I was really pleased with my mega-long run on Sunday, so when Monday rocked around I was really worried to find that the longer P & I bimbled about the Metrocentre, the more my left foot hurt – the outer side was getting worse and worse the longer I walked until when we went back to the car I was almost at a snail’s pace and didn’t really want to put much weight on it. If you look up ‘pain on outer edge of foot’, the search results are pretty unanimous – you’ve either got a stress fracture in the metatarsels or something really obscure. Symptoms of a stress fracture? Doesn’t hurt when resting (check), and gets noticeably worse the longer you put weight on it (check). Symptoms may not appear when the injury first happens but build over the next few days and weeks – foot swelling, increase in amount of pain when walking, etc. etc. Just what one needs when one’s calendar is full of race events and there’s just over 4 weeks to an assault run and just over 8 weeks to a half marathon. Expected recovery time if minor? 6 weeks. No, thank you.
I rested Monday evening and the pain subsided, I woke up Tuesday morning feeling fine, and decided that if it was broken, I would probably know by lunchtime as the pain was likely to build again, or at least so the internet (that most credible source of information) led me to believe. At least in this case, typing my symptoms in didn’t lead to it telling me I died last Thursday. If it did arise, I would go to the walk-in centre after work and see what advice, if any other than ‘rest it’, they could give me. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all passed with very on-feet days at work, in my heavy steel-toed work boots, and my foot problems didn’t arise again. Monday was looking like a strong possibility in terms of symptoms; Tues, Weds and Thurs definitely not. So, tonight I decided to try a short jog around the Spetchells with J to see how I was holding up, in my shiny new sun visor as it was such a nice bright evening. We went round and up and down and over in a way that typically does not show on the elevation graph – so I get no credit for running up the steps! I got all the way round the 3km very comfortably with no hold ups until we were on the path heading back to the carpark when it spiked me with a ‘Hello! Not forgotten me had you?!’. Bleurgh.
Walking about, my foot seems mostly fine again, and it has been thoroughly dunked in cold water this evening (that’s a total lie, I dipped my feet into the bowl in the most gingerly wimpy way possible!!!), as apparently the best cure for all exercise injuries is RICE – Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Maybe if I sleep with socks on with my foot on a pillow that’ll take care of the last two?! Or maybe if the cat sleeps on my feet? Does that count?! She had a good nosey at my water bowl earlier, a most puzzling development this was.
Otterburn is looking dubious on Sunday at the moment. I may be in a supporting role rather than active participant, we shall see. I may try another short jog in a day or two. In the meantime, I shall have to hit the gym again! My poor gym has been sadly neglected of late with work taking over my life again (so inconsiderate!). Fortunately, J is on the case and got me some new gadgets for my birthday! My gym now includes a gym ball, and she also got me a monster exercise book and some sweat bands – which I will definitely need as the weather warms up, I’m getting salt in my eyes already! I’m just about to start Chapter 3 of the book – though it’s not exactly light bedtime reading!
Watch this space for whether I’m going to be spending the next few weeks pounding the pavement in the sunshine, or hitting the gym while I get my foot sorted…and keep your fingers crossed for me that I just have a weird bruise or something!
Blue Runnings 
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