No More Big Toenail

5 weeks almost to the day after the Laurel Highlands Ultra my right big toenail gave up and finally separated from the toe. This morning while putting on my pants I had a funny feeling in my toe. Upon inspection it was very loose, so I clipped it back almost to the cuticle. Recently it had turned to a milky color, so I know it was going to happen soon. Enjoy the pic!

[caption id="attachment_110" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Missing Toenail "][/caption]

Laurel Highlands Ultra Action Pictures

A fellow Runner, Paul Rudman sent me this link to the pictures he took while running the race. This should give you a real feeling about how bad the terrain is, and how wet it really got that day.

Tarsal Coalition and Me

The day after I completed The Laurel Highlands Ultra I could not put weight on my left foot / ankle. This was not uncommon as I have had similar pain to a lesser extent before. After a few days the pain level went down, but not away. I decided to see an Orthopaedic specializing in the foot and ankle. After a lot of X-Rays he determined and diagnosed me with a Tarsal Coalition. The bones in the back of my foot do not work properly and cause pain. Under normal circumstances I do not have any pain. I did not have pain during or after any previous 50k races, but the 70 at Laurel Highlands put it over the top. It is now 5 weeks after the race and I am still in a small amount of pain. The doctor recommended that I stop running on trails and only run on the road. To me this is a bad option. He competes in ironman length triathlons and recommended that I start doing that as well to take stress off the foot. I have no plans to stop running on the trails. Surgery is an option, but it may or may not help. My next race is in 16 weeks. I have not been able to resume training properly yet, but hope to get my mileage up to a higher level soon. I am not sure why I am sharing this, but I am. Please pray for me and my foot.