Good things do not always come to those who wait. For one of the first times ever in my life I am honestly at a loss for words on this one. You can ask anyone and they will tell you that, this time around I was so careful. I built up my mileage so slowly. I took my time with my training. I cross trained and I was patient. Last week I decided it was time to push a bit harder than normal and bumped my weekly mileage up from 21-25miles total to 25-30miles total. That week I had run a 7 miler on Wednesday, 10 miler on Saturday, and a 5 mile race on Sunday. I was rewarded with sharp, harsh pain under my ankle and along the outside of my left foot. The best part was I wasn’t even doing anything special when it started hurting. I was WALKING from point A to point B (a grand distance of about 30 ft). After everything I’d done to try and run longer distances safely, I am once again injured.
After week of having this foot pain, which was both significant and constant, I caved and went to the podiatrist. The verdict was frustrating. The doctor said that I have severe tendonitis of the peroneal tendon and some serious tearing in (hoping it didn’t actually rupture) the abductor digiti minimi. These guys run down the outside of your calf, under your ankle bone, and connect to the furthest outlying bone in your foot. The best part? Apparently this could all have been avoided by wearing arch supports. I have exceptionally high arches in my feet. People like me are the kind of folks who actually do have to wear arch supports or they get hurt. Unfortunately for me, I thought the hype for orthotics and custom arch supports was just hype and for the last year completely ignored it. My high arches after being unsupported for a year, did what anything which is unsupported does, collapse. It was a slow process accumulating in sudden devastation.
So what does that mean, collapsed arch, tendonitis, etc? I want you to take a minute and feel just below your ankle. Flex your foot around until you feel a tendon. Got it? Okay, good I want you to think about that spot as I explain what’s going on with my foot and try to imagine how it would feel if you had pain in that spot whenever you put weight on it or moved it. Now according to the podiatrist, whom I relatively trust, not wearing arch supports caused my arches to begin to collapse. When the arches began to collapse it put strain on the tendon and muscles in my foot which support flexing (i.e. – movement), which supports my arch. The tendon/muscles filled up with fluid and were swollen like a grapefruit. In addition to this, the collapsing arch affected the muscle that runs up in front of my shin, causing that to swell with fluid as well (welcome shin splints!). All of this was extremely painful, and for me that is saying something. While I certainly do my fair share of complaining about little pains, I’ve run 26.2 miles with several (not one or two) fractures in my left leg and exacerbated tendonitis in my right knee. I can handle severe pain (read as: for little pains, I am a major wuss) more easily than most people, but this took it to a new level. I could barely walk on my foot without cringing and limping significantly.
So it hurts, I messed up my foot, what's next? After poking my feet a bunch and talking about Long Island, the doctor shot my foot up with cortisone (you don’t know real pain until you get a needle in the foot), took some X-rays, and fitted me for orthotic arch supports. The X-rays also revealed low bone density in my feet. Joy. He told me to ice my foot a lot over the next two weeks, take more calcium supplements (I already take 1500mg a day, and about 3000IUs of Vitamin D), and no running. Those two words hurt more than the pain all week, the cortisone shot, and the poking and prodding combined. I already had a strong inkling that I would not be able to run, but having it actually be true was upsetting to say the least. I left the doctor’s office in a bit of a huff and remained relatively cranky for the rest of the evening.
Luckily, this injury does not have to mean the end all of exercising; if it did I would probably die. The doctor told me I could swim, use the elliptical, and bike. He strongly cautioned against climbing until the foot was healed and demanded that I not run for at least two weeks. So for now I’m swimming in the mornings, hobbling around all day while intermittently icing my foot, and waiting. There is nothing like learning to be patient than waiting for an injury to heal.
So the point here is: Learn how to listen to your body and if you get injured take the time to rest. Try not to stress what you can’t change and think positively about what you can. :)
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