Infected blisters: Take it and Run

The topic of infected blisters is already one of my top hit-getters, and I'm doing nothing today to decrease my google rank on this subject. But I suppose it's due to a dearth of information - that's certainly what I found when I was researching this for myself. So this is my topic for this week's Take it and Run Thursday (which I've been remarkably slack about participating in lately). This may gross you out, please don't read while eating.

OK, every runner in the world has probably had a blister. And you know you shouldn't pop them, but sometimes you have to. In this case, sterilise a needle and insert it gently into the blister, press the liquid out gently, cover with a bandaid or the like, and let it heal. Don't pull off the extra layer of skin that's left behind, just let it dry out and fall off naturally. Also examine your shoes and socks to see if you can figure out why you got a blister there and what you can do about it (different socks, ensuring no wrinkles in them when you put your shoes on, keeping your feet dry, Body Glide, etc).

But sometimes, even if you don't pop them, your blisters get infected. They may be harder than normal or have redness around them. When mine got infected, I didn't even really know for a long time because it was underneath my callous so I couldn't even see the blistery bit. But I ought to have known better because it was all hot. And neither blisters nor callouses are hot to the touch. It was also really painful to walk on, moreso than a normal blister, and didn't get better even when I wasn't running for a while.

If this describes your blister, you'll need to seek medical attention. The best place to go is someone who can prescribe antibiotics and perform minor procedures, which in the US is probably your regular doctor but in the UK unfortunately turns out to be two separate people (doctor and chiropodist). If you must see two people, I recommend the chiropodist/podiatrist first. They'll lance it open and drain all the nast out of it. Surprisingly, this didn't hurt. You'll likely also need antibiotics to make sure the infection doesn't spread. I got the antibiotics first, which helped bring the infection down a little but honestly didn't help that much as a blister tends to be pretty well isolated from the rest of your system. When I finally saw the chiropodist and had my blister drained it felt better almost immediately, and she didn't think I needed a second round of antibiotics, and it managed to heal pretty quickly.

In the interest of not getting sued, let me finish up by saying this is only my advice based on my experience, and I am not medically trained at all.

Kiss your wife

The theme for this week's Take it and Run Thursday is "As you begin your marathon training, don't forget..." I suspect others will have good advice about running the thing. Not me. My advice is "don't forget to kiss your wife (or kids, or dog, or boyfriend, or or or)."

I mean this both literally and figuratively. Literally: Marathon training takes a lot of physical energy. You'll probably be up early and in bed early. Don't forget your relationships, especially the "intimate" ones. Enough said.

Figuratively: I've said repeatedly that I wouldn't have finished the marathon without Meg. She was my biggest cheerleader during the race, keeping me fueled and hydrated when I couldn't do it for my self. But the truth is I probably wouldn't have gotten to the starting line without her either. Although running a marathon is an intensely personal experience, it was really nice to hear her say how proud she was of me, and have her tell people (everyone we met, it seemed like!) that I was running a marathon.

No matter how fast you are, how early you get up, marathon training is going to interfere with the rest of your life. There will be weekend nights you want to stay in and hydrate instead of eating a nice restaurant meal with a bottle of wine. There will be mornings you miss the entire morning routine because your short run took longer than expected. And unless you're a hermit on a remote island (in which case, what marathon are you running? and how are you reading this blog?) it's going to interfere with the lives of people whose life you're in.

So, as you embark on your marathon training, remember you're not in it alone. Thank your partner for packing you a healthy lunch to keep your runner's body fueled. Thank the kids for walking the dog even though it's your turn. Thank your friends for waiting to start Saturday morning's activity until you return from your 20 miles.

Remember to kiss your wife.

5 ways to make your first marathon better than mine

1. Choose a big-city or beginner-friendly marathon. I explicitly chose a small marathon like Blackpool, because I didn’t want to run my first in London where I’d be shoulder-to-shoulder the whole time, and I stand by that decision. But if I had my first to do over, I’d run one that had more support for the average-to-slow runner. It’s obnoxious to have them open the road before you’re finished, especially because I was honest in my application as to the time I expected to finish in and I think it’s the responsibility of the race organisers to get a permit for at least the length of time the registered runners expect to be on the course. It detracts a bit from the sense of accomplishment when the race team looks like they’d rather be washing their cats than waiting for a 5+ hour marathoner. I know I’m not elite, but I don’t think my time is anything to be ashamed of.
2. Do not, under any circumstances, lose your Body Glide or other body lubricant of choice the week before the marathon. Enough said.
3. If you’re travelling, bring your own breakfast from home. I suspect this is England-specific, because things close so early here, but really I’d recommend it for everyone – it would have been a huge load off my mind and I think might have resulted in a sub-5-hour finish for me.
4. Bring supporters who love and understand you. I don’t know that I could have done this without Meg. She met me along the course, and gave me bananas, and told me repeatedly how proud she was of me and how great I was doing, even when it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. She didn’t take it personally when I snapped at her in my glycogen-depleted state.
5. Expect to have times when you don’t think you can do this. At my lowest, I reminded myself that “it’s just the wall, it’s normal, and you’re going to be ok.” When I could rationalise it like that, it was easier to keep going forward.
   

Take it and Run Thursday: Motivation is Cyclic

Eating my afternoon snack and trying to think about what to say about motivation that hasn't already been said, and that isn't trite. And what I've come to is that motivation is cyclic.

I ran this morning, and I've been eating well and drinking loads of water all day. I have (almost) no desire for the microwave popcorn that's floating around the office - and that's one of my worst weaknesses. Cookies and cakes and ice cream don't interest me. And I can't wait to run again tomorrow - I'm working from home to ensure that I can, even though I have to begin my workday at 7am.

Unfortunately, it works the other way too. A week away from the trails will find me with one hand on the chocolate cake and the other wrapped around icy beer number 4. A half bottle of wine leads to an evening on the couch in my fat pants.

So how can I use this to my advantage? Everyone always talks about how saying "I'll just go out for 10 minutes and if I really hate it then I can quit" will often get you out the door. I think I've got to start even before that. "Just one workout. You don't have to eat well later if you don't want to." "Just one water before you move to beer tonight."

I'm off for more healthy beverage...

Take it and Run Thursday: Basics of Running: Becoming a morning person

Today is Take it and Run Thursday. This week, Amy and Tom have asked us to write about the Basics of Running. Seeing as I consider myself still a beginning runner, this ought to be interesting, and a great source of learning for me.
One thing I think about a lot is how to become a morning person. Not that this is running related, per se, except that I know lots of people who have to run in the morning, or it doesn't happen. Unfortunately I am not naturally a morning person (see my last post for evidence!). For me, if I get up before I've woken up enough to realize I'm getting out of bed before the sun comes up, I'm usually pretty successful.
The thing that helps me most is to realize that at the time my alarm goes off, I'm not conscious enough to make good decisions. I need to make it automatic. When I'm doing it successfully, I think about it thusly: every time I wake up when my alarm goes off, I am training my body to do that. Every time I go back to sleep, I'm training my body to do that. Which training do I want to reinforce?
I've fallen off the wagon a bit, and I think it may be time for an intervention. This post from Steve Pavlina recommends practicing. I may need to invest a couple of hours in doing this.