When is a Black Toenail not a Black Toenail?

For an endurance athlete, be it a runner, a triathlete or whatever the sport of choice, it's in their nature to push it to the limit and then beyond.  Today just happened to be one of those days.

Today's plan was changed last night. The weather report stated that the rain would come mid morning. So I set myself up for a 4:30 wake up call, 5:15 run time. The way I figured it, the rain would be about here by the time I was finishing my 20 miles. Yeah, slow... I know.

As I left the house, the wind was blowing and the clouds were low, dark and very heavy. You could tell they were loaded. Not a good sign was my first thought. But I got on my car and off to the park I went.

Wasting no time upon arrival, I proceeded with my run. One loop around the park and a couple of miles down the road later the rain came. Not to hard, but it was here and it was early. Oh, well. A run in the rain never hurt anyone

I have been nursing a sore calf from what appeared to be a severe cramp last Saturday.  It was sore but not in pain.  If I changed my stride in any form, I could tell right away because the muscle would let me know.  So, in addition to having to watch for the wet pavement, I had to be extra careful with my calf, did not really want to aggravate the injury this close to marathon day.


I could tell my pace was slower than usual.  If I tried to push it, I could feel it.

So off and on the rain kept coming.  Nothing really bad, just annoying.  That is until the bottom fell off.  It rained so hard for about five minutes that the rain was hurting as it hit my body.  I had no where to take shelter so I just kept on going.

By this point it was just about survival.  The last six miles of the run were an adventure, to say the least.  Every stitch of clothing was wet, heavy wet.  It was like carrying an extra twenty pounds with you.  The shoes, but specially the socks were soaked.  (Note to self:  gotta get some good wicking socks).  My Garmin had condensation build up.  Couldn't see out of my glasses.  I was cold and seriously hoping that one day I would be able to warm up again.

But as the miles kept coming I was determined to finish strong.  My plan today was to run one mile and walk (fast walk) one tenth of a mile.  I would use this time to reload, refuel, recup.  I stuck to this plan to the end.

So, when is a black toenail not a black toenail?  I tell you.

When I got home and took of my shoes, I saw a very disturbing sight:  A red (blood) ring on my left sock.  Weird, I remember thinking.  So, I took of my sock and my second toe was covered in blood.  No pain, just blood.  My toenail was not black any longer!  So I guess the blood blister that was making my toenail black was no longer a blister which made it no longer a black toenail.  Usually, black toenails grow out, this was a first for me.