Not On The Right Foot

On the surface, my post-L.A. marathon recovery has seemed to be going very well. My pace is quicker. I feel fitter. However, if you have been following my recent entries, you may have noted how often I refer to issues with my right ankle.

There is a pattern: My foot feels great when I start running. At some point it starts to bother me, but not enough to abort. I finish strong. Foot hurts off and on for the rest of the day...and even more so the next morning. I skip the next day. If it still hurts, I skip another. Then I wake up feeling great...only to start this pattern all over again.

Actually, the pain is not really confined to my ankle. Some of it reminds me of PF, but along the outside edge of my foot (as opposed to the arch). It especially hurts when I first step down on the hardwood floor in the morning, so I roll out the pain using a tennis ball. The ankle feels a little click-ish when I roll it to loosen it up. At times there is tenderness in front of the ankle. Occasionally the heel of my foot stings. The pain is worse when I am barefoot or wearing slippers.

Some of these pains are not new. Some may not necessarily be from running. I first noted pain along the front of my ankle after catching my toe-edge while snowboarding a few years ago. I have rolled this foot inward a few times while running on uneven pavement. The PF-like symptoms are more recent (as in during my last month of training for L.A.). The heel pain started after the marathon.

What is relatively new is having any of these pains while running. I think the Long Beach Marathon was the start of this phenomenon. If I remember correctly, the next time I even noticed any ankle pain was during the latter miles of my longer runs leading up to L.A. And now I am noticing discomfort in my right foot at some point during every run.

I find myself paying close attention to how my right foot feels all day long. Sometimes it bothers me while I walk. Sometimes it bothers me while I sit. Sometimes it does not bother me at all.

I do not want this to become something serious, so I have elected not to run since doing a 5 miler on Tuesday. Considering I do not have any races scheduled, I can afford to play it safe. I just do not want to lose my post-marathon speed boost. I probably will run this weekend. If I am smart, I will not run a 10+ miler until I am absolutely certain the pain has completely gone away.