Regular readers will recall that about a year ago I started having some weird tightness and aches in the arch of my right foot. I took a few weeks off and had a bone scan – and was radioactive for a day, which was fun – that didn’t show any fractures or serious inflammation. The doctor (from a local sports med clinic) thought it was just overuse from three months of forefoot running. She advocated ice and stretching. Unfortunately that injury has plagued me off and on ever since, depending on the shoes I wear and the mileage I run. Taking time off hasn’t seemed to have helped at all. So today I finally went to a proper podiatrist to find out what the hell I should do about it.

After hearing the whole saga, he flexed my big toe and poked the tendon in my arch, and I just about jumped off the table. OUCH. He said that even if it didn’t show on the scan last year, I definitely have Plantar Fasciitis. (The most common form involves heel pain, which I’ve never had. But you can have PF without it, apparently.) I’ve also got some strained ligaments along the side of my arch as well. The interesting thing he said is that the injury is such that stopping running wouldn’t help it heal. Simply walking around is enough to keep it from properly healing. I steeled myself at this point, figuring he was going to put me in a cast or something for 3 months. But to my surprise, he said that altering my running schedule would be our LAST resort with treatment. First he wanted to try taking some of the pressure off my arch with tape to see if it made an immediate difference in my pain level. So he strapped me up. He said to go ahead and do my scheduled runs this weekend. (Yay!) I’m also supposed to only wear shoes with support (as opposed to my beloved Converse). Next week I’ll see him again to discuss the outcome. It may well be that I end up getting orthotics for a while to allow me to keep running while it heals.

So it’s both bad news and good news. Now I’m just sorry I waited so long to see a specialist! I’m glad I finally have a diagnosis and I can move forward on this.

This week I bounced back from last week’s chin-up related setback. Sunday was my “long run,” but as it’s a cutback week I was only scheduled for 4 miles. The Snook and I did another mile time trial, and though I felt we were speeding along, the time was a disappointing 10:58. (I went back and cleaned up the GPS on our first time trial a month ago, and that one was 10:20.) My foot was bothering me, so I took Monday and Tuesday off to rest. Wednesday I had a morning run and then a Spudds session at lunch. (I KICKED ASS on the rower.) Yesterday I treated myself to a full-body massage in the evening, where a little Chinese man went to town on the knots and tightness in my legs. This morning I went for another run, and though my legs felt great my foot was pretty sore. I’m seeing the podiatrist at lunchtime, so hopefully he’ll be able to advise what to do.

Feb. 6: 6.81km
Feb. 9: 6.09km
Feb. 11: 6.12km
Total this week: 19.02km (11.9mi)
Total in 2011: 130.97km (81.8mi)

To meet my goal of running 1100km in 2011, I should be at 126.9km. So I’ve still got a 4km buffer. I actually have quite a lot of running scheduled this weekend. Tomorrow there’s a 5K Group Run/Meet-up with some of the Daily Mile folks. Then Sunday is my scheduled long run of 19.2km (12mi). Eek! Hope my foot is up to it.