First Injury?

Well, I think I have my first training injury, but it's a weird one.

When I was 16, I broke my foot. I was on the summer swim team and the water was a bit too cold, 58 F as I recall and coach wouldn't let us in the water if it was below 60 F. So, we went to the park across the street and ran an obstacle course. On the last of many rounds, and near the very end, I slipped of some equipment and came down hard. I got up on my right knee, brushed the grit off my left knee, stood on my left foot and started to run again. As soon as my right foot touched the ground I was down again and in a _LOT_ of pain. I'd broken the 4th and 5th metatarsals, the bones behind the joints of my pinkie and adjacent toes. For various reasons, it was almost 8 hours before I was seen by a doctor and by that time the foot was very swollen and I think they had a hard time setting the bones back. I had an "old fashioned cast" made with real plaster, up to just below the knee.

I'd never really noticed it before, but I think they really didn't get the bones set quite right. In recent years, doing triathlon, I've noticed that the outside (nearest the pinkie toe) tip of my middle toe initially blisters, in the early season, then callouses over by mid-season. This is due to a slight "V" depression between my 3rd and 4th toes (possibly due to the mis-setting of the bones). Not a big deal. The blisters never hurt and the "V" has never bothered me in anyway. Now, however, I have this:

It looks worse in real life, darker and "bloodier"

I'm guessing it's a blood blister under the toe nail. I have no idea how it got there or really when. It seemed like one day it was there, and the other it wasn't, but I really didn't mark the day. It's been this way for a couple of weeks now. I initially thought I was going to lose the toenail, but it seems fine and like it's going to hang in there.

I need to be careful not to blame running though. I also rock climb, a sport I've recently gotten into because of my youngest child, who's taken to that sport like a fish takes to water. I've gotten involved so I can do it with him and have been belay certified so he and I can climb together as a team, him climbing and me belaying. I do a fair amount of my own climbing though when he's in team practice. The shoes you were are supposed to be stiff soled, which I'm used to from cycling, but also very tight. So much so that your toes are bent a bit in the toe box. This is so you can use your toes with strength and support when you're trying to find purchase to stand up in a maneuver. It may be a combination of the tight toe box and the "V" in my foot that's caused this.

However, I've been climbing, in my own climbing shoes, for a couple of years now and I never had anything like this last year. So, I'm not really sure what's going on, and it's really not that bad an injury, if you can even call it one. But, it's something that I'll need to watch. If I do lose the toenail, I'll have to treat it carefully with all the running I'm doing so I don't get an infection. I'll keep you all posted.