My foot is worse again. Yesterday's disastrous 12K kickdown wasn't good for it, apparently. I did the elliptical for 30 min this morning followed by some foot PT, general weight training, and abs. The 0.5 mile walk from the parking lot to the building I work in was enough to make my foot pretty achy. I've iced it a couple times today (so far) and it's better but still aching. Not good. I just wish I knew how to fix the biomechanical problem that is causing it. I got over this injury once, and it was better for months, and now it's back. Very frustrating.
My facebook friend and ultrawalker Ollie, who has had his share of injuries, has this to say: "Tammy: I've dealt with similar stuff with my Achilles tendon when I ran. Every subsequent "ping" made me worry. Eventually I began to be able to distinguish between "I just worked hard", "oh, I had better cut back", "oh, I better take a day or two off" and "oh SH**, my goal race is probably history" and "oh F*CK, time to subsidize my orthopedic doctor again"."
I thought it was pretty funny...and at the moment I'm at the "Oh, I'd better take a day or two off" place. Hopefully it won't progress to canceling my goal race (the 50K) in January. But it's not looking good.
4 comments:
Re: my Achilles: I found out that I needed the eccentric Achilles strengthening exercise and I needed to work on my soleus muscle (I have a long calf and lots of distance from my ankle to my gastrocnemius. One time, a massage therapist saw me after a race and said "you have ankle and Achilles pain, don't you?" (I hadn't told him). He figured this out when he tried to massage my calf and found that part to be super, super tight.
That (the exercises) took care of it. You might have a weakness somewhere.
I agree with Harriet and I am sure Jim has spoken to you re: the bio-mechanics of race-walking ...its just a shame jim can see you personally but is there anyone where you live that is qualified like Jim that you can go and see. If you do by chance have a weakness further up then being able to work on that muscle group would surely help heal your foot faster?
I like Ollies description and at least you are only at the first one.....not the last one :0)
I am sure you will be up on your feet in no time...no pun intended.
Nyle - thanks for the encouragement. Jim and I have been talking about the biomechanics, of course. It's just that it's hard when he can't see me regularly. I can shoot some video and that might help. Anyway, there is NO one here who is really knowledgeable about racewalking biomechanics, unfortunately. Some good PTs that do running biomechanics, though, and perhaps that is the next step. In a week if things are not substantially better after resting, x-training, and doing my PT exercises, then I will go back to PT. Sigh...so frustrating. Makes me want to cry :(.
Hi Tammy. I see your posts on FB often, but somehow just discovered your blog?
I went through foot problems during the winter last year. It put me in a panic, which resulted in overeating and a return to some bad habits which eventually led to a nearly 30-pound weight gain!
Well, some of those habits have stuck around, and I'm still not back down to where I was before the foot problem. I did get it under control, though - I have found that stretching my calves often, wearing good shoes with inserts and putting on a brace the podiatrist gave me to wear at night when I sens the fascia tightening up again seem to keep it under control. It still hurts sometimes, especially after a half-marathon or 5-k, but it's better now.
I don't race walk or run because I have major joint and alignment issues. My gait is a mess, my form is terrible, and some pros I've talked to who have seen me walk are amazed I can even do a half-marathon.
Anyhow - I wanted to post a note to ENCOURAGE you to keep at it and try different solutions until you find something that works. You've come so far, I know you won't let this hold you back!
Jon
Post a Comment