On Mysterious Foot Pain.

About 5 miles in to the 20 mile run last Sunday, I felt a sharp pain in the sole of my left foot. I thought a sharp pebble might have popped in to my shoe. The pain was brief so I ignored it. A few miles later it happened again: A brief shot of sharp pain. This time I stopped, took off the shoe and shook it out. I thought something might have come out, so I put the shoe on and continued the run. All good for a couple of miles, and then the sharp pain again. I took the shoe off again and this time felt around on the inside for something that wasn't supposed to be there, finding nothing. I also noticed some blood on the bottom of my sock. This happened on and off for the rest of the run - an occasional sharp pain. By the end of the run I figured it wasn't a pebble and maybe was a splinter.

My daughter Ellen volunteered to look at the bottom of my foot (after a shower!) and thought she might have detected a splinter. She probed around with a pair of tweezers for a while but could get nothing out. Googling splinters on the internet, one popular remedy was to put a baking soda plaster on the injury overnight. It was supposed to swell up the skin and squeeze the splinter out. I tried it but the next morning nothing had changed.

Monday was a rest day so I just ignored my foot and felt no pain in any case. Hoping the thing had gone away on its own, I went on a 5 mile run after work on Tuesday. Sure enough, a mile in I felt that sharp pain again in the sole of my left foot. I turned around and ran home, cursing all the way. 

I barged into the house, plunked down on our couch where Tricia was watching TV. I took off the shoe cursing some more and again began to search for something that was the cause of the pain. Seeing I was about to lose it, Tricia asked for the shoe.

She looked at it briefly and handed it back, pointing out the nail sticking through the bottom of the sole.