Week three into my marathon training program and here come the freebies: a blister, a broken toenail and skin chafing. And along with them some lessons I’ve derived.
The blister on my left ankle, which I never even felt (which is quite disturbing), is caused by myself using low ankle socks. They were fine when I was running 5K 3X a week before but the long runs involved in my training program has led me to realize I need above-the-ankle-socks.
Now about the broken toenail. I was traveling during week two and I happened to be in Dipaculao, Aurora for that week’s long run day. I was thrilled because there was a nice, paved road as far as the eye could see and gorgeous views of lush mountains and the Pacific Ocean. What I didn’t know was the elevation was crazy. It was a snaky uphill and downhill road that according to my Nike+ app which took me from 62ft to 564ft. As if the 13K I was supposed to do that day weren’t challenging enough. Anyway, that was that. I also neglected cutting my nails short before the run so again, lesson learned.
There was also a video I’ve seen before about properly tying shoelaces to prevent black or bruised toenails. I should probably re-watch that.
As for the skin chafing, it happened during one of my shorter runs. I think a 6K. I rarely wear shorts when I go for a run. I’m always in capris. But for some reason I put on running shorts that time. The result was inner thigh chafing. This was new to me. And it was not fun. Especially when I got in the shower.
I was also embarrassed. I thought the chafing was a result me being overweight. But WeAreGoodSport.com assured me that this is a misconception. Chafing can happen to ANYONE and can occur on ANY PART of the body as long as skin meets skin or skin meets fabric.
Whew.
The site also mentioned that people who are “salty sweaters” are usually at risk from chafing. This is one of those aha moments. I turn into one of those after runs longer than 10K. Like today, after my 16K run, I think I could scoop up teaspoonsfuls of salt from my arms alone.
Yummy.
