enginerd's group - CLOSED (Page 9)

Happy Mother's Day! 

Question for the group: Here's an injury question for anyone who might have an opinion on it. Really, I'm trying to decide if this merits a visit to the doctor or if some rest days will take care of it.

After long runs, right foot has an achy spot on the outside edge of the arch. There is no visible swelling or discoloration. There is also a sore spot on the bottom of the right heel that almost feels like a bruise.  I'm not a heel striker so this is somewhat puzzling.

First noticed this about two months ago, but it would vanish during the week (shorter runs, I'm guessing). Since the marathon a week ago, it's back. Not really any worse, but definitely there, especially the bruised feeling to the heel.

I took the whole week off from all activity except for some swimming, then yesterday ran 3 easy miles. The discomfort is back.

It doesn't really fit the definition of plantar fascitis (sp?). My shoes have about 100 miles on them.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Hi Anne.  Yes, happy day to all the mother's out there!

I'm not familiar with the kind of foot pain you are describing.  Hmmm, since you had the pain reoccur after running the marathon, it's obviously use related somehow.  Does it affect your gait or is it just a mild discomfort that you can run otherwise run normally through?  The conservative approach is to, of course, just go see the doctor; if it affects your gait, though, then definitely see a doctor. 

Hopefully someone else has some better info for you. 

Thanks Donato -

Yes, definitely a use issue. I almost wonder if it's not two different issues, the heel and the outer tendon.  It really does not affect my gait and I can run through it. I am hoping that will not make it worse. 

Tanya, Syndi and Donato -

Thanks a million for the insight. I sure hope it's not PF.  I've been rolling my foot around on a golf ball as a crude massage and that really feels good. I'm going to try and run a bit in the morning, weather permitting, and if this flares up, I'll call the sports doc. 

A three-month sideline sounds bad, let's hope it does not come to that!

I was just listening to an old episode of Ironman Talk podcast and they happened to mention this website for learning more about sports injuries - http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/ 

It's not a substitute for medical visit, but does look like it has some useful information.

I will check this out.  Thanks so much for the link. 

Thank you for the link, Donato. After reviewing the heel pain section, it does sound like this is the beginning of PF.  I'm going to try some self-help before resorting to the doctor; my sports doctor is wonderful but our insurance is not that great.

I am going to try this.  Thank you for the link!

Weight loss is a struggle for me.  I was always able to eat anything I wanted but once I hit my 40s, the middle-aged spread crept in.  

It's a pain, but for me what works is to write down everything that I eat for a couple of days, i.e. a food journal.  Calorie-count.com has a good online journal. I fall into the trap of "oh, I exercised for a long time today so I can eat anything".

Eating out of boredom is my vice. It also helps to have a weight-conscious teenager in the house; she gets aggravated when I buy junk food because of the temptation.

My wife and I are big chocoholics.  I have some every day (seriously), but in modest portions of course.  Jim, ever done the Scharfenberger tour over in Berkeley?  It's fun.  There's also a restaurant there too (Cafe Cacao).

What the heck is wrong with chocolate?  It's one of the five food groups, and quite possibly the most important one!

Jim, thanks for the well wishes.  After reviewing some of the links here, I called the sports doctor that I go to, she does not "do feet" but referred me to a foot doc in her practice. I go June 3. Talked to the nurse a bit and she said it really does sound like PF, gave me some stretches to do. Also said that taping is a great idea.  She was adamant about not going barefoot, which is going to be a challenge.

I have always struggled with my weight. I finally decided that I needed to make my health and fitness a priority and accepted that it was going to take effort and discipline. I decided that temporary changes (like diets) were useless to me and I needed to make a permanent change. It took several small changes over a period of several months, which eventually led to making good food choices most of the time, and of course, becoming a triathlete.

Over the last 6 months I've been losing about 2 lbs per month. I eat way more fruits and vegetables than I used to, and I actually eat more often throughout the day. I think I may actually be eating a higher volume of food than I used to. For example, I just had lunch - a spinach/carrot/bell pepper/tomato salad with a few walnuts, a bit of cheese, and some lean turkey, and an orange. It was tasty, and I'm stuffed. But over the whole day, I'll eat about 1800 calories. Over the last few days I tried to eat a little less because I was sick and wasn't working out. On the weekends I might eat a little more because I tend to do longer workouts. An important aspect of my diet permanent lifestyle change is that I don't worry about having a couple of beers, some pizza, or whatever now and then. As long as I don't eat that stuff every day, and don't go overboard when I do, I come out ahead.

Also, I find that it really does get easier. Yesterday I was in a supermarket I usually don't shop at, and I found myself surrounded on 3 sides by cookie dough, ice cream, and tasty baked goods. As I passed through this minefield of unhealthiness, it occurred to me that someone else looking at the contents of my cart would probably think I was a health freak. I had tons of fruit, veggies, whole grain bread, lean meats, clif bars, etc. It all looks normal to me because that's what I eat most of the time. I'm not even really tempted to buy unhealthy groceries anymore.

Yup, and if I don't eat quality foods, I feel totally crappy during my workout.

I found that all the healthy eating and exercise has really reduced my fatigue during the day, even though I still don't get enough sleep.

Only dark chocolate (70% or more) for me.  I'm not sure if I've tried that one from Trader Joe's or not, but I did buy a ton of it last time I was there.  Their Trader Joe's branded 2lb. bar wasn't bad.  We were at Whole Foods yesterday and bought a few lbs. of chocolate yesterday too.  Life is good!

Robin, ditto for me.  I think you were right on about it being a permanent lifestyle change and not a diet (which implies temporary and a hoped for quick fix).  I think most people really know  what needs to be done - eat well, excercise, and keep your caloric intake in line with your activity level.  It also has to be something you can live with in the long run, so I totally agree that occasional indulgences are totally fine.  Sounds like you are doing a great job with your eating.

I generally try to eat low fat and have no problem with good fats - nuts, fish, olive oil, avocado, etc.; my wife always checks the fat content of items we buy now too.  I eat lots of fruits (helps that we have a lot of fruit at work) and veggies.  I don't eat much cheese or traditional desserts (chocolate excluded ) or fried foods of any kind (I did have fries at lunch during our bike ride saturday - yum).  I generally avoid sugary things (esp. HFCS) or with a high glycemic index except fruit juices, the honey or jam on my morning toast, or obviously when working out (e.g. gels, sports drinks). I try to seek out lower-glycemic index of foods such as brown rice, hearty wheat/grain breads, only sometimes pick a whole wheat pasta though.

I'll only have red meat occasionally (esp. now that we have our new BBQ); lots of chicken, fish, turkey, cottage cheese, lentils, etc.  My wife and I used to drink a lot of wine (and have an awesome collection of wine), but that's only very occasional for me now (we had a great bottle of 1997 Whitehall Lane Cabernet with our BBQ'd steak on Satuday).  I also eat 5 times a day - breakfast, 10:30 snack (usu. yogurt, fruit, granola), light lunch, afternoon snack (granola, fruit again), dinner (and if it's a late dinner, I'll have a snack when I get home before hand).

Getting older (40 for me next month) has definitely slowed my base metabolism, but I keep active enough that this hasn't been a big issue...yet.

I'm not great about reducing caloric intake when my activity level goes down (e.g. taper, off winter season) and will gain some weight, but kept it to about 5lbs. which I knew I could burn off once I kicked my training into gear.

Hi Amy.  You're young so you definitely won't have the same weight issues we all do.  The kind of weight you want to gain is muscle, of course, which is going to typically come from some kind of anaerobic activity (e.g. weights).  I'm not an expert on that at all, but perhaps others can provide some info.