It had to happen...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

As soon as one mentions being injury-free I guess you leave yourself prone to it... and I did. Have developed a mildly nasty pain under the big toe of my left foot extending down the sole... and therefore had to give the weekly long run a miss this morning.

In treatment, I happened to notice that Carlsburg had the best pain-deadening qualities, and is also a nice beer. Should I be taking anything else?

I figure the exercise bike might now get a work out until the foot heals, which has the added advantage in that the bike lives next to the bar fridge.

Open to advice, suggestions, insults....

MLC Man.

[Antonio247]

I´m sorry you are injured now when you felt so well, MLCM. I once read it is good to use a tennis ball under your foot to get better. Actually, I sometimes use it while I am with the compuer and it works. You can also do pool running, which is swimming moving your legs but not using your arms, which can be held at a sort of "spaghetti", a thing used to learn how to swim and not get sunk. Ice can be also good. Probably at the treadmill, you won´t notice the pain much.

Well, good luck.

Antonio

[stillwaddler]

sounds painful, get some advice if it doesn't show signs of improvement fairly quickly, in the meantime, forget about the Carlsberg, gin is a brilliant pain killer!!! with judicious addition of tonic/ice/lime to taste.

[shelagh]

The tennis ball is a good idea. If it's plantar faschiitis (sp?) that you have, then stretching your calves well, will help. Generally with plantar f. the pain is worst in the morning and improves over the day as the faschia loosens up. Avoid walking in bare feet and wearing a shoe with a bit of a heel or a heel cup insert helps.

Deep water running as mentioned will also keep you in shape and is the closest thing you can do to running. When I do it, I wear a flotation belt and I actually use my arms too. I basically mimic my running form as much as possible and spend the equivalent time in the pool that I would have, on the road. I also wear my Heart Rate Monitor to ensure that I'm getting an adequate workout. Your heart rate in the pool will be about 10 beats less than it is on land.

Hope you're recovering! Best of luck.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Thank you kindly folks... I sit here now rolling a tennis ball under my foot and sipping a gin & tonic (with a slice of lime) thinking injury isn't too bad really... maybe a bit later I'll dive into the pool and do some pool running to complete the day.

It is however a bit frustrating having my training schedule thrown into disarray, but doubtless with enough gin & tonic and the odd Coopers ale I'll be back hitting the hills before you can say "Bombay Sapphire please". And I still have 3 weeks before my race, so bags o' lime, I mean time.

BTW, I read on one of those sports medicine sites that using a golf ball on the sole of the foot was the best remedy. Don't believe a word of it ... the tennis ball works heaps better. Runningcommentary_forum wins again!

MLC Man

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Well after 12 days of pain and frustration, I finally got fed up waiting for the final, remaining, last little bit of metatarsal pain to subside and just went for it ... a short 2.5 km test run to see what happens.

No treatment - ice, rest, massage, compression, goanna entrails or chicken sacrifices to the moon God Raki really made any noticeable difference at all. Perhaps I should have thawed the chook first maybe?

Anyway the break must have done me good because the above-mentioned, just-completed trial run was a-bloody-mazing. I mean, it felt soooooo good. And it was fast too! And now my foot feels great - even better than when I left. Or perhaps that's due to the post-run half bottle of cheap Albanian vodka?

Officially back in training.. woo hoo! Never thought I'd miss it so much!

MLC Man.

[El Gordo]

Good story, MLCM. When you feel like that after coming back from a lay-off, you know you're hooked.

Don't go overdoing it now...