After what is now officially years of waiting, the London Marathon is finally getting closer, having secured my place in mid-2019 and watched the race get bumped from April 20 to October 20, and now onto October 21 it feels like it is finally going to happen. Training was going well, having cancelled my gym membership last Christmas having barely used it last year I had really focused on running, and the first few months from January to April saw me run over 250km with at least two runs per week, and a nice platform was forming to increase gently over the summer towards 30km or even 40km per week in the race build up.
It goes without saying this was not going to last, and following a short break in training after a combination of late winter cold and childbirth (my partner not me!) in early May, I began to notice a twinge in my right foot. This was by no means my first round of podiatry related soreness, having been completing long distance races for nearly a decade now, and experienced all sorts of heel, sole, shin and calf related pain including the dreaded runners plantar fasciitis – but it was concerning given I was about to restart training in a fairly serious way.
The pain was in the sole, around the ball of my right foot, just under the big toe: Nothing too sharp, more of a dull ache which felt worse when pressed. A bit more prodding revealed similar pain around my heel, whilst barefoot walking on wooden floors felt more tender than usual. I gave it a few days and a bit of ibuprofen gel, and even a couple of easy 5k recovery runs, but nothing seemed to help and by the end of the week when I had to wear my running trainers all day for the extra cushioning I realised it was worth taking seriously.
First step was an email to my GP asking for their advice, and after being put in touch with a local NHS Physio, the next thing I knew I was sat in their office discussing the symptoms, which all received something of a knowing nod:
- Male (Check)
- Over 35 (sadly, also yes)
- Previous weight loss (more of a proud yes)
- Signing up for long distance triathlons &runs as something of an early midlife crisis (well…)
- Desk job during the day broken up by long training runs (have they been stalking me?)
- … and so on
For the last step I was asked to stand up for a visual check, and within seconds the physio had identified the issue: my right leg was significantly smaller than my left leg…
This was news to me, having never previously noticed or had any comments despite attempting to wear shorts for at least 8 months of the year, but further investigation and a few pictures was enough to convince me that both my right calf and thigh looked significantly thinner and less muscled than its twin. Not quite the what I initially had in mind at the time, say the difference between Arnie and Danny DeVito, but still fairly noticeable. The most likely reason, I was told, was a historic injury which might not have been too noticeable at the time, but had caused some sort of subconscious reliance on my left leg, which as I ran more and more had over time caused it to get bigger while the other leg went the opposite way. Apparently it is not that uncommon.
As mentioned the list of prior minor injuries was long, so I could not pinpoint anything specific, but the visual evidence made it hard to argue. A few more exercises confirmed things, as my standing strength on what I though was my stronger leg was not there, and toe flexibility was also much weaker. Apparently this is all fairly common for people in my position I was given an immediate running ban for 6 weeks, with a series of exercises to complete and a mid-July progress check up.
My new daily exercise plan to try and rebuild my leg was as follows:
- Sit in a chair and stand up using one leg x 30
- On legged calf lowering over the bottom stair x 35
- Glute bridges double & single legged for 30 seconds x 5 each
- Big toe stretches on skirting board for 60 seconds x 3
- The classic golf ball foot roll on the underside of foot (hard) for 10 mins
- And my favourite: take the stairs two at a time (I am going to put a sign up to help me remember!)
- I later added a few of my own to keep flexibility, like the classic lean against the wall with one foot back calf stretch
Once I went back home for a wallow, I did what most others do in the situation, and made some comfort purchases. First up was a search for comfort shoes which led me to buy a pair of Oofos Sandals, which look like slip on flip flops crossed with orthopaedic shoes, a huge extra layer of foam underneath to cushion against foot pain and very high recommendations on all running forums to help with recovery and sole pain. They turned up looking just like the photos, but reviewers were not wrong about them being the most comfortable things ever, and I have worn them for much of the last few weeks just like slippers.
Other online impulse buys included special plantair shoe inserts, which turned out to be one of the most painful things to put on your feet, pressuring the heel to help it recover but only wearable for a short time, and an ankle wrap as the additional heel stretches were starting to put a strain on those parts of my foot which I had not already screwed up.
The biggest of all however was more of a treat for me, as whilst I was not allowed to run, I had confirmed that bike riding was ok, so I splashed out on a home spin bike – the JTX Cyclo 3. Again this involved significant research, and I have to say I am really pleased with it so far, having completed my first proper ride (Les Mills The Trip) over the weekend. I will probably write more on it soon, but for now at least this gives me a way of maintaining some sort of cardio training until I hopefully get the go ahead next month.
Away from gadgets, I have been doing a lot more research on sports injuries, something I have always had an interest in and this gave me a chance to wade through some of my books for common causes and cures. A great discovery so far has been starting the audiobook of Christopher McDougall’s renowned ‘Born to Run’ – widely accepted as the book which brought barefoot running to the masses – and whilst I am in no hurry to totally change my style at this moment it was interesting that the entire second chapter focused on his own running injuries and the statistics around how often these happen – apparently 80% of amateur runners will get some sort of injury from their hobby, so I guess I now fall into that category.
So what next? Something of a waiting game, as whilst my leg / foot does seem to be feeling better I need to see what the professionals think in my mid-July check up. Fingers crossed the stretching and strengthening exercise will be working and I can get back into training with 12 weeks hopefully enough to be ready for the marathon, especially if having kept up some cardio on the bike, but equally if it is going to cause longer term damage I will have to seriously consider other options. I have spoken to the Cancer Research team who are providing my place and they have said they can consider deferments for injury, but after two years and numerous false starts already I am really hoping that will not be needed. Only time will tell, but in the meantime the main thing is to stay positive and make my own luck for the best outcome.
Chile Challenge 