I am no stranger to pain during physical activity. Whether losing a chunk of my scalp during a soccer game to some fool going up for a header with his mouth open (which, by the way, is a great way to bite your tongue off), or playing basketball with a mouth full of blood after getting nailed in the face (ahh...the good ol' days of braces), this blundering accident-prone guy can take it in stride. Unfortunately this leads me to where I've been for the last week.
Upon completing my 12-mile run last Monday, I was experiencing an alarming pain shooting up the side of my right foot and into my ankle. That night my entire body was in pain, so I attributed it to the average aches and pains that plague the body after strenuous activity. However, it didn't go away. Tuesday, the pain grew sharper as the day went on, and continued into Wednesday. I spoke with one of my doctor friends, and they suggested it may be a strained or sprained tendon on my foot or ankle. That's no good for me. After a messed up week of irregular routine in Oklahoma, I really needed to get back on my training plan. But because I couldn't put any weight on my foot, I decided it would be wiser to rest it for a week and come back to the schedule on Monday.Well...today is Monday. And I thought I had rid myself of this problem. I was feeling better this weekend, no longer gimping around and looking like a cripple. I got around mile 2.5 of a 4-mile run and began to feel the pain shooting back up my leg. BLERG.
I'm trying not to get discouraged. I want to be smart and make sure that I'm not pushing myself too hard and end up with possible serious damage, but I also don't want to lose out on my endurance. This race is coming up fast! I have roughly six weeks left of training, and I don't want to slow up.
I know I said I was going to get some new shoes...yeah, haven't done that yet. I'll go tomorrow.
B-rice. i feel your pain and frustration of having foot pain while training for a race!! it is NO fun. My suggestions to you (even though you already consulted your doc. friend) is to ice your foot, lots of stretching, get a tennis ball and roll the bottom of your foot along the top of the ball. it helps to stretch out pesky foot muscles that may be tight. ALSO, it might sound crazy but if you have have access to a pool, swimming can really help strengthen your leg/foot muscles without the strain. and what i had to do during my non-running weeks was use the Eliptical at the gym. so as much fun as being outside but again, it just about cuts the pressure of running in 1/2 for your tootsies (feet). lastly, have you thought about an ankle wrap? although a proper pair of shoes would prolly help a lot too. GOOD LUCK!
ReplyDeleteSo...since there haven't been any posts you still are hurting? Hope you can get back into running again soon! I have been down now for several days with a cold that is going through our house. I hate having to work back to where I left off. It's amazing how quickly our bodies get out of shape. But I'm sure you'll bounce back well.
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