Black Toenail

This might be a gross topic to some of you but it is important to me so I am going to blog about it. If you are squeamish or HATE feet like my friend Michael does, you might want to NOT read this post. If you can handle it, read on.

I have a black toenail. It isn’t the first and hopefully won’t be the last. Here it is for all to see:

Dirty...I know!

The first black toenail I got was after my 10k in November. I had my toenails painted red and that same one looked like a darker color. I didn’t think too much about it until I noticed that the toenail seemed thicker than the others. I decided to take the nail polish off and investigate. Sure enough, it was thicker and darker in color.

Hmmmm…let’s just see how much I can clip it with the toenail clippers. I kept clipping and clipping and clipped the whole top of the nail off (I have recently read up on the topic and we are NOT supposed to do this so don’t if you are having this issue). There was a nail already growing underneath and it didn’t hurt at all to clip it all off!

I did a little research online, found out this was normal for runner, and thanked God it was winter and I could wear socks and shoes while it grew back.

It had just grown back for my half-marathon and I had a growing suspicion it might not last long! Sure enough, after my half marathon, the nail was VERY tender. Then, two days later…BLACK.

Well darn!  Here we go again…

I thought maybe it was because my shoes were too small…NOPE!

I thought maybe it was from running downhill…that certainly wasn’t the case for this half marathon…it was so hilly!

I did a little MORE research and found this very insightful article. Apparently, this is VERY common among runners who run long distances. It is just another example of how I really am a runner!

I guess I will just have to go and get a pedicure to cover it up with some dark nail polish…oh darn!

There...that's better!

Have you ever had a black toenail from running? If you have, consider yourself a “real” runner. If you already consider yourself a “real” runner and you haven’t had one, consider yourself “real” lucky!

Me…A Runner?!?First Half Marathon – Registered

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Fun Exercise: Ice Skating

Last Saturday we went ice skating!

I haven’t been in a few years so I thought I might break my neck but I got up to speed pretty quickly. I only fell twice and though my knee ended up badly bruised from one fall I felt it went well.

I’ve loved spending the last couple of weeks doing new fun active things with Kepa. This time we went with a few friends and now we are all looking forward to more adventures (especially a snowboarding trip this year).

Finding a bunch of cool daily deals that allow us to try different things at half price has been awesome. GrabOne has been my best friend lately giving us ideas for fun things to do at half price. I love doing these kinds of activities that are both fun and active. It’s made being in New Zealand a lot more fun to be honest.

Ice skating for over an hour was a pretty great workout that didn’t even feel like work because it was fuuuuun! It isn’t something I do often so it was a nice switch from normal cardio activities.

On a different note…

While I love blogging, I’ve noticed I really needed/need a break. I haven’t felt like blogging yet this week and last week felt forced. That’s a sign that I need a blog break at least from this blog and all the stuff that goes with it in my head. I’m doing well with the fitness and food and finally actually lost weight… but I still need a break from posting so often and thinking about the blog.

I’m probably going to keep a slow/whenever-I-feel-like-it posting schedule for a while. There is a lot going on right now that makes me think I just needed to slow things here for a minute and focus on other things. And you know… just be me. Mary without the blog. So yeah. It was a good break and the forward blogging plan feels good.

Love you guys. Keep chasing your healthy and happy lives. Go ice skating or do something fun! <3

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