Monday, March 9, 2009

The pain that keeps on giving

Well it's been a few weeks since Psycho Wyco, but the way my feet feel it could have been yesterday. The problem with my right foot has now been bothering me for over three months. I suppose I should feel fortunate that podiatrists have told me that there is nothing structurally wrong with the foot and that I can actually continue to train on it as long as I can stand the pain. The frustrating thing is that it hurts alot and does not seem to be getting any better (kinda like the economy). But just as my frustration begins to turn into concern (OK, panic) that I may not actually be able to train at the level needed in order to complete Junes Western States 100 and the subsequent 2009 Grand Slam, some good news from my podiatrist Timothy Gately.

He believes that the arthritis in the big toe (which is designed to absorb over 40% of the foots impact during the toe off phase while running) of my right foot is causing the #2 toe to bear more of the impact then it was created to endure, causing significant inflammation in the joint of that toe. While working to reduce the inflammation we are also trying out various orthodic options that will help force my foot towards the big guy at toe off. The initial reaction to the orthodics is pretty positive and this weekends Three Days of Syllamo should be a pretty good test.

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