I'm losing it! (my toenail)

I recently discovered that I have a crack on my big toenail, separation of about 2/3 of the nail from the bed, and it is probably only a matter of time until it falls off.  I've heard this is a common malady among runners, but I have no idea how to take care of it.  And it kind of makes me squeamish. 

So last night I reached out to my brother for advice.  Josh has run 6 marathons.  He logged 1300 miles last year.  I figured there was a good chance this had already happened to him and he could tell me what to do.  Nope, he said, never lost a toenail.  We joked about me being a "legit" runner now, although he pointed out I wouldn't be legit until it turned black and fell off.  As you can see by the picture below, I've got a line of blood where the crack is and the separation ends, but it isn't black so I'm going to have to wait to be legit.

 

Well, that was yesterday.  This morning I got a text from Josh claiming irony in its purist form, and a picture of his blackened toenail (below).  What happened?    

    

     a)  I jinxed him

     b)  Josh is selfless and ran in new shoes that were too tight so he could advise me

     c)  Josh is competitive and wants to beat me at everything

Or maybe: d) Alanis Morissette confused people about what irony truly is and the universe is working to put as many legit examples of irony out there as possible to set the record straight. 

 

So Josh got new shoes and headed out for a long run today.  He said he knew a few miles in he had a problem, and ended up having to cut the run short and walk home.  I've googled how to take care of my toenail.  Yes, I know better than to use google for medical advice.  So I won't put any here.  But I do have some lessons learned:

• Always keep your toenails trimmed.
• Make sure your shoes aren't too tight in the toebox.  Your feet expand when you run.
• If you aren't sure if your shoes are too tight, test them out first.  Don't go to far from home the first time you wear them.  Ideally, get fitted by experts in a running store.
• Always keep your toenails trimmed (I really can't stress this one enough!)

I'll let you know when (if?) my toenail actually falls off.  And I'm pretty sure Josh's will definitely fall off first.