Toe Woe

On Sunday I lost yet another toe nail, which is really nothing new around here – only this time, it was clearly pre-mature. Whereas normally the nail bed is simply dry skin underneath, this one was a raw, painful and disgusting. I’ll spare you from any additional detail.

After hobbling around on Sunday and Monday, I knew that lacing up was going to be a challenge. I decided to give it a try Tuesday morning, after bandaging up and cutting open the toe box on an old pair of shoes. Desperate times call for desperate measures! 

Unfortunately, it didn’t work. While there wasn’t any pressure directly on the top of my toe, the pressure every time I stepped down was still painful and I caught myself adjusting my gait to compensate, which is never a good thing. I hobbled for twenty minutes before calling it quits.

As the day went on [now 48 hours after losing the nail], my toe became more and more painful and began to look infected. I stopped by the doctor’s office, where I got a prescription for oral and topical antibiotics.

I’ve also been soaking in epsom, as per RunningLaur‘s suggestion.

Don’t look too close – you’ve been warned! Why yes, that’s a mixing bowl – who wants cookies?

I have TWO races this weekend, so I’m doing whatever I can to let this heal (i.e. no running!) until then.

In the mean time, I can cycle without any discomfort using my MacGyver’d shoes so at least I can keep my legs moving. I put in a long [for me] ride yesterday evening, and another short ride this morning.

Fingers crossed that I can run by Friday pretty please!!!