Ravenbait
Someone's imaginary friend
- Location
- The Seventh Level of Hell
I've been doing triathlon for four years. At the start of this year I apparently ruptured the plantar fascia in my right foot, and, to cut a long story short, have gone on to develop osteoarthritis. I haven't raced since the beginning of May and haven't even been able to run since then.
I'm 37, a technique-obsessive, and my GP has told me I'm to blame for training too much even though I didn't. She said that as a non-active type. I've been told I should never run ever again, which is gutting as I'd just bought a Stealth for racing.
The arthritis is in the 1st metatarsal and I've also got metatarsalgia in the 3rd and 4th. I've taken to wearing vibram five fingers as much as possible as they force the toes to stay apart and seem to be reversing the claw toe I was developing. I still have issues with a sense of swelling and dull pain at the base of the 3rd and 4th toes. I have some arch-support orthotics from the biomechanics lab and some custom-cast insoles I got from a private podiatrist.
Should I accept her assertion that running on this foot will worsen the arthritis and leave me practically unable to walk in 5 years (as opposed to the ten she suggested if I don't run), or was she being overly-pessimistic?
Should I go cry in a corner or say f*** that sh** and pretend I have a mutant healing factor that will sort it out eventually?
Are there any exercises I can do to strengthen the foot or ameliorate the symptoms so I can get back to training?
Any and all advice gratefully received. As long as it's good advice...
Sam
I'm 37, a technique-obsessive, and my GP has told me I'm to blame for training too much even though I didn't. She said that as a non-active type. I've been told I should never run ever again, which is gutting as I'd just bought a Stealth for racing.
The arthritis is in the 1st metatarsal and I've also got metatarsalgia in the 3rd and 4th. I've taken to wearing vibram five fingers as much as possible as they force the toes to stay apart and seem to be reversing the claw toe I was developing. I still have issues with a sense of swelling and dull pain at the base of the 3rd and 4th toes. I have some arch-support orthotics from the biomechanics lab and some custom-cast insoles I got from a private podiatrist.
Should I accept her assertion that running on this foot will worsen the arthritis and leave me practically unable to walk in 5 years (as opposed to the ten she suggested if I don't run), or was she being overly-pessimistic?
Should I go cry in a corner or say f*** that sh** and pretend I have a mutant healing factor that will sort it out eventually?
Are there any exercises I can do to strengthen the foot or ameliorate the symptoms so I can get back to training?
Any and all advice gratefully received. As long as it's good advice...
Sam