Diagnose me

[sweetptater]

As I've said a few times on here, I'm training for a half in April. At about week 2 of training (I'm on week 8 now), I developed a knot in the arch of my left foot. It's right between my big toe and heel. It feels like a knot in the muscle. It really hurt for the first 4 days, but then subsided quite a bit. It still hurts as in I can always feel it, but not enough to stop me from doing my day to day tasks, impacting my walking, and it doesn't bother me to run on it. But like I said, it does hurt enough for me to know it's there.

Anyone had a similar issue?  

[thom]

Sorry you're dealing with this! My foot is actually one of the few areas I haven't dealt with any pain/injury. So, I'm not sure about this, but I would google "plantar fasciitis" and see if the symptoms line up. I think a lot of the suggestions involve trying to gently massage out your foot, roll it on a frozen water bottle, and possibly wear supportive socks or tape to support it. You could try those things anyway even if it's not PF. I know other ladies have dealt with it specifically, so you'll probably get more ideas from them. Hope it heals up!

Also - I like the pose in the middle of this "yoga for runners" episode that stretches and opens up the bottom of the foot.
www.ctollerun.com/episode.php?e=62

[sweetptater]

Plantar fasciitis was my first thought, but the symptoms don't really line up. It's not stabbing (more like a dull muscle ache) and doesn't bother me more at specific times of the day or after use. It's not near the heel, although one article did say it could be in the middle. It's also close to the inside of my foot directly in the arch, not where the plantar fascia runs down the middle. So I don't think it's that, but that could also be me being overly optimistic in hopes of not having to quit training!

Thank you for the video!

[labbie]

I've had this and it is helped by rolling (I have a golfball and a lacrosse ball under my desk at work!). Do you have flat-ish feet? I'm wondering if an orthotic could help and/or if it's time for new running shoes. I've noticed a huge improvement since wearing orthotics regularly.

[katyintx]

I dealt with what sounds very similar last year at this time. It felt exactly like a big knot and even got so bad I thought I had a fracture. Which I know sound like to completely different types of pain, but I was convinced it was something super serious... I tried icing, rolling a tennis ball, and I even got some prescription pain meds (although they were weak). In the end, what helped me a lot was to get arches. That was literally all I had to do. Now I use Superfeet arches and I don't have any issues.

Hopefully your problem is as easy as this!

[runaways]

I've had this from time to time. Green superfeet have helped me a lot, as well as using a massage ball.

[sweetptater]

I've tried the tennis ball rolling, water bottle icing, new shoes and nothing has worked so far.

I hadn't heard of Superfeet, but I'm now the proud owner of the blue ones. I'll try them out on my 8 mile run this weekend! Thank you all!