Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Peroneal Tendonitis!?

It was a Tuesday evening,  April 27,  and I thought things were going great (see my exuberant VFF post from the previous day).  I had run to work that morning (2.5 miles), another 11 mile run for lunch which I finished fast and strong, all in my VFFs.   I was pretty much convinced that I would be able to run the Frederick Marathon that weekend, though I hadn't signed up for it just yet.  

Good thing I didn't.  I was geared up and about to run home that evening when I felt a small cramp in my left foot.   I shrugged it off and started running.   About a mile into the run, the pain suddenly grew more intense.   I was unable to ignore it any longer and had to stop running.   I could only walk home with a heavy limp.   

The following day I went to an urgent care doctor to see what the cause was.   The doctor performed X-rays and found no fracture and diagnosed me with a sprained ankle.  I was told to take time off and RICE (Rest Ice Compress Elevate).  Having done this, I still noticed pain on the foot in the morning over the coimng months.    Further self-diagnosis led me to the conclusion that instead of an ankle sprain I have peroneal tendonitis, which is a very slow to heal injury.  

When it seems like it's ok and possibly healed, a short or longer run doesn't feel bad, but the pain will recur the following morning right after getting up, only to go away shortly afterwards.   Time proves again that stubbornness and optimism will only go so far.  It's been over 4 months now, so I've scheduled another appointment with the doctor. 

Needless to say, I'll be off of VFFs until it heals. :-(