The Gross Marathon Update

This is a trigger warning. The following post will be gross. It's not for the faint of heart. It's the things you usually don't hear about a marathon. There will be pictures of toenails. They will be bloody. You've been warned.

Here's a cute picture of Elena to make sure you've had time to read the warning before proceeding.

Beets. Blisters. Bloody toenails. Also, puke.

I got to sleep by 8:45 the night before the race. I was very pleased with this. Sean and Elena had different plans. Elena woke up around 10, which is unusual for her. Sean, who was coughing in his sleep, was up around 10:15 with croup. The thick mucus led to Sean throwing up in our bathroom. I was hoping not to see our dinner again.

Emily was a saint, caring for Sean and cleaning up after the mess. Furthermore, Elena only wanted mommy, so she laid in Sean's bed with Elena until they both settled. Did I mention that my wife is a saint? Sean becomes sweet after he gets sick. In the stillness, he whispers to Em, "Mommy....I love you." Then he fell peacefully to sleep.

I try to eat beets everyday the week before a race for performance enhancement. Beets improve blood flow and increase the time it takes athletes to reach fatigue.

I had beets in each smoothie this week. 5 beets down. I also had Trader Joe's Red Juice. 1.5 beets. The morning of the race I had Beetology Beet Cherry juice two hours before the race. 2 more beets.

Three pounds of beets is too much for one week. Beets also do other scientific things to your body. There will be no images. I'm not that gross.

I once ran 158 miles without any blisters. Not so with the marathon. 26.2 miles gifted me with 2 blisters and 2 bloody toenails. I'm grateful for Compeed, which kept the one blister I came into the race with at bay. The second blister developed on my right foot.

Not too bad. I only realized it was a blister when I got home and tried to walk.

But the real gold was on the left foot. While the shoes were great for speed and support, the pounding got to my toenails. Thankfully, it came with a pattern: normal, bloody, normal, bloody, normal. I hear people choose to paint their nails this way. Let's say I have two accent nails.

Right after the marathon. Note the Compeed bandage protecting an existing blister.

Day 2. They are not aging well. Apparently, bloody toenails are not like fine wine. In any feasible way.

I'm hopeful they fall off soon. They hurt now. When they're gone, they won't hurt. I've heard some ultra runners keep their toenails as trophies. Don't worry, I throw mine out.