Turf Toe: It’s not just for football players
Practice what you preach. How many times have I stopped an athlete from pushing on through training when they complain about some sort of pain? And while I know what should be done, why is it that I have such a hard time following my own advice? Because I am invincible. I can tolerate the pain. I can work through it! NOT!
A couple months ago, I started having pain where my big toe meets the rest of the foot – i.e., the first metatarsal. (yes, I watch Grey’s Anatomy) I thought it was just a little thing that would go away. I was wearing some shoes with a toe box that was a little too big for me and decided that was the reason for the pain. I switched the shoes, but the pain didn’t go away. One day, while looking at my feet, I realized how much bigger the first metatarsal joint was on one foot. Then, after a very painful 20 mile run, I decided to seek medical attention.
Diagnosis? Turf Toe. No folks, it’s not just for football players any more. How on earth did I get this? I was asked if I was starting to do “toe running”. Um, no. Are you stopping a lot during runs? Um, no. How it happened, I don’t know, but to get rid of it is going to be a challenge. See, with every step, the toe bends causing pain and inflammation. So stablize the toe, right? Ah, not so easy. Even pushing off the wall in the pool hurts.
So – guess I’ll not be running for a while. That BQ time is just going to have to wait until I can recover from this. So don’t let this happen to you – when something hurts, take care of it. DON’T WAIT!
