“I got my toes in the water, my ass in the sand. Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today. Life is good today.” – Zac Brown Band

My new pint glass!

“Toes” is a good title song for this week because I had a lovely Staycation with Carly and while I did not have my toes in the sand, I did have a cold beer in my hand! I also need to post about feet. You may want to stop reading here if you are grossed out by feet.

So, one thing on my body that does look like a real runner are my feet. As I travel longer distances by the power of my two feet, I am in danger of losing toenails. I have two that are completely black but still attached but their continued attachment to my foot is questionable, at best. I have one that is half black but seems to be making a recovery. I am completely worried about the ones that are totally black. I really don’t want to lose my toenails. I like them. For non-runners, my toenails are black because of bruising under the toenail. In some cases, the bruising is really bad and the blood won’t drain. If anyone has any toenail saving tips, let’s hear them. My running shoes are already a half size to a whole size bigger than my regular shoes. I keep my nails short. I think it just happens.

This presents challenges for me because I live in flip flops when not at work or in my running shoes. I own a lot of nail polish but pink does not cover black. This week, in my spare time, I went in search of nail polish that will cover black. I think OPI is missing out on a line of nail polish for runners to cover black toenails. I don’t know what this color is really called but I would call it I Wish I Could BQ Blue. (See how the big toenail on the right foot looks a little off? That is the suspect one.)

I also bought a dark shade of purple OPI could call Pick Up the Pace Purple. There could be Medals Aren’t Earned on Race Day Maroon, Blood Sweat and Tears Black and Toenails Are Overrated Teal. Anyway, you get the picture.

This week’s runs were fun because I did not have the pressure of trying to fit them in around work and school for the kids. I ran nearly 14 miles on Saturday (not all of it consecutive) but I got the mileage in. I ran the last three miles with Carly to get her on track for the Carrboro 10K to earn a corral time for the Star Wars Rebel Challenge races at Disneyland in January. Our times have to be submitted by mid-October so she needs to get in gear. She cried on the run. I was not pushing her hard; she just started to cry. I told her there was no crying in running. I actually used that line from A League of Their Own. She stopped crying and we moved on, albeit at more of a fast walk. We all have to start somewhere. I know she will get there. Earning those three runDisney medals mean a lot to her. I reminded her we have plenty of time. Still, one cannot get off the couch and run 19.3 miles.

Crying was a theme for much of the day on Saturday. My new Fleet Feet marathon training group is coming together. We’re Team Indiana Jones (named after 80’s movies this time instead of Will Ferrell characters – 80’s movies are more within my frame of reference). There are 5 of us. Sara I run with regularly on Thursdays and Saturdays. Lena, one of the new group, used to be a Marine. She said we handled long runs better than her recruits, who would cry. We all agreed there is no crying in running, which is why I used that line on Carly later in the day.

That also made me think of this line from A League of Their Own:

I realize I probably make running sound awful. It is hard. Sometimes, it makes me puke. Sometimes (often?), it makes me hurt. Sometimes, it costs me body parts that have been attached to my body for years. But, much like parenting children, when it is hard, it is really, really hard but when it is great, it is totally amazing. I am convinced the runner’s high exists. I don’t feel it every run but when I do it is worth all the other miserable times. Running truly allows me to feel free. So, I will puke on the run from the heat and exertion, I will lose my toenails, I will take ice baths to relive the pain and I will run, run, run.