Sidelined

****Warning...this post talks about blood...eww!

So, I didn't mention that after my 18 mile run the other day, I had a gaping hole in the back of my heel from my new, unbroken-in shoes. The first pair of shoes I bought back in May also needed to be broken in, but I was only running an hour or so at a time. This time around, I am running more than 3 hours at a time!

My body had gone into it's Novocaine-induced numbness at some point in the run and I didn't realize that my shoe was rubbing a larger and larger wound into my foot the longer I went. When I got home and pulled off my shoes, I found a large amount of blood in my shoes and socks and again, the hole.

The problem with a hole in the back of your ankle that has been created by the shape of your running shoe, is that when you put that running shoe back on, it perfectly fits over that hole again. I am kicking myself because I have been so good to protect my muscles while training that I completely overlooked my flesh (except for occasional chaffing issues). On Monday I ran 5 miles with tears streaming down my face I was in so much pain, all the while annoyed at myself for being such a baby. Unfortunately, the injury is not healing as quickly as I would like and isn't scabbing over, as it is too deep still.

That said, I am not making a huge dent in my 169 miles this week which is frustrating to me. My friend made a good point today though. She asked me "would you rather keep opening up this wound and run the marathon injured? Or would you rather take a few days off and heal and start again?"

I got some socks that cover my ankles and some good pads to put around the cut (if you can call it a cut...it really is more of a hole).

Please, please don't make the same mistake as me and run 18 miles in new shoes with no-show socks. There are just so many details to keep in mind when running a long race like this. It's hard to remember it all!

So I will keep you updated. For now I am frustrated to be sitting out the next couple days. However it is giving me time to think through my running outfit and my travel wardrobe which has been a decent consolation.

In fact, I will post soon about the fashion side of this trip. And hopefully Mom and Sis can add their two cents as well!