I've had blisters on my toes for years. Usually they are minor annoyances, but not painful enough to stop me from running. On day 1 of the Savage Seven, I felt a minor pain under my right heel, and thought I had a pebble in my shoe. After two attempts to remove it, I took off my sock and discovered a small blister. After the run, I stopped at a drugstore and bought blister pads and tape for the next day.
Day 2: After a couple of hours, I realized that the small blister was getting worse. By the end of that day, I not only had a large blister, covering nearly the entire heel, but now I had a severe pain in my left knee from compensating. I decided to rest for a day.
Day 4: Determined to finish at least one more run, I used copious amounts of tape, lubricant, pain reliever, and Advil. Didn't help. I limped the last two hours, in pain but unwilling to stop. After I finally finished, I knew I WAS finished. I realized the blisters and the knee needed more than a day to heal.
I stayed around for my comrades who were continuing, and it was a distinct honor to see five friends complete the seventh day in a row on Saturday, Jan. 1. They are, in age order, youngest to oldest, Johnny Spriggs, Cheryl Murdock, Frank Bartocci, Jim Simpson, and Jean Evansmore.
The week-long experience was so rich that we've decided the event should be repeated. Cheryl agreed to plan the event in Pensacola for 2011, and I agreed to do it in Orlando in 2012. Wish us luck!
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