Anterior Tibial Tendonitis

Schmitty75

I'm training for Ironman Arizona. It's 5 weeks from this coming Sunday. After my camp/race rehersal last week, my leg felt sore. Basically, the tendon that runs from the top of my foot up the front of my leg is overused.  When I left my foot upwards (I feel this a lot when shifting from the accelerator to the brake when driving) I get some pain. That second 112 mile bike ride was certainlt not a good idea. 

So yeah... I've stuck myself into swim only mode and I'm doing the core exercises that I really should have been doing anyway to try to maintain my fitness. Now I have to stop eating like a guy who is training 15 hours a week. I'm bummed because my run has been great, and I have a 3 hour race rehearsal sun scheduled for next Thursday that I will probably have to bag. Not that running aggrevates it a lot, but enough that I feel it and I don't want to chance it. I'm seeing a sports-specific physical therapist who says I should be fine by race day.

Here is my question: Has aynone else dealt with this specific injury? Are you pretty sure it was related to cycling overuse? How did you treat it and how long did it take to recover?

 

Leslie Knight

I get a pain there periodically.  Basically the thing to know about muscular strains is, they are all pretty much the same. Don't do what hurts. Rest the muscle, ice it 20 min three times a day, and rest it some more. To keep up the fitness, try pool running.  I have read some reports about actual high level runners using pool running while injured and then running an actual race and doing well.  That said, if you run and the pain is mild and no worse during or after running, you could continue.  I did that with a heel issue one year...just kept running and icing for a couple of months until after my A race HIM and then stopped running completely for three full months.  Another thought is to try the elliptical...that's what I did while not running.  Elliptical didn't hurt at all, so I kept at it. When I went back to running, my running wasn't where it was, but it was still pretty good.  May be a race strategy for this year. You really only have two weeks of big training left...the elliptical and pool may get you through the race.  Then...season over! Stop everything that hurts until it doesn't hurt anymore.