Injury Report

After obsessively scouring the internet to figure out what could be wrong with me, I've learned how helpful it can be to hear about other people who have gone through the same set of symptoms as I have. It's even better to hear that they finally recovered, that the injury didn't sideline them for life, and that there is hope in the darkest of nights when it seems like nothing will ever feel right again. So for anyone out there who might be trying to figure out what's wrong, here's my story.

The problems started with a popular Portland race, the Run Like Hell 1/2 Marathon. This little doozy take the participants through downtown Portland, over some uneven streets, and then up Barbur Blvd, which is a long uphill climb on a canted road. Normally the course then would follow Terwilliger back down, which, although it is windy and downhill, does lay pretty straight across the street. But a huge landslide has blocked Terwilliger off for the time being, so the race director had us come back down Barbur and in to the finish. And Barbur is slanted, very slanted. At times it felt like my feet were wobbling all over the place (and I was pushing the pace, which didn't help). I was having a lot of issues with a painful snapping hip, which is a different post, but other than that, I thought I felt alright.

After the race as I was enjoying beer and hot wings with friends, I noticed that the outside of my left foot was getting a little tight. I didn't think too much of it. The magical hot chocolate rum elixir may have had something to do with that . . .

By that evening, I could barely walk on it. The outside of the foot, underneath the 5th metatarsal, and up through the ankle, was extremely painful. Bearing weight sent shooting pain up the leg, nearly to the knee. I had generalized pain up and down the side of the leg and both above and below the bony protusion on the outside of my foot.



What the heck had I done? From my internet research (you know, it's never a great idea to research things on the internet because you always come away convinced you have the worst of all possible diagnoses) I decided that I probably had a problem with my peroneal tendon. While most peroneal tendon injuries happen from ankle sprains and inversions, it is possible to damage them when running on canted roads. Add in the fact that my shoes are on the stability side of motion control shoes, and I had a recipe for foot disaster.

The chiropractor confirmed that my peroneal tendons seemed to be strained, and he began graston and muscle release on the injured tendons. I think it is always a good idea to have an injury like this evaluated by someone who sees these injuries commonly; you want to make sure it isn't a stress fracture (since you'll need to stay off of it for 4 - 6 weeks). As it slowly began to release, I was instructed to do some stretching and strengthening of the area. Balancing on one foot, first with eyes open and then with eyes closed, would wake up the muscles and get them on the road to rehab. I found that using a roller on the calf muscles was also very helpful. It isn't an easy injury to get rid of. Searching for information on the injury reveals a wide variety of recovery times, from a few days to months. I am at 3 weeks post injury, and I was just able to run one mile without any pain. I expect that it will be a few more weeks before I am back to running at the levels I was before the injury.

One trick I learned - a rolling pin works really well as a muscle release tool. I have a fancy one, but it doesn't have any handles, which makes it hard to maneuver. I can position the rolling pin much more easily. It isn't quite as cushioned as I might like, but I make sure not to use too much pressure. Once I am fully recovered, I plan to do more trail running so that I can strengthen up those tendons. If there is some way to keep myself injury free, I am going to try it! Being injured when you are a runner is the worst form of torture.