Forums >Health and Nutrition>Could I be injured? Is it all in my head? Help, please [update]
I'm very skeptical of orthotics. I did wear some over the counter for a few years on the advice of a PT but eventually weaned myself off them and now run in shoes that are more minimal. Have you tried a track workout recently to see how it feels? In your pre-workout routine are you getting the calves stretched? Are you doing any kind of strength training for the legs like weights, stairs, or hills? It might help.
"Any idiot can run a marathon. It takes a special kind of idiot to run an ultramarathon." - Alan Cabelly
I haven't done any track workouts since May. Not sure how I'd fit that into my training schedule since it's a lot of long slow distance type training.
I do ankle circle type stretches frequently and sometimes do other stretches but some calf stretches make me nervous that they'll cause the muscle to lock up so I don't do more than that.
My group does about half an hour of strength training every practice (~5 times a week right now) before we run, it's not really focused on leg muscles right now (mostly hips and core) but I'm definitely doing some strength work. This also makes it difficult to do much stretching since we generally run shorty after the core.
I've done stairs and I live in a hilly area so I end up running hills a lot.
Hey man I have read your post and all of your comments/replys. To deal with your soreness, do leg drains constantly and get a foam roller. Ice buckets would be ideal as well, but this is more of a unpopular choice since they are pretty uncomfortable. Keep gradually building up your mileage and keep running everyday. Also work on core everyday since this will help stamina as well. As for the tingling, numbness in your feet, you could very well have a neuroma, which is built up scar tissue from wearing tight/narrow shoes or shoes that are tied too tight. I had them in both feet, and received 8 ultrasound treatments on each and now wear a wide running shoe and they are fine now. Also I have tried orthotics and I hated them they were very uncomfortable and made my feet feel worse. I know its tough to run with pain/soreness, I am a recently graduated high school runner still running in college so I know how it is. I competed most of my junior year track season with a fibular stress fracture. You sound like a middle of the pack runner trying to breakthrough, (please take no offense to this i don't mean any) much like I was. Hope this helps, and I am also hear if you have any questions or need some tips.
I've never done leg drains before, I'll check that out. I'm also going to look into getting a foam roller. Core is making me a lot more sore than running right now so even if it doesn't help my running directly, reducing soreness would definitely be nice.
I was doing core everyday but I've let it slip to a few times a week, I think you guys are right that I should try to get it back up to daily.
I looked up Morton's neuroma and it seems like that usually involves pain in the foot, doesn't it? I don't have pain in my foot, just numbness at times.
Thanks for the tips!
Update time!
In September I got diagnosed with a stress fracture in my left shin (medial). It was diagnosed through an MRI, and I was surprised since the doctor had ruled out a stress fracture as unlikely, since I didn't have stress fracture symptoms.
So I took 6 weeks off. I was disappointed to find that nothing was really better, I felt just like I always had after taking a break and the injury just kept coming back.
This week I got tested for compartment syndrome. I have it, in 7 compartments, and I'm going to do a fasciotomy for all 8.
So it turns out I was injured, double injured even. I don't feel so bad about not being able to keep up during practice anymore lol.
I'm really looking forward to being able to run normally if the surgery is a success, maybe running will start to be fun!
runktrun
I'm glad you got some answers, though sucks that it took a while. You're still young; take your recovery just as seriously as you would your training and you'll be fine!
Not running for my health, but in spite of it.
So I got a second opinion from another orthopedic surgeon. He doesn't think it's compartment syndrome, he thinks it's a nerve problem. He suggested tarsal tunnel syndrome. Apparently it can affect your calves too, even though it's usually a foot problem.
He doesn't think it's compartment syndrome because of the borderline pressures, the mismatch between where the pressure were highest and where the pain is, and because he says compartment syndrome is normally much more painful for longer after running (more like 10-15 minutes than 1-2 minutes). So he believes that compartment syndrome surgery will be completely useless.
I've been in physical therapy for a couple months, and he wants me to go to a different place. I'm reluctant to drop the place I currently go to though, because I know I'm getting stronger (if that will fix my injury remains to be seen). Tomorrow is my first appointment with the new PT, so hopefully that goes well.