Last week I had responded to a running forum thread about the funniest things you’ve seen during a marathon.  My response was a spectator I saw holding a sign that said “Got Toenails?” and a female runner about 4-5 feet in front of me that held up 7 fingers.  I remember having a good chuckle about it while running.

Maybe its karma, but low and behold, I now have two black toenails on my two big toes.  During my marathon, I was aware of my big toe hitting the front of my shoe.  This has never happened to me during my training.  Jeff Galloway talks about running in warmer temperatures causing your feet to swell so that may have probably been the contributing factor during the Chicago Marathon record temperatures. After my marathon, I noticed my toenails were black and for the next few days, it hurt.

They seem to be fine now and I can run.  I have been consciously checking during my runs and my toes are not hitting the front of my show.

The net result is that it looks as though I will lose both toenails!