And The Cause Of My Injuries Is . . . Me.

I am feeling relieved.  In the last few days I have had so many different people tell me so many different things about the issue with my left foot.  There were x-rays, MRIs, examinations, therapy, medication, ice, heat, etc.  There were different doctors who had different opinions.  All but one of the doctors who had a specialty in a type of surgery wanted to operate, because that is what surgeons generally do.  The only doctor who didn’t think surgery was necessary --- or even indicated --- is a runner.  Note to all runners (or people trying to be runners) out there who have orthopedic issues and need to consult a doctor: make sure the doctor is a runner or has been a runner.  In my humble opinion (and after the last few days), having a medical degree and even board certification in orthopedic medicine/surgery and/or podiatry isn’t enough.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, I was prescribed orthotics and told to give up my neutral running shoes (which I loved) for running shoes that had more stability/motion control.  It made sense and I did it.  A few weeks ago the doctor also gave me a prescription of prednisone, which I took.  I ran somewhere between 25-30 miles with this new combination of orthotics and stability/motion control shoes.  With the exception of the last 5.5 miles that I ran, I was taking the prednisone, which was numbing the pain.  I was already being tentative while I was running because of the Achilles tendonitis, which is more pronounced (and more painful) in my right leg.  Seemingly, as a result, I was putting more pressure on my left leg and foot.

When you put your heart, soul, and mind into training and when you have a goal, it really throws you when someone who doesn’t really know you tells you that you won’t be accomplishing what you set out to do.  Frankly, I was downright pissed.  It showed in my mood.  It showed in my interactions.  It showed in relation to my sleep and my pain level.  I was starting to get very nervous that I actually needed surgery now.

I pulled some strings and got into a doctor who is also a runner.  I wasn’t expecting much.  It was more to appease myself and make me feel as if I had done everything in my control.  I was wrong.

The purpose of stability/motion control shoes is to control your motion and make your gait more stable.  The purpose of orthotics is to control your motion and make your gait more stable.  Theoretically, if you use orthotics with neutral shoes it should have the same effect as using stability/motion control shoes without orthotics.  But, if you use orthotics with stability/motion control shoes then it is too much stability/motion control for your foot --- it actually hurts your foot by pushing on your outer foot and arch and putting pressure on that part of your foot. 

Remember I said there was pain on my left outer arch and foot and that it was a pain that I had never felt before?  Remember how I said that in all but my last 5.5 miles I had been taking prednisone, which was masking some of the pain?  Remember how I said that I was putting more pressure on my left leg and foot?  Is this starting to make sense?

Bottom line, I screwed up my foot with too much stability/motion control.  Luckily, I caught it early enough and didn’t keep running in the combination of orthotics and stability/motion control shoes.  Just think that if I hadn’t been so insistent in seeing a doctor who was a runner, I may have ended up with surgery that, in all likelihood, wouldn’t have helped and may have hurt my foot even more.  I was told to keep up the ice, take the pain killers for a few more days, and then it will start to get better.  I was told to try running in the motion control/stability shoes without the orthotics and then try running in the neutral shoes with the orthotics and compare them.  Under no circumstances, though, am I to run with both the orthotics and the motion control/stability shoes combination.

The doctor today gave me a lot of really amazing insight.  He said that you can tell the difference between a good running store and an average running store by the shoes that they give you.  He said that if the store brings you three models --- Asics Gel Kayano, Mizuno (model I don’t remember), and the Nikes that I have --- they are bringing you the three most expensive shoes in the store and also bringing you more stability/motion control than you likely need (especially if they know you have orthotics).  For some reason, the stability/motion control shoes are more expensive than the neutral shoes.  That comment made me appreciate Varsity Sports so much more, especially when there have been times when the staff there has talked me out of the more expensive shoes based on the reasoning that I didn’t need “that much shoe.”

The doctor also recommended that I take magnesium.  Magnesium will help with muscle recovery and timing.  Every night, during the hour before I go to sleep, I am to spend the first 20 minutes icing, the next 20 minutes soaking my feel in Rev Epsom Salt (http://www.rev-life.com/ ), and then the final 20 minutes icing.  Apparently the Rev Epsom Salt makes a product meant for athletes that has more magnesium in it than other brands, which will help work out muscle knots. 

He didn’t tell me anything that I didn’t know in terms of my Achilles issues.  I am going to be sore.  I am going to have to spend a lot of time stretching and icing.  I am going to have to take a lot of ibuprofen (although he said I should take it before my runs).  I am going to have to limit how many times per week I run.  But, if I can handle it then it won’t hurt me any more than I’m already “hurt”.  But, at the end of the appointment he asked if I loved my shoes before, the neutral ones, why had I changed because the shoes weren’t going to help with my Achilles issues in light of the bone spurs?  I didn’t have a good answer.

What a lot of this comes down to is the need to trust yourself and your senses.  My feet weren’t really hurting me.  It was my right Achilles, not even my left Achilles.  I saw a doctor not because of my feet, but because of my Achilles.  I should have trusted myself and asked more questions before making the change in my shoes.  Lesson learned, loud and clear.

I didn’t trust myself enough or my instincts enough, and as a result I got hurt.  I got hurt because I wasn’t able to see myself as a runner.  Instead, I was comparing myself to my impression of who a runner is and what a runner looks like.  I might not be the person in my head, but based on my mileage and what I have done in the last 11 months --- I am a runner.  I may be a runner who is trying to improve my distance and my pace, but I am a runner.

In a few weeks, God willing, I will be “back in the game”.  Bruising and minor tears will be healed by then --- injuries I brought upon myself.  I can’t wait to get "back in the game."  Until then, let's hope for a Badger win tonight.  It may be the pain killers (which I admit I took a few hours ago, so this post may not be so lucid), but I am starting to think it is possible that the Final Four may be four Big Ten Teams --- maybe even a Wisconsin v. Michigan showdown.  Now that would get me excited.......