Friday, April 26, 2013

Over- What?

I've never visited a podiatrist nor a physiotherapist before.

In all honesty, I don't know whom do I see for a general check up when it comes to sports related stuff. 

What about an orthopedic surgeon? *bimbotic blur*

My legs haven't been themselves since MWM on 7th April 2013. I gave myself 3 days of rest before jumping back onto the bandwagon, only to wince in pain as my feet landed onto the ground.

The pain would shoot up my thighs, making me think that I could have pulled a fibre or something in the ITB, I don't know! *flail arms in the air*

Walking would also cause me to wince or grimace, and it was hard to refrain from doing so. I caught myself doing so plenty of times and I knew, tsk tsk, that something could seriously be wrong.

A week after the marathon, I was back at the GCAM run group on Saturday for a 15KM run. The next day, a 14KM trail run in FRIM with a few of them.

Ooh
Aah 
Ouch.

Yeah, you guys didn't know I was grimacing every now and then, did you?
Why did you think I took a lot of walking breaks!


Anyway, enough is enough. It could be something serious, or it may not, but I finally went to see a podiatrist on Monday.

First thing they did was to have me walk and run on the treadmill, with and without shoes. Video recording was done for a gait analysis of some sort.

Gait analysis assesses the way we walk or run to identify any biomechanical abnormalities, from hip extensions to trunk flexion and foot-floor landing. People with these abnormalities sometimes suffer from pain in the back, knee, hip and foot and may need to be corrected. A brief explanation can be found here.

Upon observing the playback of the video and with the podiatrist's observations, we found out that:

1) My right foot pronates more than the left which was surprisingly very obvious and gawd, not a very pretty sight.

2) From walking and running barefoot, my toes to metatarsals would splay open as if I had web feet. 

To be honest, I did notice this web feet-like feeling last year when I gradually made the transition to minimalist shoes. Yikes. I never used to have that problem, you know.

3) My feet tend to roll inwards first, perhaps due to the bunions but there is no cause for concern. In the long run, I may want to consider insoles to prevent any potential injuries caused by the bunions.

After doing the necessary tests of this and that, it seemed like I'm a-OK and have no abnormalities. Phew!

I was afraid he would tell me that my hips were lopsided (from running with a painful knee and thereby affecting my pelvic alignment) and I'd need to trim a centimetre or two off one of my legs to make them even!

The conclusion was that my left ITB was just very tight and I needed to stretch it to loosen it as much as possible. The tightness was due to ... 

Wow, I didn't think I'd reach this stage, but yeah, take a wild guess!


No, it wasn't due to badminton, contrary to what some people say.



It was due to over-training.

Apparently whilst training for the marathon, I may have over-trained instead.

What rubbish! *with indignation*


Alright, if you have seen my mileage log, you may be entitled to come to that conclusion (that I did over-train)...


Right now, I think my legs are much much better now and I just pray that they will have the need for speed this Saturday.

I will be at Run The Rock, supporting Cancer Council Victoria and I just hope that the weather won't be so chilly because I won't have anything decent to wear for a chilly run!

Have a great weekend, everyone.
And have a good race wherever you are, be it at Bidor Half Marathon or World Kidney Day Run!

11 comments:

  1. Have fun overseas. #so jelly femes people get to travel around and run

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    1. pssssst this is what you call planning. locate a run and try to plan a holiday there! LOL. you can always start with Adidas KOTR... :D

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  2. ooo love this note
    "N.B If you believe you will be in the Top 10 male/female in each race category, please ensure you are close to the start line. Places are awarded on gun time only"

    make sure you lined up properly yeah. xD

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    1. yeah, i made sure i lined up in the middle! the top 10 were way up ahead, and i don't even know their finishing times! :)

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  3. I've never seen a podiatrist but have had physio, saw orthopedic surgeon (to refer me to physio), also had one ultrasound to confirm that I had a calf strain and not tear. Phew. And to date I have only ran ONE marathon..MWM! Hahaha.
    Hope you have a great run this weekend, Femes Speed Demon (Lina bagi nama :P). I have to skip Bidor HM because my right leg just hates running at the moment :(

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    1. oooh who did the ultrasound? i'm curious to have mind checked out too. better to know now than later ... is it expensive?

      thanks, you have a good weekend, too! awww too bad you have to skip Bidor. i'm sure the family would have enjoyed a short road trip jalan-jalan but hope your right leg behaves itself again soon! :)

      anyway, the nickname is so wrong, gives people the wrong impression. hahaha!

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    2. Millie,
      Bukan I bagi nama. Ada orang femes lain yang bagi nama tu kat dia which she rightly deserves, by the way. ;)

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    3. Oh bukan Lina bagi nama ye. Hehe. Semua femes.

      Yvonne, I did mine at diagnostic imaging dept KPJ Kajang, ultrasound RM190, ortho's consultancy fee was RM100. Physio (usually ice or heat then electric current), about RM70++ depending on area & duration of treatment I guess.
      Lucky my next race FM is in a few month's time...so right leg has time to heal properly, no need to pay more hehehee

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  4. Use your foam roller! Hope you feel better soon! And happy holiday!!!

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    1. yoh yoh yoh! podiatrist says make the roller my BFF. -.-
      and stretch more...

      have a good weekend in your new pair of red shoes! :D

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  5. I've got so many aches and pains after all my runs that they're like family these days ... hahaha!

    All the best in your race and let's see a podium finish, k?

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