It's a good thing my wife hates feet. She always has, which is helpful because if she married me based on the current quality of my dogs, she'd be running for the hills as we speak.
Bottom line: While running may be good for a lot of things, it isn't good for the tootsies.
I don't mean to be too graphic here, but I can't avoid it; my feet are disgusting. At present, I have the following ailments: three black toenails, several big calluses on the tips of my toes, some thick calluses on my heels and a Band-Aid covering a blister on my Achilles heel. Don't get me wrong, my feet feel just fine, they just look gross.
I'm not alone. According to an October 2009 New York Times article, "Most runners end up losing a toenail from time to time. It is called onychoptosis, which means 'falling nail' in Greek, and is typically caused by injury or stress to the nail." Additonally, an article in the January issue of Runner's World indicated black toenails are a badge of honor. "Congratulations!" the article states. "These bruised nails are tiny trophies conferred upon you for roughing it out." In a strange way, then, I should be proud of my damaged feet.
Still, I'm glad the problems are confined to my feet and not, say, my forehead. At least I can keep my toes covered. Then again, summer's coming soon, which means flip-flop weather.
Sorry, honey.
You don't know Jack, but you should.
4 months ago
Oh, what a timely post since I was just noticing the condition of my own tootsies just the other day. They've never been what one would call "pretty" but have definitely gone downhill since I've been running. While I'm not currently sporting the dreaded Black Toenail, I have acquired a nice purple patch on the top of my foot that I can only attribute to stress on the veins. Ugh--no pedi's going to be able to work miracles on that, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. After we did the Seattle marathon, my toenails fell off on my two big toes, and my second toe on one foot. But it was weird - they didn't fall off until about four months later. It was like the trauma occurred, but then I didn't know it until they were grown out. Ewwww. Good luck in Hotlanta!
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