As you see on the right side of this hand dandy blog, I have a few races coming up. I am biting the bullet and trying to hit the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon at the Ridge to Bridge Marathon. Which coincidentally is going to be my first "official" marathon. See I sort of leap frogged the natural progression of racing. Usually it starts with the 5ks and 10ks then onto half marathons and full marathons and then to Triathlons. Well this little lady decided to jump into a 50k after her first half and skip that progression. My first 26.2 mile run happened during that race...with 4 miles left to go! So the R2B will be my first recorded/timed/official marathon. Which leads to training
The training doesn't seem so bad on paper as it hangs on the wall of my office/cubicle. I admit I am a bit intimidated by the 7+ miles of "screaming downhills" that are part of the race. But I am sticking to the plan (thanks Tom) and hoping for the best. That means lots of miles. Lots and lots. Did I mention the mileage???
Its not easy to have your feet hit the floor at 5am and don running clothes while your eyes still want to stay shut and your body wants to stay in bed. That leads me to this morning's story. I have once again managed to loose a part of myself in training... another unfortunate victim of long distance running. This time it happened in my sleep (poor pinki toe) and left me with a full foot of painted nails minus one. Much to my husband's dismay we found it frolicking in the bed sheets when I noticed it was missing. This side effect, no matter what anyone tells you, is unavoidable in my case.
God did not grant me beautiful feet without imperfections. Instead he smacked me with a dose of heredity that leaves me with a less than appealing set that are not sandal ready at any point in time. I make amends with the general public by keeping the nails painted...or at least where the nail used to be, painted. To date I have lost 3 and probably more to come. I have lubed up, changed socks, tried Injinjis (those weird little toe socks), cut my nails, loosened my shoes, changed my shoes, soaked my feet and everything under the sun...and yet at the end of it all there are still blisters (although the Injinjis do help with that) and black toe nails.
Sigh...just can't be beautiful all the time. Isn't distance running glamorous? Not to mention the chafing, sweating, poison ivy, mud, rain, snow, puking, peeing in the woods, roadkill, bugs, spiderwebs (if you have ever run at the USNWC you know) and much much more that we distance people endure for this fantastic sport. It's all part of the process, and if it means my toe nails are the only price I pay for sticking to the training and loving the miles, I would give them all up. So the next time you are propping your pretty little tootsies up, take a look at your feet and think of mine...minus a few nails, lol.
The training doesn't seem so bad on paper as it hangs on the wall of my office/cubicle. I admit I am a bit intimidated by the 7+ miles of "screaming downhills" that are part of the race. But I am sticking to the plan (thanks Tom) and hoping for the best. That means lots of miles. Lots and lots. Did I mention the mileage???
Its not easy to have your feet hit the floor at 5am and don running clothes while your eyes still want to stay shut and your body wants to stay in bed. That leads me to this morning's story. I have once again managed to loose a part of myself in training... another unfortunate victim of long distance running. This time it happened in my sleep (poor pinki toe) and left me with a full foot of painted nails minus one. Much to my husband's dismay we found it frolicking in the bed sheets when I noticed it was missing. This side effect, no matter what anyone tells you, is unavoidable in my case.
 |
| Minus one :( |
Sigh...just can't be beautiful all the time. Isn't distance running glamorous? Not to mention the chafing, sweating, poison ivy, mud, rain, snow, puking, peeing in the woods, roadkill, bugs, spiderwebs (if you have ever run at the USNWC you know) and much much more that we distance people endure for this fantastic sport. It's all part of the process, and if it means my toe nails are the only price I pay for sticking to the training and loving the miles, I would give them all up. So the next time you are propping your pretty little tootsies up, take a look at your feet and think of mine...minus a few nails, lol.
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