I’m leery of writing anything about injuries for fear that I might jinx myself. I have spent a lot of time and effort making sure I made it to race day on August 17th in one piece. To me, that is the ultimate goal. Whatever happens on race day, happens. Getting to the starting line healthy and prepared is no easy task. I take daily naps, I get regular body work, I am eating well and getting a good night’s sleep as much as possible.
Yet, despite all of this, I still managed to start having some pain in left foot. It was about 3 weeks ago when I finished a 2 hour run. The funny thing was that I didn’t hurt during the run at all. I iced it a bit and tried to stretch it as much as possible. I had some work done on it during a well-timed massage and it seemed to abate. On a subsequent 1 hour run a few days later, I had no pain…before, during or after. On my next 2+ hour run, one week later, I had the same pain. After a few days, it subsided again. The next week, on my 3rd 2+ hour run, it came back. UGH!
In early March, I had started to run in a new brand of running shoes (New Balance). This was the only thing I had changed. I had already run over 160 miles on these shoes, so it didn’t make sense to me why I would just now be feeling pain.
After a few emails back and forth with both my coach and a physical therapist who fit me for my orthotics, I decided to revert back to an older pair of running shoes and use a newer pair of orthotics. I also did see my podiatrist to rule out anything more serious, like a stress fracture. Eek.
I ran a short 20 minute run following an hour bike ride. I had no pain. Hmmm. This was followed by an hour long run a few days later. No pain. I decided to purchase another a new pair of Brooks. After an hour long run on Monday and a 2:10 run on Wednesday, I had no pain at all. Who knew…it was the shoes! I am proud of myself for taking the time to figure it all out, not allowing myself to get upset or overreact. Phew…I dodged a bullet!