Stubbed Toes and Falling Down

Ken Bob's bandaged stubbed toe (2009 November 4) Long Beach CA

Summary

Well, even I stub my toe occasionally – all right, perhaps just as much as anyone else. It’s a not-so-subtle reminder to lift our foot, the whole foot, not just the heel, with each and EVERY step.

Story

My prior, serious (blood and pain – as opposed to a gentle scuffing along the surface) stubbed toe was in the San Francisco Marathon (2008 July). But, at least that time, I didn’t fall down, in front of a crowd of runners! (although falling down, can be a good defense mechanism, as I’ll discuss below).

Last night, I was running with A Running Experience Club (AREC) in Long Beach, California. It was dark, and I was chatting with Barefoot Todd, probably about something silly, like paying attention, and lifting the feet as we run!

Well, obviously, I wasn’t paying attention, or lifting my feet (enough) as I ran. Because, next thing I know, my toe is kicking a slightly raised sidewalk slab. Well, at least I was relaxed, enough, that I let my momentum continue moving my upper body, and fell down on my hands and knees. Sure, that sounds bad, but at least I didn’t try to resist, and use my forward momentum, in vain, trying to kick the concrete slab forward!

Sadly, when I got home, and washed the blood off my toe, there wasn’t much to show off to friends. My big toe (the only one that impacted with the concrete) was relatively undamaged, no big scrapes, no black toenail.

The bleeding seemed to be coming from under my toenail, so I bandaged it up, to keep the nail from falling off – and protect it from getting kicked again, too soon, without protection.

Even, now, nearly a full day later, the toe just barely looks bruised, and not even the whole toe, only the front edge of the toe, which is barely more than slightly reddish tint (dark pink?), not even black and blue.

Ah, well, my injured toe will probably be no excuse not to run this weekend. My injured ego, on the other hand ( foot)?

Related Links

• Ken Bob’s Regular Runs
• Barefoot Running Step by Step

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