There's no way around this. I've injured myself by running in super-minimalist shoes. How embarrassing.
I've been talking about feeling a bit bruised on the ball of my left foot over the last week, and about how carefully I've managed it. But I now discover I've not managed it very well at all. I should have paid more attention to what my feet were telling me - especially on that last run where I felt a bit of a sharp pain after 1 mile and hoped it would go away. After the race it actually it felt alright, but when I woke up the next morning it was clear I had a problem.
So what is the problem? Have I succumbed to the classic over-keen-transition injuries? Apparently not. My calves are fine. My achilles is fine. I don't have pain on the top of my foot indicating hairline fractures in my metatarsals. Those are par for the course if you underestimate the steadiness with which you'll need to adapt to a new running form. But I've been careful, and my injury, as far as I can tell, is a combination of bad luck and poor judgement.
I've damaged the second metatarsal head on my left foot. It's quite easy to locate the pain to that point. And it feels like bruise. I'm fairly sure it has come from doing a couple of tempo runs on woodland and canal paths in my Vapor Gloves. Every now and again you just land badly on a stone, no matter how hard you try to keep your eyes on the path. And when you're in a pace group, you just plough onwards rather than adapting your pace to allow you run carefully. Having done that, and having sustained a bit of an injury, I've just kept pounding away.
I've been surprised by the difference between a steady run and tempo run in terms of forces acting on your feet. I can run, say, 7 miles at a steady pace and my feet feel fine at the end. But do the same distance at a tempo pace and the greater forces in each step leave my feet feeling bruised and battered (so to speak) by the end. There are more blisters too.
So there it is, I'm carrying an injury. As a result I've had to pull out of the Round Leicester Relay this weekend, which I was really looking forward to. We had a good looking team and I think we could have improved on last year's result (when I ran a pretty poor leg that included an extra loop of my own invention). I plan to keep icing and resting until it feels good, followed by an extra week of rest for good measure. I suspect it's bruising, but if there is any kind of fracture I think it will just take longer to feel okay. (My research tells me that those bones are pretty well contained and naturally heal pretty well). Frustrating, but it's what you have to do. And then I'll work my way back slowly over another week or two, quite possibly using my old running shoes for extra cushioning.
Has it changed how I feel about barefoot running? Maybe a little bit when it comes to the more barefoot end of things. It really is difficult to avoid those stones, and your feet do take a battering when you try to run fast. But I love my new running style. It feels good, I feel light and the rhythmical cadence is so reassuring as it propels me forward. I don't want to lose the connection with the ground and the natural feeling. But I do want to avoid those stones.
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