Foot Fun Part 4

After four months of dealing with a foot injury, which came within a couple years of two other foot injuries, I was referred to a doctor of orthopedics. He was pretty sure of what my injury was all about. He prescribed calf stretches about nine weeks ago, which is where I left off my last post.

It seemed a too simple solution: spending a few minutes each day stretching my calves. I spent a couple weeks just focusing on stretching, then I started some easy runs. I’ve read that static stretching before running can cause injury, so on days I ran I stretched after my runs.

I wasn’t overly optimistic when I returned to running. I wasn’t used getting only one rehab exercise. But, my foot did feel better once I started running.

One strange thing though is that the popping and painful sensation in the bottom of my foot has completely cleared up, but now I occasionally get a strange numb, slightly painful feeling in my toes, usually when I step on a rock or root. My foot is also sore sometimes after a run, but it doesn’t last long.

It’s been over a six weeks since I started running again. I’ve increased my mileage slowly and haven’t done any hard running other than racing 5Ks a few times. So, I’m getting back into the groove with running. I’m training for the Twin Cities Marathon, and although my mileage and number of days running will be significantly lower than most marathons I’ve raced, I still think I can race well.

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To commemorate my 10 year anniversary of my first marathon, I’m raising money for Team World Vision to bring clean water to communities in need. If you’re interested in donating, you can visit my fundraiser page: Nathan Leckband - Team World Vision. I’m also writing running training plans for donations in any amount.

Thanks for reading.