Bumps and Bruises
I remember a few years back, when I read fitness magazines, I easily skipped over articles on injury prevention. While I wasn't naturally athletic, I did come to running and cycling with a solid foundation of experience in the gym, which I thought gave me a solid foundation and protection against injury. For ages, aside from struggles with shin splints, I figured I was pretty healthy. Call it my belief in youthful immortality.
Those days have changed and now I linger over the articles describing corrective exercises and strengthening techniques. All in an attempt to help fix or prevent my "bumps and bruises," as my partner Rob calls them. I've had my fair share: shoulder pain from volleyball, back pain from lifting weights in the gym, IT band issues from cycling as well as early stage stress fractures and plantar fasciitis from running.
My latest injury popped up in the weeks before Harry's Spring Run-off. Over a two week period, I had pain in the tendons running along the the tops of both feet, just above the arch. The right foot felt worse.
Thinking back to my experiences in spring 2013, I worried that I had somehow given myself double stress fractures -- again! Every January, I join a recreational volleyball league and play until spring. Could the jumping action have caused problems? Or maybe it was the too-large shoes I wore for a couple intense treadmill runs at the gym? Either way, an unsettling thought lingered: the prospect of ending my season before it even started. The pain eventually subsided.
The week before Harry's Spring Run-off, during a regular visit to Foundation Physiotherapy, my physiotherapist Raj diagnosed the problem: a fallen arch in my right foot. "But that's my good foot," I said to him. My left foot was always flat, but my right one had a normal arch. Not at the moment.
He taped me up and gave me some pointers, recommending that work on rebuilding some mobility in the foot and that I pay careful attention to my form.
I finished the race. The injury doesn't prevent me from being active, thankfully. I'm still planning a full season. However, now we begin another journey of recovery, this time, to fix up my feet.
Those days have changed and now I linger over the articles describing corrective exercises and strengthening techniques. All in an attempt to help fix or prevent my "bumps and bruises," as my partner Rob calls them. I've had my fair share: shoulder pain from volleyball, back pain from lifting weights in the gym, IT band issues from cycling as well as early stage stress fractures and plantar fasciitis from running.
My latest injury popped up in the weeks before Harry's Spring Run-off. Over a two week period, I had pain in the tendons running along the the tops of both feet, just above the arch. The right foot felt worse.
Thinking back to my experiences in spring 2013, I worried that I had somehow given myself double stress fractures -- again! Every January, I join a recreational volleyball league and play until spring. Could the jumping action have caused problems? Or maybe it was the too-large shoes I wore for a couple intense treadmill runs at the gym? Either way, an unsettling thought lingered: the prospect of ending my season before it even started. The pain eventually subsided.
The week before Harry's Spring Run-off, during a regular visit to Foundation Physiotherapy, my physiotherapist Raj diagnosed the problem: a fallen arch in my right foot. "But that's my good foot," I said to him. My left foot was always flat, but my right one had a normal arch. Not at the moment.
He taped me up and gave me some pointers, recommending that work on rebuilding some mobility in the foot and that I pay careful attention to my form.
Physio says, "Watch your form." I say, "Yes sir!"
I finished the race. The injury doesn't prevent me from being active, thankfully. I'm still planning a full season. However, now we begin another journey of recovery, this time, to fix up my feet.
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