I need to start this entry by apologizing for the photo you're going to see below.

When you've got a digital camera and a computer, you can take a picture of a body part and five minutes later, it's out there for the whole world to see.

I was hoping to walk 8.8 miles today, which would have meant I covered 50 miles in my first seven days back into the walking thing. But I didn't walk at all, because I had to decide the old thing about discretion and valor. My big toe -- the one on the right foot -- has been hurting a little more each of the last four or five days, and the blood behind it has been getting darker and darker.

I have no idea how it happened. I didn't stub it or drop anything on it, but it was getting pretty obvious from the color of the toe itself -- redder than usual -- that I probably had some sort of infection. So instead of walking this afternoon, I spent most of the afternoon at the urgent care, getting it looked at.

[caption id="attachment_846" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Ouch!"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110212_7.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-846" title="20110212_7" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110212_7-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>[/caption]

After the doctor assured me that yes, it was a toe, he told me there was a pretty good chance I would eventually lose the nail. While that certainly won't be fun, it will be a step along the road to better foot health.

The other steps are going to involve 10 days of Keflex, three times a day, and Epsom Salt baths in hot water, twice a day.

"As hot as you can stand it," the doctor said.

For some reason that reminded me of when I got my first full-time job in journalism, and when I told my new boss my only salary requirement was "enough to live on," he responded with, "How about almost enough to live on?"

I was too stupid to run away then, and my foot hurts too much to run away now.

Actually, the doctor told me it won't hurt my recovery any to keep walking. And since Sunday is the beginning of Week Two of the rest of my life, I'll get out there and do my best to get that 50 miles in this time.

Assuming my foot doesn't fall off.