W5R3 - challenging foot joint (or upper tendon?)

[Uccleboy]

Hi everyone!

This is my very first time in the group, so I hadn't read anything about this milestone when I naively did my first 20 minutes run today!

It went surprisingly well be it breath, leg muscles, heart etc.

The one uncomfortable thing however was that I find it very unpleasant, on the edge to painful on the top of the foot where it connects to the leg (I'm not sure whether ankle is the right name for this part of the foot?)

I am hopeless about anatomy thus I have no idea whether that's tendon, muscle or join...

Does any of you have an idea about this?

Thanks in advance!

[SueAppleRun Graduate]

You are doing really well, it's a shame though about your pain, could be many things but a sports physio or doctor would be able to work out what's going on by looking and feeling it. Hope it heals soon

[HeavyFoot Graduate]

Congratulations on tackling the Glorious 5:3. It’s a real achievement. Rest is often an excellent cure for niggles, but do see a physio (a sports physio if possible) if it doesn’t go away.

My regards to Uccle if you live there!

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

That could well be to do with how tight your shoes / shoe laces are...

[JetsNanna Graduate]

Well done for getting as far as you have. I got a similar discomfort (at the part of the foot where it joins the front of your lower leg) for quite sometime and have recently found that ankle strengthening exercises have helped. There’s a link on here somewhere which I can’t find but one of the admin 100% will be able to locate and add it. I’ll have another look and if I manage to find it I’ll rely again.

[CBDB Graduate in reply to JetsNanna]

we do have this post in our S&F forum, specifically for a ankle strengthening routine. healthunlocked.com/strength...

I always wanted to post some more exercises around Ankle strengthening routines that I have done here and there but I have not gotten around to it yet. But I’ve done a few of these from this YouTube channel, focussing rather on ankle strengthening of hikers. But it did help me:

youtu.be/tDNlFK04mQg(Not working as expected?)

[Jebley]

You shouldn't run through pain. If this continues then get it checked out. The foot is a mass of tendons and bones. Sounds like a tendon strain to me. I ruptured a tendon some years ago, the pain was bad but as tendons don't show up on X-rays I was told nothing was wrong. Eventually I went private and the problem was diagnosed and I required major surgery which was a great success. I am sure you will be fine!

[Uccleboy]

Thank you all of you for this trove of useful advice and for your quick replies.

And for the welcoming and encouraging words, I really feel this is a community!

I may have given an exaggerated impression of what I feel in my feet, nothing to bother a physiotherapist or doctor only for this, it's not really pain, it's rather an unpleasant feeling that makes me want to stop running and revert to walking or stopping and doing circle movements with the foot, in which case it comes back to normal very quickly—but the aim is to continue the running, isn't it?

So I will look at the links on ankle strengthening JetsNanna and CBDB refer me to and do some training accordingly, a good way to use my "resting day"!

Shoe wise I am using sneakers that are intended not for running but for intensive walking, at this point in my journey the possibility of going for a run in my daily outfit at any randomly available moment without having to change shoes or clothes first is important to my motivation. I'll pay more attention to how my feet land though, I just watched the relevant video on Slow Jogging.

Thanks again all of you, have a nice day (Uccle is sunny today, that may happen even in Belgium!)

[Benben21 Graduate]

Ah: shoes! I'm no expert, but one of the things I did invest in once I started running for longer than five or ten minutes without stopping was a decent pair of shoes. Your feet need good support, and sneakers won't be delivering that - your feet are likely to be moving around in the footbed as you run, and that is going to be setting up micro-injuries/strains. I do understand why you don't want to "get all the gear", but a well fitting pair of shoes is likely to help rather than hinder progress (and don't have to be hideous or shouty!).