What They Died For

Yes, that's a shout out to Lost, but instead of being about island mysteries, this post is about my poor feet. No one tells you about the gross little side effects of running. Summer becomes a constant battle between getting a pedicure so that your feet are pretty for sandals and realizing that every bit of pampering will cost you a little pain as your feet toughen up for all those long Saturday runs.

Last Saturday at our group run, one of the stretching coaches said, "Raise your hand if you lose toenails during your marathon training!" What kind of sport is this??? I confess that I started losing my toenails last year during my marathon training. Not all of them (thank god). I lose the second toenail on both feet. This is oddly normal for long distance runners. I'll answer your obvious questions:

Yes, I have seen a doctor.

No, it doesn't really hurt.

Yes, I have tried a few fixes (including bigger shoes).

I thought of adding a picture to this post, but decided that most of you would thank me for not seeing what a toenail looks like when it has separated, but not quite fallen off your toe.

Your sacrifice is appreciated, my dear feet. I promise to reward you with an appropriate pair of red leather shoes when this is all over.