shoes?

A few of you readers may remember that I once called myself a runner: a distance runner. Sadly, the tendonitis in the posterior tibial tendon of my right foot has continued to ail me. Once again, it’s not a lot of “pain” but it’s enough to keep me from anything more than weekly (if that) test runs.

Since the “discomfort,” as I like to call it, is still ongoing 2 months after completing the Boston to Big Sur (B2BS) Challenge, I sent a message to the sports medicine physician to provide an update. I reported: I’ve continued to need the NSAID 1-2 times per day and, although I have been cycling and doing yoga, I have not been able to resume running. I asked him if this met with his expectations for my recovery. His initial response was noncommittal: A series of questions, and an offer to recheck or refer to physical therapy (PT). I provided additional clarification, noting that running was not the only cause of my current issue. From balance poses during yoga to walking, or simply moving my foot while seated at my desk (or pushing the accelerator during driving), I have continued to experience a mild to moderate level of discomfort.

The physician confirmed my suspicion, that overuse tendonitis takes (many) months to heal, and urged me to be patient. He also recommended icing this tendon which wraps around the back of my ankle and attaches medially at the midfoot, stressed that I avoid going barefoot, and urged me to continue (oops) wearing good arch support for walking and running.

I sort of forgot that I had tossed out his recommendation when I felt my ankle hitting up against the heel of the my traditional running shoe. That wasn’t discomfort, that was pain. But when I tried running in my VFFs, I didn’t feel that same pain so I’d made the switch and proceeded with caution. I guess we can see where that got me.

This correspondence came at the end of my work day. It was the day I’d set aside to run at lunch but, as usual, that didn’t go as planned. Of course I only had my VFFs with me. I never even considered running shoes. I trekked homeward for shoes and a run on the streets nearby.

Running in shoes felt awkward right from the very 1st step.  You’d have thought I’d put bricks on my feet by the painfully slow pace I was traveling. At one point, I wondered if my feet were even aware that we were running; they weren’t helping at all. They just sat there in my shoes as if I was camped out on the couch watching the Tour de France. And if that wasn’t painful enough, by the time I’d finished a 3.75 mile run, I had a nice blister on the arch of each foot.

As for my ankles, they don’t feel any worse following the run. Then again, I can hardly walk thanks to the blisters so inactivity might have something to do with that.  You think?

Anyway, this healing process is really painfully slow but it’s what going on over here — in case you were wondering.