Hi Everyone!

Paging Dr. Foot.

Yesterday I mentioned that this week I’d be getting myself thoroughly checked out: physical, vision test and a visit to the podiatrist.

Well, I called my foot doctor’s office and managed to snag an open spot on the schedule for Monday.

A quick jaunt to Burbank later and there I was lounging in the waiting room.

And by lounging, I meant sweating bullets.

You see, one reason for going to the office was to follow up on my new orthotics. But the other reason was this new and unexplained pain on the top of my left foot that flared up shortly after I ran my 3-pack of races.

Sans stress… on the feet.

Being the internet savvy person that I am, I fired up my iMac to do some self-prognosis.

First off, I checked out the latest cat videos. Damn, they’re furry and funny (a double plus).

Then I googled “top of foot pain.” After I skipped the inevitable “top of foot pain porn” that popped up, I got to one of the many WebMD-type sites out there.

The hypochondriac in me started listing all of the symptoms and checked out the possible causes. Happily, I am not suffering from ebola, cabin fever or the boogie woogie flu.

But one possible cause of my pain did make me utter a fairly loud “Oh shit” as it popped up on the screen: Stress fracture.

Runners fear the stress fracture, that hairline crack in a bone in one of your feet that will stop you in your tracks… literally.

This is one injury you can’t “work through” or fix while you continue to run.

You get a stress fracture; you stop running until it heals. Period.

Sure, you can do other forms of exercise in the meantime: swimming, upper body weight training. But NO impact on your feet.

Now while I didn’t have all of the symptoms of a stress fracture, I did have one or two. In short, I just wasn’t sure.

Besides, I had just run 3 half marathons in 33 hours… the perfect situation for a “repeated strike” or “fatigue-related” injury.

Bo Shuda!

The thought of having to stop running for 6 weeks or more (especially during the holiday season when we all tend to pig out) made me think of my metabolism coming to a complete standstill and me ballooning up to Jabba The Hutt proportions. Yeah, my imagination does run away with me sometimes.

So what was the prognosis?

Would I be running the Santa To The Sea Half Marathon in two weeks or would I be spending the entire ho-ho-ho season dodging the temptations of egg nog and fruit cake as I show off my sexy new walking boot?

In short… no stress fracture (cue huge sigh of relief).

In fact, no real injury of any sort.

It seems that the new orthotic for my left foot was not shaped properly and was causing my foot to bend improperly, leading to the pain.

Mission Accomplished!

Talk about a relief. Felt like I dodged a bit of a bullet.

So, the orthotics are on their way back to the lab to get redone (get it right this time please guys). In the meantime, my old orthotics will work fine.

And I got a little reminder to make certain I stretch properly and don’t overdo it (too much anyway).

Next up, a double dose of doctors on Wednesday as I get my physical in the morning and my eyes checked in the afternoon.

Stay healthy… and Run on!