I now also have some injuries to recover from before I can do any serious training. The ball of my right foot just back of my big toe (called the metatarsophelangeal joint) was giving me discomfort a week or so after the Hamilton Half. I’m not sure if I bruised it or sprained the joint in some way, but the pain was not enough to stop me from running. I would describe it as more of a discomfort and seemed most noticeable when I was walking slowly or resting. I continued to run 2 or 3 times per week as the running conditions began to feel more and more like winter.
On Monday December 7, I drove to the store on time for the pub run. I was looking forward to this one because it had snowed about 5cm late in the day giving us the first fresh snow on the ground of the season. Unfortunately the fresh snow also brought out the Christmas shoppers to the downtown. By the time I got parked the run had started so I decided to run the route in reverse until I met up with the other runners. The temperature was about 1ºC and I started out fast with no warm-up or stretching. I was enjoying the feel of the fresh snow, but my left ankle on the outside felt a bit stiff. By the time I met up with the other runners at about 2 or 3k out and turned to run back with them my ankle was really feeling tight and a little sore. Half way back I had to slow to a walk and by the time I got to within a block of the store I found it painful to even limp.
On Wednesday I saw my family doctor and my massage therapist. It seems I strained a tendon in my ankle (the peroneal tendon, brevis or longus is my guess) no doubt from going too fast without warming up. The massage made it feel a little better. The doctor gave me some anti-inflammatories and I got some adjustments from the chiropractor on Thursday night also. I will be seeing the physiotherapist on Tuesday, so I will have had all the experts involved. I think all there is to do now is to rest it. The added benefit is my right foot is getting some rest too and is feeling better now. With any luck I will be able to get back to some serious training after Christmas and I’ll have to make the final decisions on those races when I have healed up.
