And I thought I'd need a head doctor...

...turns out, my GP wants me to see a feet doctor. As soon as possible. As in, preferably in the next 48 hours. Uhm...emergency foot situation? In the middle of (ultra) marathon training. Not what I wanted to hear.

Lesson learned: threat your feet well. Especially when you're a runner! I never did and will have to pay for that...

Why? Well, after my brilliant plan to run 2 marathons in 2 weeks (it was a fantastic plan! And I had so much fun!) my right pinky toe turned against me. It did. It's a bit better now. Plus, I was able to run. Barefoot or in Newtons (large toebox), but it didn't keep me from running.

Warning: Gross photos coming up!

That cute little pinky toe still looks gross, but if feels a heck of a lot less painful than a couple of days ago. And guess what? I might not lose the toenail. Check!
And, uhm, did you spot the conveniently placed blister on the other toe? Yeah...sexy feet. Sexy feet...

Fast forward to last Sunday. I planned on doing a 10 mile recovery run. Easy peasy. But I woke up with a stiffish and sore calf. Used The Stick on it, but it didn't feel better. So decided to do the sane thing 5 days after a marathon, and headed out for a 6K hike with the dogs instead.

'Big toe' is a scientific term

Halfway in my left 'big' toe (that's a scientific term, I'm sure) started to hurt. When I returned home I took off my socks and figured I was dealing with a black/bruised toenail. The fluid underneath the toenail - due to the 'black' thing going on there - was causing some pressure. Applied Arnyca gel (yeah, I throw that stuff on about anything), iced the heck out of it, and rested it. Today (Tuesday) the black toenail thing is already less painful. A lot less painful. See, Arnyca works. ;)

However, when I woke up yesterday morning (Monday) it felt like The Black Big Toe had an ingrown toenail. Could this happen overnight? Tried to fix it with a pair of tweezers and scissors. Didn't work. Drowned the thing in Calendula gel to keep it clean. Phoned the GP and was called in to see her this morning. To remove part of the toenail. Something I was really looking forward to. NOT!

At the GP's - this morning - she told me she was not going to remove anything yet (oh yeah, I love the 'yet' part...ouch). Apparently the toenail is about to become an ingrown toenail, but not quite there yet. With the marathons and ultra bonanza planned and coming up (hopefully), she wanted me to go see a Podiatrist as soon as possible. She released some of the pressure by taping the toe. So, made an appointment with the Podiatrist and was told that the Podiatrist will put something (not sure what) underneath the toenail to prevent the nail from growing in. Oh, and this will be painful (not only the procedure itself, but in the weeks after that) and will most likely keep me from running for a while. Fingers crossed she's wrong! :(

I can only blame myself - lesson learned

Apparently I'm not the only runner with an (almost) ingrown toenail. The GP told me it's a common thing. Great. Plus, she told me that it could be prevented, at least in most cases, by regularly having a pedicure done. Uhm...I've never ever had a pedi. Never. Ever. The look on the GP's face when I told her that. Lesson learned: spend money on a pedicure.

Oh, wonder what my 'big' toe looks like? Even more gross photos coming up!


There's a bit of a black-ish toenail thing going on there, but nothing too bad.


1. I have extremely long toes. I know. Get over it. 2. See how the toenail is somewhat 'rounded' instead of straight. That's what's causing the 'about to get an ingrown toenail' thing. It's not ingrown yet, but if I don't let the Podiatrist do something about it, well, uhm, NOW, it could get infected. Apparently this could happen to every runner: especially when you're running in higher temps and your feet get sweaty.