If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know all about the fabulous fall racing season I’ve had.  You know about MFH (My Favorite Husband) and my trip to Berlin, Germany, for the Berlin Marathon at the end of September and also about my trip to Washington DC at the end of October to run the Marine Corps Marathon.

Opportunities like this don’t land in my lap every day of the week.  This has been exceptional!

Yesterday also saw the completion of the 2015 miles in 2015 challenge with RunTheEdge.  I was very relieved to finish that!

All of that has come with a price tag.

My little piggies are killing me.  Hahaha!!!

Quite a ways back, the days when I was new to running, I was in some “not so great for my feet” shoes.  I had been fitted for those shoes but they were not all that super.

My feet paid dearly for wearing those shoes.

Even now, a few years later, I am still recovering from them!

My biggest problem is my toenails.

When other runners start a conversation about toenails, my standard reply is:  “What’s a toenail?”

I have lost every single toenail with the exception of the baby toenail on my left foot.

Now that I’m in my most favorite running shoes ever~Altra Torin 2.0’s for road and Altra Olympus for trails, my poor abused feet are trying to recover.  My toenails are actually growing back!  That’s also the problem, too.

Because of all the abuse my poor feet took during those early years of running, my toenails really don’t have a clue as to how to grow.  That sounds silly, but it’s true!  As a result, I have major problems with ingrown toenails. (TMI)

Boo.

After running the Berlin Marathon, the big toes on both feet were a little unhappy and swollen.  My feet do that after big, long runs.  Didn’t give it another thought.  However….

A few weeks after Berlin, before my feet (read: toenails) were fully recovered, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon.  My toenails most decidedly did not like that.

Last Saturday, I raced a 10 Mile race.  That’s when I noticed some….”niggles” in places I usually don’t get them.  Hmmm….

My sore toenails were beginning to affect my foot strike.  I was compensating and my body was telling me I was going to end up injured if I didn’t do something about it.

Rats.

All of this great big huge story to say, tomorrow afternoon I’m getting those silly toenails fixed.  Training for my March 50 Miler is supposed to begin on Sunday.  If I’m going to have to take a little bit of time off for some work done on my toes, it’s better to do it at the beginning of training when the mileage requirements are still relatively low.

That’s the plan, anyway.

Please note that I did not include any gross feet pics.  You’re welcome!  Hahaha!!!  Instead I’ll post a pic of Paxton looking mildly interested in the Nutty Bar I was eating in front of him.