Blame It On the Rain

Last year at this time, I was dealing with "Barney the Barnacle" on my inner thigh. This year, I've befriended "Beulah the Blister" on my foot. A couple of weeks ago, I was doing a long run and had the tiniest of pebbles in my left shoe near my big toe. I'm talking grain of sand...big enough to know it was there, but small enough to not be bothered by it...or so I thought. That molecule of dust created a blister between my first two toes. Now, it's summertime in Austin and I wear flip flops pretty much every day. That little booger has expanded right where the flip flop shoe cuts in to your foot. Needless to say, the last few days have been painful. (sorry for the next sentence) Now, like most runners, I try to deny that I'm in any pain so I've popped and drained it a couple of times this week--no wonder why it keeps raining in Austin! I thought it was done, but now it just keeps feeling more and more sore making me suspicious that there may be a little infection.

So, in true classic denial form, I got up this morning for my 17 miler with Thon and Amy. It hurt immediately so I started favoring my heel and tried not to put any weight on the big toe making my smallest toes and ankle bear the brunt of the impact. Of course, now I was running with an awkward gait only increasing my risk of injury. Well, by Mile 6, it started pouring down rain. I mean POURING. By Mile 9, we were at pretty much the farthest point of our out and back route so it wasn't like we could stop. By Mile 12, dodging puddles and raindrops were futile. In fact, we turned into 4-year-old kids and just started splashing through them, giving commuters a good laugh or two from their dry cars. Shoal Creek Road was a mess on either side. We tried to stay in the bike lane or on the curb, but in most places, water was up to our ankles and calves even. I was constantly acutely aware of "Beulah" and every now and then I'd take a step that would send shivers up my spine. With my soaking wet socks and shoes, I knew bad stuff was happening under the laces of the Mizunos. Amy cut off around 14 as she had to catch a flight to Lubbock while Thon and I continued back to his house for three more miles. Naturally, it had stopped raining at this point so now we both weighed about 10 extra pounds from the soaking wet clothes. Through it all, I was able to pick up the pace for the last couple of miles for a couple of 8:30s. Overall, we averaged about a 9:05 pace which wasn't bad considering the detours and slow downs along the way. That does not include our Gatorade stops though, which were funny in their own way. We hit the gas station at Mile 6 when it started pouring and dripped puddles to the fridge aisle. We hit it again on our way back at Mile 10 and, once again, left a sopping mess. The clerk was like, "Weren't you just here?" Dude, that was soooo four miles ago.

Now, I'm a few hours removed and feel a little residual pain in my left ankle since I attempted to run on the outside of my foot as much as possible. Beulah the Blister??? She's pretty much spread to my big toe and has made the bottom of my foot swell...Oh what the hell. See for yourself. (Runners share EVERYTHING) ...and at least my purse on the right is cute.