When I think of athletes who have to endure incomprehensible physical pain to achieve success in their sport, runners don't immediately come to mind.
That's not to say they don't have to overcome grueling obstacles, just that it's hard to think of rail-thin dudes in gym clothes as anything other than, well, rail-thin dudes in gym clothes.
My prejudice would be misguided, however. The NFL and NHL are more controlled car crashes than sports, and MMA or boxing are just as bad. But don't underestimate ultramarathoners. No, seriously. Via the New York Times:
Swimmers shave their bodies sleek. Cyclists take blood-boosters. And ultramarathoners have their battered toenails surgically removed - for good.Apparently, only the clinically insane consider toenail removal. Or, as Dr. Paul R. Langer calls them, the "hard-cores." "Even within the ultra community, less than 10 percent or maybe even 5 percent are permanently removing their toenails."
Toenail removal is not for the faint of heart, but it can be a big relief to people who compete in 50- or 100-mile races. Even the most hardened ultramarathoners, for whom 26.2 miles is a warm-up, can be distressed by bleeding under a nail or a loose nail that bangs repeatedly against the front of a shoe.
If you ever wondered what toenail-less feet look like, here ya go. And you can help support the cause by purchasing a "Toenails are for sissies" t-shirt. Or if you're so inclined, go through the procedure yourself. It sounds like a barrel of monkeys.
Take Dr. Lisa Bliss, who won Badwater, the 135-mile race in Death Valley, in 2007, two years after having her two big toenails permanently removed. Previously, she had four times had a podiatrist cut away two misshapen nails that had grown back - painfully - into the nail bed instead of lying flat. So, she figured, why not just get rid of the nails?Exactly.
