I’m running my first marathon on September 18 (go me!), and I’ve scheduled a manicure for the day before. My nails are moderate length, and I usually do them myself with just plain polish, but for this special occasion I thought I’d get some nail art to jazz things up and inspire me during the race. You know, get a little Flo-Jo vibe going.
The person I spoke to on the phone said their manicurists vary in skill level with the nail art, and I might end up with just something simple like fancy lines, which would be fine if I can get something in funky colors. I’d just like to maybe have some ideas to go in with.
I’ve poked around a bit and saw some tiger-stripey patterns that might be fun. Maybe lightning bolts? An inspirational slogan?
I’ll be wearing a fluorescent yellow shirt and black shorts, not that it has to be matchy-matchy, but maybe that will suggest an idea.
Congrats on going for your first! I did my first in April (Boston) and it was an amazing experience. I’ve got another scheduled for October but nagging injuries may put that in doubt.
You could put 26.2 somewhere on the nails. Or spell out J-U-S-T D-O-I-T on the non-thumbs.
Hm, those could be fun. Have to think of more slogans. I can totally see myself splaying out my fingers as I run and looking at my pretty colors for inspiration, though.
I just ran out and picked up some goodies: six colors of “nail art” polish with the super-thin brush, and some jeweled nail stickers. Already jazzed myself up as a test. Whee! But I’ll still let the pros take a crack at it. If I hate what they do, I could always redo it myself. (Wouldn’t be the first time, heh.)
They said they usually only do the ring fingers, but I like the look of having all the nails done fancy, and since their spa menu prices say “and up,” I’m sure they’d happily take more money to do them all.
I was going to recommend cheetah nails because cheetahs are fast, but all I can find are leopard nails (which would probably look better than plain cheetah spots.
Then again, cheetahs aren’t know for their endurance, which is what you really want for a marathon. Horses are more of the endurance runner in the animal kingdom. But nothing really compares to humans in the regard. So maybe a human footprint. Like the one in this tri design.
I sure wish I had worn some arch supports for my first marathon. It really really hurts by the time you are done (unless you are a sprightly gazelle in awesome shape for your first marathon).
I had thought about little footprints. I may borrow hubby’s little footprint stud earrings. (I even got a third set of holes in my ears to accommodate my little stick-figure-runner studs, which I wear for every race, plus colored studs and a pair of hoops.)
I’m definitely not fast. I’ve been making noise about trying to break 5 hours, but based on my last few long runs, I’m pretty sure that’s a pipe dream. Pretty sure I’ll be coming in around 5:15 to 5:30.
Olympic rings? Shyeah right.
I do have arch issues and actually bought some fancy insoles (which the running store people fitted for me) with my last pair of running shoes. But because of some other issues, I took them out as an experiment and have just been using the insoles that came with the shoes (Saucony). My arches haven’t really bothered me on my last few runs. Oddly enough, after my 18-miler I was EXHAUSTED. Might have been the heat, though, because after my 20-miler two weeks later, I was tired and achy but otherwise fine.
Lightning bolts were my first thought. How about a blue background with yellow lightning and a bit of gold sparkle?
This may be harder to have done, but I propose on one of your thumbnails you get an image of a person crossing the finish line. During the race, when you’re starting to feel a little lag in confidence, you look down at your thumb and remember that soon enough you’ll be crossing the finish line as well. Like this pic only in two-tone.
Lightning bolts on a blue background is a good idea. Also has the advantage of probably being easy for the nail tech to do.
I only got nail art once. It was pretty simple, but I drew a sketch of what I wanted before I got there. They seemed to appreciate it and it came out just like I wanted.
