My recovery week is over. I took it easy and enjoyed NOT having to run 40+ miles in really cold weather and icy conditions. Yesterday I capped my low mileage week with a crappy four mile run. I was supposed to run on Saturday morning, but our boiler went wonky on Friday afternoon and my Honda Pilot’s “low tire pressure” warning came on. I ended up spending Saturday morning dealing with our heating company (who were pretty awesome in solving the problem) and taking my car to the gas station. That meant a Sunday run with a mild hangover. Yay! Not. I expected my head to hurt. What I didn’t expect was how crappy the rest of me felt.
Frustrated.
I have an issue going on with my foot. I’ve consulted Dr. Google and I think it’s something with the metatarsal bones in my right foot. I get a pain in the ball of my right foot about 4 miles into most non-treadmill runs. For a while, I could just run through it and, while not fun, it wasn’t a big deal. Now I’m beginning to feel occasional tightness in my opposite hip that I’m thinking may be related to a change in how I’m running. I don’t think I have any real damage there because I’ve run up to 8 miles on the treadmill in just socks with no pain (I haven’t run past 8 on the treadmill in years) and the pain when I’m not on the treadmill goes away the minute I stop running and doesn’t start again until the same point on the next run. Obviously, I’m landing wrong somehow when I have shoes on and I need to figure out how to fix it.
Nervous.
So, I’m supposed to run 50 miles this coming week. In previous weeks, I’ve been able to recover from foot pain in the long runs by running shorter the next day. I’m reaching the point where my shortest run is 8 miles. This will be a mileage PR for me big time if I hit it. And I may be hitting the treadmill for a scary amount of those miles. I know I won’t be racing on a treadmill, but I need to build the time on my feet and endurance that I need to run 65.5 miles in one week and I need to do it without hurting myself.
Fingers crossed that one of my three solutions (taping with KT tape, a metatarsal pad, or shoes with a 0 mm drop and a wide forefoot) will solve the problem. Other wise, I’m going to be spending a lot of time on my treadmill and crossing my fingers that I can get through race week.
I really hope you get the foot sorted and under control soon. That is not a great problem to have. I have found that most foot problems were directly related to my shoes and not how I run. I’m also building up mileage and hope I stay niggle free. Have a good week!
Hang in there! I hope you will recover quickly with the foot issue – the last time I had foot pain, my podiatrist recommended shoes with a wider toe box, and it seemed to do the trick! Keep positive, I know you can do this!
You may want to head to a chiropractor…they might be able to help you figure out what is wrong.. you don’t want it to keep getting worse when you are this far into your crazy training…
I hope you get it figured out. I’ve definitely found that running in less tends to lead to the occasional foot ache. One shoe I just found w/ a wide toe box that I love is the Pure Drift (you remove the footbed to get zero drop). I was having a bit of tendonitis over my first metatarsal; put those on and it was gone.
Fingers crossed for you.
I agree with everyone else- although I don’t log as many miles, my shoes always help when pain rears its ugly head. Not just my running shoes, but my everyday shoes- if I stay out of the flip flops and religiously wear my dansko clogs for a week or two, I’m “cured”.
And I think 8 miles on the TM is still 8 miles, no?
Good luck sorting through the issues as you head into a killer week!
I hope you are able to keep running and not do any further injury!!!
Hang in there!
I had the same issue with my right foot when I bruised my metatarsal stepping the wrong way in my Birks. My chiropractor worked wonders and I did an insane amount of stretching and self-massage. It went away but not without work and TLC. Good luck and hope you heal up quickly!
Don’t you just hate when your body gets in the way of all the plans that your head has decided on?! I hope you get your foot issue sorted out quickly so it has minimal impact in your training. After all you’ve got a lot of followers invested in this crazy scheme of yours and we’re rooting for you to complete it.