I want to start this post by saying I am so grateful to be healthy in the big picture. My friend’s husband was diagnosed with ALS a few years ago and has lost the ability to do major things like walk, talk or even type with his fingers. He is currently using his EYES to type! I cannot even imagine.
So it sounds ridiculous that I’m going to post about my toe but here we go…
I had two great runs back to back this past weekend. Friday I wore a new pair of sneakers and enjoyed running with very little discomfort from my hamstrings.
New sneakers….old snow
I was so happy to feel like I had pep in my step that Saturday I went out again for what was supposed to be 3 miles but I felt so good I went on to cover almost 5.5 miles.
Best run I’ve had all year!
It was the biggest emotional boost to finally feel improvement. It could have been the new sneakers or the fact that all my diligence with strengthening my hamstrings, glutes, adductors and hips was paying off. All I know is that I was so happy.
However, I felt my toes on my left foot getting tingly and numb while running and thought maybe the new sneakers were tied too tight or hadn’t been broken in enough but really paid little mind. By Saturday evening I felt a little more discomfort and started to avoid putting too much weight on my toe. Same thing with Sunday. It felt like a bruise under the toe between the middle joint and the ball of my foot (metatarsal head).
Yesterday, after a crappy workday I decided to go out for a run. I wanted to just de-stress. I started with some foam rolling. 
Duncan joined me.
Well it wasn’t pretty and the toe pain got worse until I limped home after covering 3/4 of a mile.
WTF???
Interestingly the toe is the same one that I banged on my trampoline a couple months ago and lost part of the toe nail. I first thought maybe it was a fracture. Maybe I injured it more than I thought when I banged it and eventually the pounding of running fractured it. But today I found that as I loosened up my hamstrings and calves on the foam roller and with some stretching the pain in my toe decreased. It turned into more of a pins and needles thing. (I’ve been icing it too).
After researching the internet on and off all day I’ve (foolishly and stubbornly) decided to diagnose myself with either bursitis, capsulitis or Morton’s Neuroma. Any which way you slice it the problem is that there is inflammation. I hate inflammation! Inflammation is a four letter word to me.
How could I go from a happy and feeling great run to limping? I’m walking normally today thanks to some makeshift padding around the metatarsal head. And I’m PRAYING that it calms down 100 percent for Sunday’s race.
So for now I’m just going to remain calm.
In other news…the dogs are still as adorable as ever.
book ends
How are you? What’s new?
Oh, no! I’m sorry to hear about your foot/toe pain. I’m currently nursing what might be, but I hope not, plantar fasciitis. Of course I self-diagnosed myself too. Google is a blessing and a curse. I always seem to take feeling good for granted too. Hopefully a couple days of rest will do the trick and you’ll be back at it in no time!
I enjoy your blog. You are real and humble!!! Hope you figure out your toe issues.
The tingling & numbness DOES sound a lot like Morton’s neuroma….I had bilateral neuromas and have been through surgery to remove them both (though not at the same time!). The would start as an ache and progress to a painful numb/tingly feeling – it got to the point where I couldn’t run more than a mile or wear any sort of shoe that wasn’t heavily cushioned (goodbye, cute summer flip flops). If you suspect that it is a neuroma, you should go see an Ortho (not a podiatrist, IMO!) right away – from all my research, they respond early on to cortisone injections but if you wait too long as I did, not so much. Mine were large and angry and going nowhere without surgery, but I put up with them for years before finally getting medical attention. Good luck!!
Fingers crossed your toe starts behaving itself!
I managed to whack my achilles this morning – of course – it’s nicely bruised. We’ll see how it feels about running a half in the morning…