has been giving me trouble for awhile. I knew that a blood bruise had formed and the nail was slowly dying away. I returned back after the drive home and decided to tackle my toes once and for all. I had to first remove the layers of nail polish
(I am never seen without it!) to reveal what I had to work with. What I found did not surprise me too much - the nail was certainly dead and needed to be removed. I was happy to find, however, that as I began to clip away from the top of the toe, that a new nail had already begun to grow underneath the old one! Hooray! This will significantly improve my toe's recovery time as the new nail is approximately already 60% grown!
i'm not going to let this little guy slow me down
So in short - take good care of your toes, less they will keep you off of your feet (pun intended.)
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