22/03/2010 – Running Withdrawal
Well, I have had to come to terms with the fact that I may not be running again till the summer as my foot is not better but worse now. It has taken a bit to come to terms with this news, as I have had to change the way I train to suit my poorly foot and also to provide some challenge and enjoyment for myself also. This has been quite a hard task but I have managed eventually to meet my needs.
The podiatrist is baffled about what is wrong with me, although he has two possible answers, capsulitis or bursitis. I have not even tried to run now for roughly two weeks, although before that I never managed over 15 minutes before the pain intervened. Now I cannot even walk very far or perform simple tasks like putting together furniture without some pain. I work in a shop part-time and am usually quite physically active heaving heavy bags around and moving stock backwards and forwards up and down stairs, but even this causes pain. However, I don’t want to become inactive so am not doing much to counteract my pain at the shop or at home.
Being active daily is important to me and running was so much a part of this. Not only did I love the act of running and the buzz it gave me but also the distraction it gave me from areas of stress in my life was very important too. I also did not want to become unfit and fat! Obviously if I am not exercising as much then I am going to have to eat less or put on weight.
After playing around with exercise quite unsuccessfully at first that would not hurt my foot I did eventually find something that worked. First of all I tried swimming for a few weeks and had instruction on how to swim properly. This was good but I was only doing it to relieve my foot pain and this did not happen. I also found undressing and getting wet in the winter quite unappealing too! So after about three weeks I decided I would go back into the gym. I tried walking on the treadmill but there was too much pain so I got some advice from one of the personal trainers at the gym about the machines I could use without experiencing foot pain. The choice was the cycle and the rower, spin classes without standing up on the pedals, weights or weight classes (body pump) and that was about all. I don’t find the cycle or the rower very inspiring especially over long distances and they certainly don’t give me a buzz the way running did.
I decided I would use a machine called the cross ramp. Its like a cross trainer but your feet are kept flat on the pedals and the heel is used to propel the pedals in an arc. The personal trainer advised I use the interval trainer to keep up my stamina for when I am ready to run again. I used this programme for a couple of weeks but it did little for the lack of buzz! I decided that I would change the programme to manual and increase and decrease my speed and pace when I wanted to instead of having to do it every two minutes for an hour. That was a bit boring. At first I wondered if I was going to be able to keep going for an hour on a machine, as the interval training seemed to drag. I was pleasantly surprised to find that when I was in control of my own interval training on the manual course that the time flew and I was even experiencing a buzz too! In fact, just like running, when I reached the end of the hour I wanted to carry on. Now I do about 30 miles a week on the cross ramp compared to 20 miles of running. Of course it doesn’t feel the same entirely and the mileage between the two forms of exercise are probably pretty equal but I enjoy the challenge this machine brings me.
I like a routine with my exercise so I don’t have to think about it. This is useful when I don’t want to do anything as I know exactly what I have to do and when, so there is no excuse and routine helps me train regularly, even when I don’t want to.
I was also getting a bit bored with my twice weekly resistance workouts that I did myself in the gym so I decided I would join some classes and get my money’s worth at the gym. This was also useful in determining a routine for these workouts too. At first I pushed it and tried some aerobic classes while trying not to hurt my foot too much, but it proved impossible, even doing minimal exertion foot wise. It meant that I was exercising differently to everyone else in the class and I felt self-conscious. So, eventually I had to stop going to any impact class which even included legs, tums and bums as there was some movement in that and again I found myself minimising those moves but still experiencing pain.
My routine now is totally low impact and should not cause my foot any further pain than I have already. I do two body pump classes per week but instead of lunging when they do I have a different move to do and it is only that one movement that I cannot do. The instructor advised staying at the back of the class if I felt self-conscious and that is what I now do every time. I also do two abs classes a week, which causes my foot no pain at all, obviously! Three times a week I use the cross ramp machine which is the number of times a week that I used to run so I feel that I am keeping up my fitness level here. In all my training I make sure that I am using only my heel and not the ball of the foot. The training I do now mimics what I did when I ran and I think that I am keeping my fitness level high while minimising any further injury to my foot.
It has been a tough journey keeping mentally disciplined long enough and regularly enough to try different things and eventually organising a training programme that I enjoy and that keeps me as fit as I would be if I was still running. I am disappointed to not have been able to do anything towards sport relief and it is especially upsetting to see runners all over the streets as I am driving around. They are everywhere and as spring is coming I expect to see more! However, I am pleased that if I was never able to run again then I could carry on with my current training and be happy, as I lost that feeling of satisfaction with what I was doing for a bit.
My podiatrist made me some very aggressive orthotics that I couldn’t wear as they caused my foot pain and then made my toes numb. Apparently the orthotics I had before these ones had worn out, but I have to still wear them, as I have nothing else. I have had no success in reaching him to tell him this so have had to make another appointment to see him to tell him this. He has also forgotten to refer me for an ultrasound, so I have lost six weeks in which time I could have had one.
Today I went to see a private physiotherapist at my gym. She encouraged me to get in touch with the podiatrist until I had some orthotics I could wear until I got permanent ones. She was very good and said that the kind of injury I had could take up to six months to heal. The good news is that if I do have a steroid injection later on, this will take down the inflammation and should enable me to start running again immediately. At least everything possible is being done (except my late referral for an ultrasound), and I am happy in my new training regime. Lets see what the next month brings!
6/5/2011 - Army Training Course Needed!
04/02/2011 – Hi There!
05/10/2010 - Morton’s Neuroma Madness!
21/08/2010 - The Wedding Journal
30/05/2010 - Running Free!!
06/05/2010 - Surprises Come In Podiatry Orthotics!!
15/04/2010 - Having Wheely Good Fun
22/03/2010 - Running Withdrawal
15/02/2010 - Swimming Towards Recovery
04/02/2010 - Help I’m Injured!
