Sunday, March 14, 2010

Super Heros


Since we last tuned in, our heroine was more powerful than a locomotive and leaping tall buildings in a single bound...

Yeah. In my dreams.

Saturday morning I was feeling really good during my run with the track club. The air was cool and there was some cloud cover to keep the run from getting hot. I was mentally set to put in about a 2 hour and 15 minute run around one of my favorite places to run, Coronado. I was keeping a really good and EASY, sub 10 minute mile pace and felt like I could go on for miles, AND IT WASN'T RAINING.

Just about as I was to close in on 5 miles, with about one more mile to complete a lap around Coronado, my left foot cramped up something awful, where the toes meet the pad of the foot. My toes just curled inside my shoes. No warning. No pre-cramp twitches. Nothing. I hit the stop button on Lucy and walked in the last mile, which seemed like the longest mile EVER. Several people ran past me and asked if I was OK. Then I had flashbacks of what was the beginning of the compound fracture in my right leg (femur) two years ago. Oh no... not going to go there, not again. Coach Paul ran up behind me and asked me about why I was walking. He thought the cramp may have been caused by running on a cambered road, which is part of the run through Coronado, by the golf course. He advised to walk on the grass, along side the road, and to e-mail him later (which I still need to do.) With about a half mile left to get to home base, AKA Alice ran up and walked and talked with me for a little bit, and lifted my spirits. She soon began running again. The cramp started to un-knot a bit, so I tried a very slow jog for the last 1/4th mile, then I was done.

I went through every pre run routine in my head, including what I did and ate the day before. Nothing was out of line, really, except I was using a different electrolyte drink instead of Gu or Powergel. Even my running shoes (Newtons) were ones that worked well for me, and I've worn them on several prior runs. I even thought about the socks, but they were the same brand of socks I always use. The only other time(s) this has happened was when I was pregnant (which isn't even a remote possibility), and while swimming laps, however, pregnancy and swimming never caused my foot to look like this the next day:

I know, I need a pedicure.

Next on the agenda was the R.I.C.E. thing.

Where is my ice/gel pack thingy? I have one of those long, rectangular gel packs with a fleece cover, complete with an elastic strap and velcro. Must find...

Thank goodness I live with a 6 year old. He lent me his Spiderman gel pack that he uses in his lunch box:



After about 15 minutes with Spiderman, I had to look for MY ice/gel pack thingy. We're out of bags frozen vegetables, which work well.* Of course, my ice/gel pack it's shoved behind two boxes of frozen pizza and a Costco sized box of Eggo waffles, but now I can wrap the foot right:

Tadaaa!

The affliction feels like tendinitis, and if that's the case, I give it two or three weeks to feel better. I had tendinitis in this same foot last year, but at the ankle. I also had bruising.

I opted out of calling the doctor's office over the weekend, since I don't want to get stuck with some random intern. I will call my doc Monday morning. He may not say anything new, but I can at least get** an x-ray, just in case.

Wednesday's Song:
Bottles&Cans - Rehab

PEACE


*My mind was so wrapped around finding MY ice/gel pack thingy that I never thought to use a Ziplock bag with ice. Doh!
**Throw a temper tantrum and demand an x-ray.

9 comments:

E-Speed said...

ouch! that does not look good! I hope everything is okay!

Jill said...

Owie!!!!! Uh, that doesn't look so well, it looks like a 20 lb wt landed on it!!! Take care of that, Sweetie!! You cracked me up about having a superman ice back on your foot, too funny! I hope whatever it was your coach thought it was is really WHAT it is (is that too many "is"s ??? geez I'm sad!) and is happy tomorrow! What a perfect excuse, though, to sit with your feet up all day :).

Backofpack said...

That looks familiar. I had something similar on the front of the ankle joint last year - on the big tendon (maybe?) that goes from the top of the foot to the shin. It bruised and swelled too. I iced and ibprofened and rested it. Eric had something similar that went up his shin after the 2nd marathon of the Tahoe Triple. He was on crutches and out for six weeks. He had it checked and they said it was muscle pulling away from the bone (or something like that). Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Holy OW!

Deene said...

oh dear! that looks nasty. hope it is nothing major. you can make a quick homemade ice pack with water and rubbing alcohol in a zip lock bag, 2 cups water and 1 cup rubbing alcohol.

I Run for Fun said...

Oh my gosh, Irene! That looks nasty!

I've had tendinitis a few times, but each time, it's only a small swelling and/or pain on the tendon. In fact, I've have a slight soreness in my tendon since my long run on Saturday, so we may be resting and recovering together (if it makes you feel any better!). I wish you a speedy recovery!

Anonymous said...

Weird weird weird.

Mel-2nd Chances said...

having already read your facebook, I'm SO SO SO sorry :( Hugs.

Aka Alice said...

Oh yeah...I'm going back and reading earlier posts (I'm soooooo behind on the blogging thing).

It's probably a good thing I didn't see this post on Sunday because that's EXACTLY what my foot looked like when I had the stress fracture. Of course, I wouldn't have said that to you on Sunday, but I'll say it now. YIKES!

I (also) didn't say this to you on Saturday, but when I saw you walking and you were limping, I also thought about your hip.

Thank God it isn't that.

Again, it's the year of the foot.

BTW...Rusty Tassnari (my first PT) told me to NEVER change shoes once you find a pair that works for you...the other reason I stick with my Saucony's after last year I'm afraid to change.