'Black Toe' is a marathoner's badge of honor...

Eleven weeks ago, I started training for my first marathon, and I’m over half way there with just eight weeks left to go until the First Light Marathon in Mobile.

So far, I’ve logged 198 total miles, which includes a long run of 15 miles. For the record, this 15-mile run is the longest I’ve ever run at one time without stopping.

I’ve been following a training program that I tore from the pages of a recent issue of Outside Magazine. The program was designed by former elite runner and 111-time marathoner, Hal Higdon. The program was designed for active people in mind, but not the running obsessed.

Under the program, you run three times a week with one long run at the end of each week. If you follow the program to the letter, which I have managed to do so far, you’ll slowly build up the miles in preparation for the big 26.2-mile marathon at the end. The longest run you have to complete under the program is a 20-miler four weeks before the actual race.

I’ve been running regularly for about 16 years now, but I’ve never attempted distances of this length. I’m 6-foot-3 and weigh nearly 220 pounds, so I don’t have the prototypical marathoner’s build. With that in mind, I’ve found it interesting to note all of the unusual aches and pains that have sprung up as I’ve piled on the miles.

Before starting the program, I could run five miles comfortably, but just two weeks into the program, I began to experience nagging pain on top of my left foot. I kept running on it, thinking that it would go away, but it didn’t after more than a week. I did some research and was not pleased by what I found.

Pain on to of the foot is usually caused by what’s called a metatarsal stress fracture, which is usually caused by overuse or over training without enough rest. To fully recover from a fracture of this type, you shouldn’t run for at least four weeks.

I thought my bid for a marathon was over at this point until I read that this pain may have another cause – the laces on my shoes might be too tight. From there on out, I began to loosen the laces on my left shoe before every run, and eventually the pain disappeared.

At times, I’ve also experienced pain in my arches that seems to come and go as well as some pain in my right knee that also comes and goes. On very long runs, I’ve also experienced some stiffness in my shoulders and elbows as well as some cramping in my calves afterwards.

On the unusual side of things, I’ve also experienced a burst blood vessel in my left eye (not sure if it’s running related) and that all-too-famous marathoner’s badge of honor – the dreaded black toe.

From what I’ve read, just about every marathoner has experienced black toe at some point. This common long-distance training injury is caused when your foot slides forward in your shoe, banging your toes against the front of your shoe when you make a step. On the upshot, it doesn't hurt, that is, until my two-year-old son steps on it.

To me, this is a very weird thing. When you look at my feet, all of my toenails look normal, except for the second toe on my left foot, where the toenail is good and black with a nasty blood bruise beneath the nail. (Not to gross you out, but I’ve included a picture above to show you exactly what I’m talking about.)

Every time I bring the subject up with my wife, she says “You know you’re going to loose that toenail,” and from everything I’ve read, she’s right. The nail will eventually die and will be pushed out of place by the new, healthy nail that will grow out beneath it.

On a side note, I figured that I would really drop the pounds due to all the added miles and all the calories that I’ve burned up over the past few months. However, I still weigh about the same. I attribute this to an increase in my appetite due to all the extra exercise.

In the end, this marathon training program has been a lot of extra work, but also very rewarding. I’m having to push myself harder than ever before and I’ve already managed to run further and longer than I ever had.

The First Light Marathon is set for January, and while I know I won’t set any world records, I do plan to complete the race. When I set out to do this, that was my main goal, to complete a marathon before I became to old to give it a legitimate shot. So far, so good with about two months left to go.