I’m sure most of you have heard the phrase “Toenails are for Sissies“. If you have been to a large expo, you have possibly even come across the One More Mile Running Company booth which sells shirts/hats/stickers which make us giggle, nod in agreement and ultimately purchase the merchandise because it is better to laugh at the situation than cry.
Unfortunately I can relate. I have always had toenail “problems”, even before I was stupid crazy enough to try the marathon distance. I can lose a toenail after a 10 miler for a million numerous reasons unless I have some of these…….
Those little buddies are gel toe protectors. I buy mine at Walgreens because there is one on every corner in the city it’s convenient. They are currently on sale, buy 1, get one 50% off. Smoking deal if you go thru them like me. They are normally $6.99 each and worth EVERY penny!
I encourage you to try some before your feet get all jacked up gnarled like mine.
Or you will pay some lady A LOT of $$ each year to paint your skin make them look somewhat respectable.
I currently only have 2 nails on this poor foot. The Chicago Marathon really took its toll this year. Normally, I only have issues with the big and second toe but since I am now running funny due to the Plantar Fasciitis, this year didn’t go as well. So for the next 6 months I’ll be wearing protectors on all but my baby toe. Yikes.
Sorry, this is such a disgusting graphic post. Sorry to my hubby for the first and last view of how gross my feet really look. Allow this to be a warning, or point of encouragement, for all of you who may have this problem or plan to run a marathon in the near future. And for goodness sake, if you have this problem do everyone yourself a favor and go get a pedicure!
For those of you bitches who don’t have this problem like my bitch ass sister, the rest of us real toenail-less runners hate congratulate you.
Good luck & Happy Running, Amanda – TooTallFritz
TooTallFritz 
here! here! I’m a toe nail loser, too.
Ya, painted toenails – ladies have a nice way to cover up the ravages of hammer toe that leave the nails black-n-blue, and sometimes to the point of falling off or needing to be removed. The “toe rubbers” as I like to call them can help, but it is often a cover-up of the root cause – shoe fit or terrain. Sometimes, just not enough room in the toe box of the shoe leads to the toe(s) banging into the wall of the shoe and if you keep track of the number of steps run in a marathon, ends up being quite a lot of hammering going on. Running a lot of down-hill can lead to this problem as was my only single case of true hammer toe on the big toe when I ran Miss Blues Marathon in Jackson, MS. A lot of steep downhill descents in that one that left both R and L toenails as black as Texas tea. Since then, really hasn’t happened anymore since I usually have a 1/2 oversize in my shoes because I often have to accommodate for extra wide feet (EE width). Sometimes doubling up my socks is helpful. The only hammer nail I get now is slight and it effects the 2nd toe which is a tad longer than the big toe. That’s some genetic thing that affects a certain low percentage of the population (maybe 10%) and don’t recall the specific syndrome. If you get hammertoe its probably time to take a closer look at shoe fit, but those gel toe protectors can be very useful when you get blisters, corns and keep on running.
I do have properly fitted shoes, I’m just lucky like that to lose nails. I go a 1/2 size up. We tried a full size up but alas it was too big and my foot moved too much and well, I lost more nails. My foot is very narrow, with a high arch and I can’t remember what Mel calls it but maybe a “triple a” heel? Since my heel is so narrow, most shoes slip off my heel and that really limits my shoe options.
OMG…rolling on the floor laughing. I am sooooooo sorry!!!! I will try to loose a nail for you at least once! Ha! That’s why I love, love, love my shoes and will NEVER get a different brand as long as Adidas keeps making the “Salvation” line. I know my feet are a little wider than yours, but I really think you should give them a try. You really have nothing to loose at this point except a shit ton of money that you pay those poor ladies to work on those toes!!!! Good luck!
I will only go to one lady…..won’t let anyone else even near my feet. Too much explaining to do when they see them. LOL! Not even sure my running store carries adidas, and like I was telling Frogger above, my big issue is my heel is so narrow that the heel cups on most shoes are too big and my foot won’t lock in place, even with the super secret “marathon” tie that they have tried on me a million times.
Hey there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using
for this site? I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform.
I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.