Objective FINNLAND: He's Dead, Jim
Almost four weeks hence, I "ran" the Crim 10 Mile Race; almost four weeks later, my poor feet are still recovering. My training regime ahead of Objective FINNLAND was plainly inadequate. This was the result of two flaws in my thinking, driven by two of the seven deadly sins: {a} sloth & {b} pride. {a} I did not spend as much time in training as should have been the case. I've no one save myself to blame for this, and I blame myself alone. {b} I underestimated the rigors of the course. My training involved running not on a treadmill for the first time since the single season in middle school during which I played football. I ran around the circle track in the Rec. Center on campus and I ran on the treadmill on both a level plan and at an incline. What I did not account for properly was a negative incline, running downhill. It is part of my nature, and here my intention is not to boast, that I am a beast when presented with a physical challenge. I do very well running uphill, something about it taps into that old S.K.P. Machine esprit; I have more vim running uphill than I do running on a level plain. But on the downhill I was powerless; it felt completely wrong & I could do nothing about that but push onward.

***Caution: What follows is disgusting, i.e., just plain gross.***

The result was a matching pair of preposterously huge, hideous, black blisters on the balls of my feet. By the end of the day on Saturday, I was hobbled, walking around on my heels, a sharp pain shooting up my brain every time the slightest pressure was place on the balls of the feet. The situation was untenable; so, after elevation & icing failed to have any event & my misery continued, on Sunday night I sat down in the bathtub while my father set about lancing the blisters with an over-sized, sterilized needle & draining out the bloody pus. There was no physical pain in the process, but watching all that offal drain out of my feet was shocking. For all that, though, the draining was a silver bullet. My feet were immensely improved immediately, and though still tender I was able to put pressure on the balls of my feet, slowly beginning to walk normally again. Though in the summer in the house I am habitually barefoot, I wore socks to soak up any residual pus, and soon discovered a special padded type of Band-Aid specifically for blisters. And against my historical pattern of behavior, I did not try to peel off the dead blister skin until it was ready to fall off on its own. Precisely a fortnight after FINNLAND, the white blister skin torn first on my right foot and then, a day later, on the left. The soft, pink skin beneath was a sight for sore eyes.

I was well on the road to recovery, but this seems to have prompted pride which led to a mild relapse. After a fortnight of getting around in my flip-flops (I didn't want to wear my normal sandals for fear that the rear strap would cause further damage to an already burst blister on the back of my right foot) & Adidas Sambas, I was finally confident enough of my feet's recovery to venture into my low topped Chuck Taylor All-Stars. Either the Chucks alone or the Chucks in collusion with my dress shoes (worn to Mass) caused the formation of small blisters on the sites of my former monster blisters. I did not notice the pain until Tuesday evening, after two days back in the Chucks, and quickly put the special blister Band-Aids on both feet & resumed wearing the Sambas. By Thursday, the tide had turned & I was again on the mend. This time, I plan to go slowly, not returning to my Chucks until at least a week after my feet feel & look normal again, and my feet do not yet look normal.

Also, as Mrs. Skeeter, Esq. warned me is an ailment common to runners, one of my toenails—on the index toe on my left foot—has turned a very dark purple color, though it has not fallen off as she said would happen. But only time will tell the whole tale.

***I warned you that would be gross.***

Despite all this, I have every intention of making the Crim 10 Mile an annual event, a collaboration between Operation ÖSTERREICH & Project MERCATOR. Next time, knowing the challenge awaiting me, I will be far better prepared, both to better my time over the course & to avoid this year's pitiable aftermath. Should the effort be code named Objective FINNLAND II, or the German name for another part of Scandinavia, such as Objective NORWEGEN or Objective DÄNEMARK? I was leaning toward FINNLAND II, et cetera, but now that I see the German for Norway & Denmark….

Operation ÖSTERREICH
There has been an understandable pause in my treadmill-based "cardio" routine, though now that I think about it I should go ahead and resume strength training in the weight room, at least on my arms, chest, & torso, if not my legs for fear of re-injuring my feet. Back to work, Lazybones!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Phenomenauts, "Man Alone" from For All Mankind (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: "What's a man if he has no ambition?"