Three Things Thursday

1. The Toe: Further to Yesterday's post, my pinky toe still looks like an inflamed mini sausage. Yeugh. All red-ish and painful. It's not that swollen anymore, and there seems to be a blister on the cuticle, that's messing with the toe nail. And that blister seems to be causing the pain. Wearing closed toe shoes is not an option. Hmmm... Soaked the thing in a foot bath last night, and plan on doing the same tonight. Plus, I tried to drown the little piggy in Calendula gel. Hoping it does the trick on the inflamation issue. If it doesn't improve by tomorrow I'll call the GP for some Antibiotics ointment/gel/whatever works. I'm not a huge fan of Antibiotics, but if the other option would be having a yucky swollen and inflamed toe, I'm opting for the Antibiotics.

2. Team Hole in the Wall: Since I didn't get in through the lottery (boohoohoo...), I'm hoping on the guaranteed entry into the New York City Marathon through Team Hole in the Wall. You can find the link to my fundraising page on the right (just click on the 'Team Hole in the Wall' logo). I really really want to raise enough funds to help out at least two kids. Those Hole in the Wall camps mean the world to these seriously ill children. Funds needed for two kids: $ 6,000. Any advice on raising this amount is more than welcome!

As an extra 'what's in it for you' I decided to do something 'fun'. I plan on running the Swiss Alpine Marathon K78 (an ultramarathon - 50 miler) this July. This race is pretty special to me, and I wanted to do something to add a 'spiritual' touch to it. And that's why I plan on taking prayer flags (like the ones in Tibet) with me and leaving them at the highest point. For those that donate $35 or more on my fundraising page, I'll take a prayer flag with me, with your message written on it. Curious to know what you think!

3. Yet another marathon?: I kind of hope to do another marathon (Edinburgh Marathon) on May 22nd. Seems like a plan to me. However, this implies that I should get some runs in. Because of The yucky Toe, wearing running shoes or any closed toe shoes for that matter hurts the heck out of The Toe. Ouch. Mainly because of that blister (and yes, I considered popping it, but my PT said 'no, not yet'). So...I did a short 2 mile / 3.2K recovery run yesterday. Barefoot. And it felt good! Lesson learned: Barefoot running is actually kind of fun. Another lesson learned: don't run barefoot on a treadmill. The treadmill gets hot. Enough said.