Running with a sore foot

RieBerg
RieBerg Posts: 261 Member
edited November 9 in Fitness and Exercise
I am trying to start running. My endurance is pretty pathetic. I can do 0.3 miles. I am running every other day an increasing my time by 30 seconds, but two days ago I must have done something to a muscle on the top of my foot because now it hurts when I put pressure on it to walk. Should I keep running anyway or give it time to heal? If I do let it heal, will I have to start over because my endurance will reset?

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    No, don't run if it's sore. Rest it.
  • njitaliana
    njitaliana Posts: 814 Member
    Rest it. My husband continued walking on a sore foot, and when he finally went to the doctor about it, he found he had been walking on a fractured foot.
  • AddieCakes
    AddieCakes Posts: 28 Member
    Let yourself heal before you start running again, or you may end up with a real injury. And when you get back out there, consider running/walking intervals. Instead of just running as far as you can go before stopping, run for a certain length of time, then walk. For example: 30 seconds of jogging to 1 minute 30 sec of walking worked out well for me. Good luck!
  • OKfarmgal
    OKfarmgal Posts: 160 Member
    Definitely rest it. I "pushed" through the pain and ended up with a partially torn Achilles tendon. ☹
  • LoneWolfRunner
    LoneWolfRunner Posts: 1,160 Member
    Just be careful with pain on the top of your foot... not much in the way of muscle there. You may have strained a ligament... A couple of years ago I developed a pain there in both feet when I made a pretty big jump in my weekly miles. I tried running through it (even did a 30k trail race), but the pain eventually got to be too much. Turned out to be stress fractures. I doubt that is what you have going on, but as a new runner, go easy on it. Rest it... ice it. Your endurance will bounce back sooner than you think, especially if you can do something else in the meantime, like a stationary bike or something else that won't aggravate your foot. And when you start back up, just build slowly.

    Also, two other things. Maybe check your shoes because sometimes the wrong shoe and the wrong fit can totally eff with your feet. And it could also be something as innocent as a little "lace bite" from tying your shoes too tightly.

    Good luck and keep running! (Uh... AFTER you heal, of course....)
  • runningforicecream
    runningforicecream Posts: 89
    I have the same pain, I think. Suspect that it may be extensor tendonitis. But yeah, rest and ice it. Also maybe try to lace your shoes differently. I am currently using Mizuno Wave Rider and the top of the shoes are quite stiff. That may also be the case for you.
  • acmanna
    acmanna Posts: 200 Member
    Rest up first and go see a doc if necessary. Also, have you been fitted for running shoes? If you really want to start running it might be a good idea to invest in a pair.
  • jeepyj93
    jeepyj93 Posts: 392 Member
    Like others have said let it heal, I continued to run and ended up a 1.5 yr off running 6 weeks in a cast and 6 weeks low amount of walking, I had a stress fracture and have really paid the price for not listening to a sore foot.
  • RieBerg
    RieBerg Posts: 261 Member
    Thanks all. I took your advice and rested and have decided to quit running. It is more pain (literally) than it is worth. I feel that if I am going to be out of commission for so long it is better to get my cardio in some other way. I can't just not excersize for two or more weeks. I have weight to lose. Pleasem feel free to talk me out of it. I just don't see the point. BTW, my foot still hurts. It hurts to walk on it, so I have been marching in place for excersize.
  • neveragain84
    neveragain84 Posts: 534 Member
    RieBerg wrote: »
    Thanks all. I took your advice and rested and have decided to quit running. It is more pain (literally) than it is worth. I feel that if I am going to be out of commission for so long it is better to get my cardio in some other way. I can't just not excersize for two or more weeks. I have weight to lose. Pleasem feel free to talk me out of it. I just don't see the point. BTW, my foot still hurts. It hurts to walk on it, so I have been marching in place for excersize.

    Sworkit is a neat app I used to use that includes a lot of upper body cardio exercises so you can still work out and rest your foot. If you own a tablet, you can probably find it in the app store. It has videos that give you an idea what the exercises look like. Worth a try.
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
    RieBerg wrote: »
    Thanks all. I took your advice and rested and have decided to quit running. It is more pain (literally) than it is worth. I feel that if I am going to be out of commission for so long it is better to get my cardio in some other way. I can't just not excersize for two or more weeks. I have weight to lose. Pleasem feel free to talk me out of it. I just don't see the point. BTW, my foot still hurts. It hurts to walk on it, so I have been marching in place for excersize.

    How does marching not hurt it?

    Have a gym membership? Check out the upright bikes.
  • RieBerg
    RieBerg Posts: 261 Member
    Thanks, I will check out Sworkit. It doesn't hurt when marching because the pain happens when the foot bends, so when I take a step for example, but marching in place I am not bending anything, just straight upward and then downward movement. No gym membership. I don't really have time. I only workout in my basement which has a tradmill and weights.
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    Rest it. I had some foot pain the first week of December and stopped running until New Years Day. I kept myself in shape as best I could by hitting cardio at the gym, but had to double the time spent on cardio, and even then I was never felt it was as strong of a workout as running. It helped though, and without it I would not be able to run as far now when I am starting back up, I am quite sure.

    Also, get your shoes checked. Turned out I had shoes that were the wrong size. I was stunned. Apparently your feet must be able to grow longer as you age, because I haven't bothered checking my shoe size since perhaps when I was 22 or 23. Now at 43 I am a full size longer, and just a tad wider. I couldn't beleive it. Wish I had done that before.
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