Remove Before Continuing

Came across this post I did on the West Coast Spartan FB page after my last race and thought I'd share. 

At the Beast this weekend, somewhere around mile 7 I believe, I ended up with a small rock in my all terrain thrill, (awesome shoes by the way!), and stopped to dislodge it. 

After taking forever, I finally got my mud caked shoe off, only to find no rock. I shook it out anyway, and proceeded to take forever to put said mud caked shoe back on, only to find out whatever it was was still down there, and most likely in my sock. 😑 I had already wasted a lot of time and was eager to get going so I ignored it and carried on. It moved sometime in the next mile and no longer bugged me.

Fast forward to the finish when I was hosing off, and discovered a chunk of flesh chewed out of my foot and a not too pretty mark left there. 

I woke up Sunday morning with the usual aches and pains, bumps and bruises, and also a very swollen right foot. After hobbling around slowly all day in searing pain while my foot felt like it was going to explode, trying to get the dirt out and the swelling down, I called  and got a appointment at the doctor to see what they could do for me. The nurse's only advice was to get it cleaned, and keep up on the Bactroban.

Once at the Doctor I watched as she gathered up her tools to prepare for getting the dirt out of my wound, and gasped in pain as she started the process of swabbing the affected area.

Let me tell you, in all 12.4 miles of the Seattle beast NEVER did I experience pain like this. Not in my 125 burpees, not during the bucket carry which I hate, not in my complaining ankles as I slogged through mud....

I gripped the sides of the doctor bed, body rigid in pain and teeth clenched, laughing, moaning, groaning, and trying not to hyperventilate. If I had to describe what it felt like, I would say this:

 imagine someone scraping a steak knife across an open flesh wound, and you are pretty close.

It is now clean, but the throbbing, stabbing pain is still there, and will probably stay for a while yet. 😑 

We all left something out on that course on Saturday. For some it was their fears. Their feelings of inadequacy. Stress. Loss. Their very soul. The list goes on....

For me? It was a chunk of my right foot. May it rest in peace.....

The moral of my story? None. Unless it's to say, if you have something in your shoe, remove it completely before continuing.