I've been having top of the foot pain for almost three weeks now, and am wondering if it is a stress reaction requiring rest, or a soft tissue issue, in which case it might be OK to start running again. Here's the history of it.
Twenty years ago I ran barefoot as part of my training for karate in Japan. I didn't have any problems, but I was of course 20 years younger and my feet were already pretty tough.
I ran shod pretty consistently for more than two years 10 years ago, five miles per run, three times a week. No problems.
I started barefoot running at the beginning of May in 2011, after dabbling with it since the summer before, in 2010, after returning from overseas. I had already been walking barefoot a lot since early spring, so I didn't have to worry about blisters, and got up to three miles by the end of May before I got my first top of the foot pain, in my left foot. I rested and read Jimmy Hart's stuff on TOFP and began stretching out the calves and feet. That seemed to help. By Sept I got up to five miles. Then I tried to jump to 10 miles and somewhere around the 7 mile mark I felt top of the foot pain in my left foot again. It didn't go away so I saw a sports medicine orthopedist, who took x-rays, and saw stress reactions in all my left foot's metatarsals as well as a stress fracture in the fourth one (it was very small however, so small that my untrained eye couldn't see it at all). All through the winter I kept my running to 1-4 miles, but usually three miles or less. I generally run three times a week with a day of rest in-between each run, doing weights and rowing. The top of the foot pain never went away completely, but it was pretty minor, so in March I decided to try building up the mileage again, until I got up to six miles by the middle of July. After each run my feet would feel a little achy, but the achiness always disappeared within a day or so, so I kept running. I then decided to push beyond that.
The history since then is this:
7/29: 6.66 mi, (1 mile walk) a bit tired, but no pain
7/31: 7.9 mi, (with a few stretching breaks), 10mm pace, no problem
8/2: 2.2 mi, (hills), no problem
Next week -
8/6: 7 mi, some strain at the end, legs felt stiff, walked last mile home
8/8: 9.3 mi, felt distinct strain on outside of left knee after about 6 miles, tried stopping and stretching off and on, but as soon as I started running again, the left knee felt strained again, I ended up running off and on back home, for a total of 9.3 miles of running, and another 1.5 walking. Whenever I walked the knee felt fine.
8/10: 2.85 mi, outside of left knee and now my left foot, for the first time, began to hurt after 1.5 miles. I walked a mile, which brought immediate relief to my knee, but didn't help the foot. I ran another mile, then walked home. Pain in knee disappeared as soon as I start walking, but pain in left foot continued both when walking and at rest.
After a few days of rest, the pain in my left foot began to subside, then disappeared altogether. So I tried running again, on
8/18: 2.2 mi. No knee pain at all, and no foot pain until the next day. Now I've had top of the foot pain since then, even when walking. It's slowly getting better, but it's still there so I haven't run at all for a week.
Yesterday, 8/25, I walked a few shuffling miles while at the zoo with the family. Today I have top of the foot pain in my right foot too(!), although my left foot's TOFP is about the same as the day before, just barely there.
I've been assuming that I had another stress reaction, brought on by the push for higher mileage without a proper build-up, except this time the pain is closer to the ankle than the toes, and almost feels like a mild sprain.
Today when I woke up with pain in my right foot after yesterday's slow walk around the zoo, I began to suspect that it might not be a stress reaction after all, since it made no sense to have a low-impact walk have that effect. I was in my Luna sandals. I've been walking barefoot or in sandals a good part of my adult life without any problems. So I re-read Jimmy Hart's article, and decided to try massaging and stretching out the foot and calves and, for the first time, the front of the lower leg. This felt great. The ache in my right foot diminished immediately and considerably when I ran my 'stick' up and down the outer half of my right lower leg, and my left foot feels a bit better too after massaging the left lower leg.
So, my question is, if it is just muscle tightness, is it safe to run now as long as I massage the legs aggressively before and afterwards, or should I continue to rest just in case it's a stress reaction after all? I would hate to aggravate it, but perhaps if it's a soft tissue problem then running, stretching, and massaging would be the best therapy.
Apologies for the length of this question, but I thought it might be useful to hear the whole history of the injury. Thanks in advance.
Twenty years ago I ran barefoot as part of my training for karate in Japan. I didn't have any problems, but I was of course 20 years younger and my feet were already pretty tough.
I ran shod pretty consistently for more than two years 10 years ago, five miles per run, three times a week. No problems.
I started barefoot running at the beginning of May in 2011, after dabbling with it since the summer before, in 2010, after returning from overseas. I had already been walking barefoot a lot since early spring, so I didn't have to worry about blisters, and got up to three miles by the end of May before I got my first top of the foot pain, in my left foot. I rested and read Jimmy Hart's stuff on TOFP and began stretching out the calves and feet. That seemed to help. By Sept I got up to five miles. Then I tried to jump to 10 miles and somewhere around the 7 mile mark I felt top of the foot pain in my left foot again. It didn't go away so I saw a sports medicine orthopedist, who took x-rays, and saw stress reactions in all my left foot's metatarsals as well as a stress fracture in the fourth one (it was very small however, so small that my untrained eye couldn't see it at all). All through the winter I kept my running to 1-4 miles, but usually three miles or less. I generally run three times a week with a day of rest in-between each run, doing weights and rowing. The top of the foot pain never went away completely, but it was pretty minor, so in March I decided to try building up the mileage again, until I got up to six miles by the middle of July. After each run my feet would feel a little achy, but the achiness always disappeared within a day or so, so I kept running. I then decided to push beyond that.
The history since then is this:
7/29: 6.66 mi, (1 mile walk) a bit tired, but no pain
7/31: 7.9 mi, (with a few stretching breaks), 10mm pace, no problem
8/2: 2.2 mi, (hills), no problem
Next week -
8/6: 7 mi, some strain at the end, legs felt stiff, walked last mile home
8/8: 9.3 mi, felt distinct strain on outside of left knee after about 6 miles, tried stopping and stretching off and on, but as soon as I started running again, the left knee felt strained again, I ended up running off and on back home, for a total of 9.3 miles of running, and another 1.5 walking. Whenever I walked the knee felt fine.
8/10: 2.85 mi, outside of left knee and now my left foot, for the first time, began to hurt after 1.5 miles. I walked a mile, which brought immediate relief to my knee, but didn't help the foot. I ran another mile, then walked home. Pain in knee disappeared as soon as I start walking, but pain in left foot continued both when walking and at rest.
After a few days of rest, the pain in my left foot began to subside, then disappeared altogether. So I tried running again, on
8/18: 2.2 mi. No knee pain at all, and no foot pain until the next day. Now I've had top of the foot pain since then, even when walking. It's slowly getting better, but it's still there so I haven't run at all for a week.
Yesterday, 8/25, I walked a few shuffling miles while at the zoo with the family. Today I have top of the foot pain in my right foot too(!), although my left foot's TOFP is about the same as the day before, just barely there.
I've been assuming that I had another stress reaction, brought on by the push for higher mileage without a proper build-up, except this time the pain is closer to the ankle than the toes, and almost feels like a mild sprain.
Today when I woke up with pain in my right foot after yesterday's slow walk around the zoo, I began to suspect that it might not be a stress reaction after all, since it made no sense to have a low-impact walk have that effect. I was in my Luna sandals. I've been walking barefoot or in sandals a good part of my adult life without any problems. So I re-read Jimmy Hart's article, and decided to try massaging and stretching out the foot and calves and, for the first time, the front of the lower leg. This felt great. The ache in my right foot diminished immediately and considerably when I ran my 'stick' up and down the outer half of my right lower leg, and my left foot feels a bit better too after massaging the left lower leg.
So, my question is, if it is just muscle tightness, is it safe to run now as long as I massage the legs aggressively before and afterwards, or should I continue to rest just in case it's a stress reaction after all? I would hate to aggravate it, but perhaps if it's a soft tissue problem then running, stretching, and massaging would be the best therapy.
Apologies for the length of this question, but I thought it might be useful to hear the whole history of the injury. Thanks in advance.
