Sunday, August 10, 2008

Uncle Fester

I can't take credit for the name as it was my pal Craig who coined it on our hike last week, but here's "Uncle Fester" at about day 10.
Since when do blisters get blisters? It just ain't right!
I'm proud of him in a twisted way, he's kinda grown on me (pun intended). But I've had enough. I've been trying to train for my Himalayan trip (and possibly a race in September) but have had all kinds of issues; Fester, something weird happening with my Rt. patellar tendon, and Rt. lateral plantar pain radiating up behind my lateral malleolus (my guess is peroneus brevis tendon).

It's really frustrating. And it makes me feel like a wuss complaining about it, especially since my dear friend (and athletic hero) AMG just won the Calgary marathon with a completely torn ACL. But I've been eating NSAIDS like candy and icing...it'd just be great to get out there and feel strong instead of spending the runs trying to distract myself from a demon pitchfork jabbing at various areas....does this mean I am getting OLD??? *gasp* Is this what it is like???

Injuries=annoying.
Especially nagging, wussie ones. I think next week I am going to try and take it easy. I tacked on 94kms of running in the past 2 weeks and 20kms of hiking. It's just tough because right now the only thing that makes me feel good is exercise...sigh...

9 comments:

Rogue Medic said...

So, are those blood stains on your foot gloves or do you just not know the meaning of "When," when it comes to toe nail polish?

Albinoblackbear said...

If I wanted to star in a foot fetish horror film right now I could...yes those are blood stains, but at least the blood is from me...

My other runners look almost as bad but that's the result of disconnecting a bag of PRBC's at the end of a 12h night shift without clamping the line properly...whoops.

Rogue Medic said...

I guess it depends on the audience, when deciding which is the better story. :-)

I hope that you heal up soon.

Bostonian in NY said...

Gnarly kicks dudette.

Creepy stranger internet consult (since you asked for it):

-Turn your socks inside out so the loopy side is facing your shoe...less friction on your feets=fewer blisters on blisters. Haven't actually tried it but people swear by it. Plus it beats jamming your shoes full of vasoline like Runner's World suggests.

-When you say "take it easy next week" you better mean cut your mileage in half to let yourself heal up and not "Oh, I'll only increase my distance 5% this week instead of the usual 10%". I was that runner...it's bad for you.

-You should give yourself 1 easy week for every 5-6 hard weeks because NOT RUNNING is the toughest part of being a runner. The nagging wussie injuries can spiral downward into compensatory changes in your gait that can quickly throw off any other joint in your stride up to your ears. As someone who ran through the nagging wussie injuries for a year and then took 3 years off of running to recover, trust me, it's not worth it! Listen to your body...it's telling you that you might need to plateau for a bit to let your joints/muscles/feets catch up with your lungs.

Just my personal opinions...which I often share too freely on the interwebs

Bostonian in NY said...

FWIW, foot pain tends to be from a few things: improperly fitting shoes, too many miles, or something going on with toe that causes a change in your foot strike/toe off cycle.

You've got fairly new Sauconys probably from a running store. Looks like more of a support/high milage trainer with the dual-density median post than motion control. I'm going to assume it's not the shoes and that your stride is good with them.

Could very easily be too many miles!

Could also be the immense pain from bleeding feets causing you to alter your gait. That medial blister pain will cause you to avoid pushing off with your big toe leaving you to push off with your lateral toes, straining the weaker musculoskeletal system.

A/P: 20 something yo F c/o lateral foot pain, medial blisters, and lots of other nagging aches and pains following many stress induced milage increases in her daily workout schedule.
1)wash gnarly kicks with some hydrogen peroxide.
2)reduce mileage by half until blisters are epithelialized
3)No more than 2400 mg of IBuprofen per day with lots of water. Go easy on it because it will fuck your kidneys up if you chronically use them.
4)RICE! (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) for feet and joints. Alternating heat and ice will help some of the tight ouchie muscles.
5)Stretch/strength train...you can't just run or you'll end up with muscle imbalances, a fucked up gait and pain everywhere from your feet to your neck. 2 months of PT made walking more tolerable, 3 years off helped correct some of the imbalance.

Albinoblackbear said...

Rogue--true, and considering all my g-friends are practically pro-athletes I stick to gory ER stories. When everyone is comparing their triathlon/death race/national team/mountaineering stories all I got is such anecdotes as "yeah, today when I lost my car in the parking lot it WAS super hot wasn't it???"

:)


BINY--thank you for the solicited intertube advice. I promise I won't sue you if taking a rest week and turning my socks inside out doesn't help (it would be difficult anyway because I don't know who you are or where you live so...besides I am Canadian and we don't sue people up here...;)

You make a good point about the gait-wussie-injury continuum. I am sure that my lateral foot pain is connected to the fact that I have been running more on that side of my foot lately since my medial side turned to hamburger. :)

thanks again--
ABB

Albinoblackbear said...

BINY--

NICE! I like the more complete assessment. hahah

Yes, I think the shoes are ok...I had them fit and tested when I got my orthotics...however they do have 600+ kms on them now so probably ought to be bronzed and hung from my rear view mirror...

And yes...strength training is a good point. I have been avoiding the gym since I have been on the road...but I know it is important.

Like everything else I think I hit things with too much enthusiam at first and it tends to come back and bite me in the ass (ankle...knee...foot...tibia...).

This week=easy for real. I'll mostly be in my car driving to the prairies anyway.

Bostonian in NY said...

Mostly in the car driving to the Prarie could still mean 3 hours of running when you're bored...I know a type a personality when I see one.

Thanks for not wanting to sue my semi-anonymous ass. I'm in NY (lawsuit paradise) and my gf is a lawyer...so I watch my back. (Disclaimer to explicitly clarify in the realm of public record: it's not medical advice that I have offered in the above statements, it's running advice! I am explicitly denying that there is a doctor patient relationship because I'm not a doctor. I have merely shared some running knowledge from personal experience and not rendered any form of medical treatment or advice beyond the scope of an avid runner's knowledge.)

Unknown said...

Well as long as you're entertaining suggestions from complete strangers in other countries:

Have you ever checked out the Alexander Technique? It's a protocol developed by FM Alexander for "use of the self." A lot of folks find teachers for therapeutic reasons, some for performance reasons, etc. It's an interesting, device-free technique for improving the use of the self. It can be applied to anything, it doesn't require doing any particular activity.

It will address the HOW of what you do, which is why it can be used therapeutically as well as for performance enhancement.

One reason I suggest it, is that learning to apply it (and I'm a proponent of group lessons, so you can see what's happening in others to reinforce your own experiences) can make activities challenging. It won't raise your heart rate, but it can make a seemingly smaller scale activity much more challenging.

There's lot of info on the Web about him and the folks who use his technique today. I'd look to the local dance and music faculty to see if they use or recommend anyone locally, maybe the coaching staff too. And if you know any physical therapists, ask them for sure.

Check it out, and see what you think.