What the heck was that?!

As you may know, I've been running for over 20 years. By now, I thought that I have felt any of the random niggles, aches, or quirks that arise while running. (Mercifully, I've not had to deal with any of the more major problems that hit others.) Well, tonight disproved that notion.

While doing my long run on the treadmill at the gym, with just one more minute left to go, it felt like something came loose on/in my left pinky toe. I've never hopped off the treadmill and onto the static ledges as fast as I did right then. I was pretty sure I didn't break the toe; I kinda thought the minor pseudo-blister I had on that toe decided to peel off. Walking normally was not possible at that point; I had to position my foot slightly awkwardly to avoid putting pressure on the toe. I was anxious enough to get to the locker room, get the sock off, and see "the damage." (And it was a double whammy, because I had forgotten to put on Band-Aids (aka "nip tape") before starting up, and when I looked down and saw my shirt, there was a rather astonishingly large splotch of additional red; I had never had as much of a streak as I did tonight -- eek! Amazing how much it looked like I had been bleeding, considering there was absolutely no blood visible on my body at all.)

Finally I got the sock off, and I couldn't see anything problematic. No bleeding, no peeled off blister. No idea what actually happened. And walking normally is not problematic now. Just glad this didn't happen while I was pacing; it would've totally killed things for me and the group.