I got up early to run, got dressed, which includes putting on “special” $10 running socks and my $100 sneakers (I actually get nauseous when I think about how much I spent on this gear, but I will explain why I did it in another post). My sneakers are well padded and my socks are moisture-wicking, as were my shorts and t-shirt. I hydrated, stretched for a few minutes and started to run. Fast forward to .5 miles into my run, when I felt something irritating the bottom of my foot. While in a former life I would have continued to run, I stopped to handle this issue. When running long distances small irritations turn into larger irritations, which turn into small blisters which turn into large blisters, which means potential training days lost to healing the blister. So, I decided to nip the irritant in the bud.
I stopped, took off my sneaker, looked inside, shook my sneaker vigorously and then, convinced that I got rid of the irritant, retied my sneaker and started to run again. 5 steps later I felt it again, stopped, untied my shoe… this time I blew into my shoe, too, retied my sneaker and started to run again… and then stopped ten steps later. This time, I went through my previous method of cleaning out my shoe, then swept the bottom of my shoe with my finger, and then took off my sock and inspected the outside - I found nothing, put on my socks, retied my sneakers and started again… 3 steps later I stopped again. I was feeling like an idiot, stopping for the fourth time in eighteen steps and prayed that no one was watching my pathetic display of prissiness. This time I inspected the inside and outside of my sock. Lo and behold, I found the smallest pebble,the size of a speck, caught up in my super-sock’s fibers. I dislodged it with my fingernail, put my sock back on, retied my sneakers and proceeded to run another 4.5 miles with no problem.The saddest part of this whole story is that while this blog should have been about my 5 mile run, all I can write about is the fact that I stopped four separate times within a quarter-block span because a speck in my sneaker was rubbing against the bottom of my foot, stuck in my $10 pair of socks in my $100 pair of sneakers (pathetic, right?). To add insult to injury, now, if anyone comes up to me and calls me “princess” (whether they have read this blog or not), I am now obliged to respond, “Yes?”
