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Serious Foot Pain in a Half Marathon

michaelgasser17michaelgasser17
in General Training Discussions

 I ran a half marathon yesterday and happened to PR with a 1:33:xx.  I was on pace for 1:28 with no issues running a 6:30 pace for the first 8 miles.  At around mile 7, I started getting pain in my middle toes and the area of my foot right near those toes.  I've never had pain there before.  It got so bad by mile 9 that I had to adjust my gait and slow to 7:30 - 8:00 min pace for the rest of the race.  As soon as I crossed the finish line the pain immediately got significantly better, and within 10 minutes of the finish the pain was gone.  I thought that my foot had to be broken when I was running.  I'm walking around fine today with no pain in my foot at all.  I've never broken a bone or had a stress fracture so I don't really have a pain reference point.  I plan on going to get it x-rayed tomorrow, but I was wondering if any of the medically inclined folks could point me in the right direction.

Comments

  • michaelgasser17michaelgasser17

    Oh and I run in K-Swiss K-Ruuz shoes. They are essentially flats. I've trained and run in flats for several years with no issues and I run with a fore/midfoot strike. I'll attach a picture that sort of shows my running form (and shows off the EN technical t-shirt I got the other day).



    This was late in the race with the foot pain in full force, thus the short stride.

  • Jane HargraftJane Hargraft
    possible injury due to running on uneven surface? i.e. cobbles?
  • Brenda RossBrenda Ross
    could be a joint out of place. I had a similar injury after a marathon (shoes were worn out) and had to go to the chiro so he could put the joint back in place. I had not pain walking either, but within minutes of running I would come up lame.
  • Leigh BoyleLeigh Boyle
    Sounds muscular to me. If it was bone/joint, it wouldn't go away walking around post race. If things stiffen up enough in the lower leg, you can also pinch some of the small nerves in your foot. Will cause pain and burning between the toes. How does it feel now post race??
  • michaelgasser17michaelgasser17
    Pain and burning between the toes is exactly what it felt like. It feels fine walking around. I have experienced a weird feeling in those toes like there was something in between them when I know there isn't. I saw a doctor this morning and he said that it may be a circulation thing where inhibited blood flow in my foot caused acute pain.

    My major problem is that as far as I can tell, there isn't anything I can do about it.
  • Leigh BoyleLeigh Boyle
    You've got a few options that can help you out. 1) Sports massage or hands on PT to dig out the entire leg chain (foot->hip). All the nerves start in the low back and then travel down the leg to the muscles/tissues they work for. If there is a pinch anywhere down that pathway it can produce that pain/burning. Start at the foot and work your way up. Totally worth the $$ as it will address the underlying problem. 2) Self treatment route. Get to work with the foam roller and frequent stretching. You've got to loosen up the leg to get some slack down in the foot.
  • michaelgasser17michaelgasser17
    Ok. I'll look into massage. I'm generally an inflexible person so I'm sure that I could definitely put some focus on that. Thanks for the help. I'm in the Army and I'm pretty sure that I can figure out a way to get a massage prescription and have it be free to me if I'm lucky.
  • HasanbaydounHasanbaydoun
    Michael,

    Any tenderness in between the toes , just about half an inch proximal to the base, especially if you push from the sole side?
    any achilles tightness?
    sounds like a morton's neuroma to me....
    hmmm
    -hb
  • michaelgasser17michaelgasser17
    I have zero pain or tenderness right now, or in my 1.5 mile test run yesterday. I also have no pain in the foot while on the bike.
  • HasanbaydounHasanbaydoun
    would not expect on the bike, but weird that no tenderness....
    gastroc-soleus tight? when you had the pain, was it a burning pain, with a tingling sensation? where exactly - do you remember?
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