I was signed up for a 15k on Saturday. Friday night, as I'm getting settled into my "pre race bedtime routine" I managed to drop my laptop. Squarely on my big toe. It hurt. And then it REALLY HURT. My gut told me that, based on the amount of pain I was in that it was broken.
But, I had a 15k the next day. It couldn't be broken. It just had to be bruised, for now. With a little help from my friends, I managed to get it elevated, iced, and crashed out for a few hours of sleep before the race day alarm rang.
As I put my shoes on, I realized that, yup, the toe still hurt. A lot. But I couldn't back out of the race, my friend was expecting me. On the ride down, I decided that I'd give it the old college try and see what happens.
The gun fired, and I took off. Immediately I new my stride was off. My shins started to hurt, as I wasn't landing on my foot properly, I could feel muscles tweaking. I never realized how important, to our gait, the big toe is. At mile 1.4 I noticed that there was a turning point, either continue straight for the 15k or turn left for the 5k. I considered. Do I turn, or do I go?
My body screamed at me. Turn. Turn. Turn. This ain't good. You're crazy to continue. You ain't got nothing to prove. Knock this crap off.
Why yes, I am fully aware of the fact that I have the ugliest feet. Ever.
I got home and thought, "yea it hurts, but it can't be broken, I just PRd on a 5k." With a little prodding from some family members, I headed to the ER for an x ray to rule out a broken bone, because, after all, I have a 13.1/5k in 2 weeks.
Unfortunately, the x ray showed that I had, indeed run that morning on a broken primary toe.
But the good news...my laptop didn't break!
