learning to tie my shoes...

I've been having too much mid-foot pain and it's been a recurring problem over many months. I was reading something online the other day about foot and shoe problems. One podiatry article listed some foot issues that may be caused by problems with the 'lacing system' of the running shoes.

Sunday morning I was planning to run hills with a friend. I dread the hills as I was sure my feet were going to hurt; the last time I ran the hills was in December. I also remembered what I read in the podiatry article and laced my shoes tighter at every pair of eyelets. Usually I only have the laces tight at the top and the rest a bit loose. Now I had the laces snug, but not too tight, from bottom to top.

Guess what? No pain on the hills and no pain during my 6 mile run this morning. Last Friday I couldn't run 4 miles without stopping due to pain. Could it be that simple? I first learned to tie my shoes when I was 4 years old. Now, 45 years later, I'm learning to tie them again.

--Mark

A good 24 hours

My main concern over the previous day was my foot. It's been my experience that when the cuboid bone in my foot lines up properly, there is no pain. Wearing a small moleskin patch under the hurt area has pushed things back into place and I've been pain-free since yesterday afternoon. I ran 9 miles this morning without pain.

My big issue now is how can I find the root cause of the problem so this doesn't happen again. The trigger seems to be intense races and also fast speed intervals. I think in the first few weeks after the Fargo marathon I'll go for a good shoe fitting. I've only ever worn one model of shoe so there may be something else that is better for me.

I made marks on my foot where the pain was and where I put the moleskin patch. I'll take pictures of those for my records..... not to post here.

Update: My foot still feels good. I found a picture of the foot bones on the internet and put a circle on the picture where the problem is. Now I don't have to take a photo but will have something to show my doc if I ever need to go in.

My issue is at the front of the cuboid bone, not the back as the diagram from the other day shows.



--Mark