The Agony of the Feet

It's been 12 days now since I've been able to run. This is the longest I've gone without running in about 3 years. Not being able to run is intensely frustrating and at times, outright depressing. There is a big race coming up in 2 days that I know I will not be able to participate in, save for a miracle. It could happen. But I'm not holding my breath.

On June 5th, during a 10K run-of-the-mill road race, I started experiencing some mild pain in my right Achilles tendon area. By the end of the race, it became excruciating. I limp-ran toward the finish line with all the strength I had. I came home, took some ibuprofen, lay down, iced and elevated my foot. I stayed in bed the entire afternoon and did the same the following day. I thought I pulled a muscle or strained a tendon and that in 2 or 3 days I would be able to run again. I was wrong.

After 11 days with no real progress and fearing a stress fracture or tear, I went to see a highly-recommended podiatrist who specializes in sports injuries and who is a runner himself. I found myself waiting for about an hour and a half in the waiting room before finally being ushered into an exam room where I was asked a few questions about my injury, had a couple of foot x-rays taken and my blood pressure assessed. After about another 15 minutes, the doctor came in and asked what shoes I was wearing when I got my injury and how far I ran each week. He did a very brief exam of my feet, doing nothing to elicit the pain or even really examining the sore spot. He then went on to say that I have high arches and tight muscles and need to stretch more and wear a supportive shoe with orthotics. He told me I should get the Spira Stinger shoe and went on about people who wear them and how they win races and blah, blah, blah. I asked him about how I should treat my injury. He said, "You don't have an injury. It's just from overuse. There's no swelling." (When in fact, it was/is clearly swollen in the injured area.) I asked, "How should I treat it? Will I hurt it if I continue to walk on it?" He said to just do some ice and NSAID's and that I wouldn't really bother it by walking on it. I was given no real treatment plan, no pain relieving measures, no timeline as to when I could run again. Just a "prescription" for orthothic inserts and $100 running shoes that have springs in the soles.

I went home resigned to the fact that I would have to give up the idea of barefoot/minimalist running and that racing with springs on my feet just might be fun. But, after really pondering the whole visit, I realized that my foot was still just as sore as before I went in, clearly injured, and that this boob did nothing to diagnose or treat my problem. I felt like I had been to see a shoe salesman, not a healer. I am not one to readily go see a doctor. I have to be really sick, sore or near death before I will make an appointment. For me, allopathic medicine is a last resort. So, for me to take the initiative to go to him was a huge deal. The more I thought about the whole experience, the angrier I became.

I went to the Runner's World "Barefoot Running" message board and posted a message to the forum about my experience to see if anyone else had similar stories or advice. Sure enough, they agreed that my injury was most likely related to overuse (running too much too soon as a minimalist/barefoot runner) and that the podiatrist sounded like a quack. One person stated that they had never heard of a podiatrist who didn't recommend support shoes and orthotics. Here I went, trusting that this "professional" would be able to pinpoint and alleviate my problem and perhaps even encourage my pursuit of barefoot running. Unfortunately, I left the office feeling that I had just wasted a great deal of my time and money and being no closer to a solution than I was the day before. I did, however, learn a valuable lesson: to never to go this doctor again.

From my own research and analysis, I believe what I have is peroneal tendonitis. It is treated with rest, hot/cold therapy and NSAID's. All of which I am already doing. Now, the hardest part of the treatment: TIME.

I thought briefly about giving up my dreams of being a barefoot runner. About how I have engraved on my Road ID Ankle Bracelet, "RAW VEGAN BAREFOOT" and how it wouldn't be true any longer if I had to wear shoes. I thought about all the hard work and miles I've put into strengthening my calves and foot muscles already. I thought about the Vibram Bikilas I pre-ordered and how I'd have to cancel that order and instead order a pair of Spira Stingers. I thought about not being able to follow through on my goal of running at least one race this summer sans shoes. I then thought about how much I love being barefoot and this is who I am and who I want to be. About how this "expert's" opinions ran contrary to all I've read and researched. Yes, this guy might know a lot about feet, but he knows nothing about me.

I feel like everything I do is a sort of science experiment, from what I eat to what I wear to how I run. I am always trying something new and different based on what I believe to be the optimal path. Sometimes the experiments succeed, sometimes they fail. I guess that's why they are called experiments. I have to find what works for me and stick with it. I also have to be true to myself and continually strive for what I believe is best, and right now that means I am a raw vegan barefoot runner girl. At least for now.