Highlight of My Weekend

I went to Bivouac and found something I'd been wanting for ages:

 They come in a box:

And they're my size!

I've oogled Inov8's shoes at every Total Sport event I've been to, but never seemed to have the time to try them on.  And I'd rather not buy my shoes online.  So when I discovered that Bivouac were now selling the whole range I headed straight downtown and snapped up some RocLite 268's.

I'll be wearing these on the Coastal Challenge in two weeks, so took them out for a long run to make sure they worked for me.  I am happy to report that they felt great and gave me no problems - I love the grip, the laces that stay tied, and the roomy as toe box - hopefully this means no more bruised toenails*.

There is something far more exciting about buying trail shoes than road shoes don't you think?  These shoes are going to take me to places and fuel experiences that I'll never forget, unlike the mostly unmemorable pavement pounding that my road shoes do.  I'm looking forward to lots of exciting adventures in these!

Do you get excited when you invest in new running shoes too?  Yip
How many pairs do you have in rotation?  3 road, 2 trail

*update for those interested - I think it's going to stay put!

One Disadvantage of Running

I have officially entered the realms of hard-core trail runners with my latest accessory, the to-die-for must have in the trendiest shade of bilirubin for running fashion victims around the world.  You guessed it, a black toenail.

I felt nothing during the Tussock Traverse 26km run, it felt a little bruised a couple of days later, and when I saw a tinge of purple peeking out from under my toenail polish, I removed it to reveal this shiner.  Jealous, no?

What to do?  My internet research (btw don't google black toenail images...) says either leave things to nature, or lance it.  I feel mine is bad enough that the toenail will eventually fall off, so in a vain effort to prevent this I had a stiff Chardonnay and lanced it with a sterilised needle.  This only involved 2mm of poking from the top end and I didn't feel a thing, but lots of serum flowed out and relieved the pressure.  I'll keep you updated ;)

Googling also reveals that black toenails are quite common among long distance runners, especially trail runners.  Here are some of the causes so you don't get one too.  After all, I don't want any of you turning up to the party with the same shade on your toenails ;)

• Close fitting toe-box.  In your long distance/trail shoes allow plenty of room in the toe box for forward slipping when running downhill, and for swelling of the feet in the heat and over long distances.  Some people recommend buying a shoe 1/2 a size larger, I'm not sure I agree with this as it creates other issues (heel fit, flex , etc), I think buying a shoe that encompasses your toe spread is key.  I wore my Mizuno Wave Riders which are quite close in the toe box, although I have never had issues with them before.  My mission now is to seek out some dedicated trail shoes.
• Tying laces too loosely.  Use a lacing technique to prevent forward slide on the downhills.  Again this is related to room in the toe box of your shoe, but I will experiment with this.
• Untrimmed toenails.  Keep them short!  (I cut mine especially for the race a couple of days before.)  

More on topic links I found:

Yo Mamma runs' experience:  http://www.yomommaruns.com/2013/08/how-i-drill-toenails-and-other.html

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/learn/black-toenail/

http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/toenail-injury-from-running/
http://www.lazyrunner.com/black-toenails

OK, that's probably enough.....
How was your weekend?
Have you ever had a black toenail?