Injury report #1: damn you feet

Is my body really just 34 years old? Really? Because sometimes (a lot of the time) it feels as though it’s more like 90 years old!

I’ve had multiple hip issues, my knees have failed me, my ankles, my feet, my shoulder, etc., etc., etc.. But this time I thought I was doing everything right. I waited three months before I started running again; I strengthened my hips; I started in on my core. It was all part of the ‘Keep Me Injury Free’ plan, and it was a good plan, but unfortunately, it was a plan that couldn’t beat my stupidly frail limbs!

Just two weeks into my running reunion and I was once again sidelined by injury. Oh freaking joy 🙁

It all started back on that fateful first night with my new sneakers. Those flashy Asics, it turned out, were not the proper shoes for my picky feet. They rubbed against my poppy foot veins causing a nasty internal bruise and were instantly thrown in the closet never to resurface again. I didn’t want to stop running though, so I pulled out a pair of old Mizunos and laced those up for my next couple of runs before I could find a worthy replacement. Big mistake!

By my second week running, my left ankle was so stiff and unstable, I was wobbling all over the bloody place. Off to Dear Physio I went.

He assured me the ailment was not overly bad and that he had actually suspected I would suffer some form of setback early on because my post-pregnancy body is still working out the kinks and remoulding itself, but because I waited a solid three months before starting to run again, the setback was not fatal. It could be fixed, he said.

It turns out my foot and hip were both misaligned, and every time my foot hit the pavement, it was the mid foot area (lateral cuneiform) that took on the brunt of the compression. There was no shock absorption to be shared by the whole foot and leg, which apparently is what’s supposed to happen.

footankle bony anat

And so Dear Physio worked his magic, did some yanking of the hip and tugging and tapping of the foot, and voila, I was cured… or so I thought.

I was reluctant (read: scared)  to get back out running right away so I told myself I’d wait until after the holidays. I’d keep up my strength training, and go for aqua jog sessions and walks, but no running. I wanted to give it ample time to heal. However, just a couple days after Dear Physio, that achy stiffness was back in the front of my ankle. Every time I tried to flex it back, it was as though it would get stuck half way through the movement. I couldn’t do walking lunges, squats, or ankle raises without feeling the pain. I thought it would go away. It didn’t go away.

So finally I fired an email off to Dear Physio yesterday morning explaining the symptoms. In his response, he suspected an inflamed anterior talus and amongst other things, he stated “absolutely no running ’til you see me!”

footankle bony anat-1

This is NOT how I wanted to start back on this journey 🙁

3 thoughts on “Injury report #1: damn you feet”

  1. Hey!! If this is a picture of your foot – you need to put on a little weight!! 🙂
    I’m such a funny guy 🙂
    But, really, it sounds to me like you’re doing everything right … but you’re SO impatient!!
    Slow down, be gentle, take it one step at a time … and I’m sure you’ll be running like a kid again!! 🙂

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