I've been silent for a month now because there hasn't been
much to say. I've been struggling with a metatarsal injury and haven't been
able to do much of training. It's been nasty and disturbing and it hasn't gone
away even though I've given it a lot of rest and kept off from running. After
three weeks of more or less constant pain I started to get worried about it
(that is my doctor got worried about it) and went to see some experts. Sharp
pain was localized primarily to the first metatarsal bone and it was sore when
tapped. In other words an obvious stress fracture (which is really no wonder
after running a marathon). There was also some joint irritation, general
tightness and reduced flexibility in the foot but the pain in the first metatarsal
remained even when flexibility was regained. So a little bit of this and that
but clearly some bone damage too. This was the initial diagnosis but just to be
sure I went to MRI. I've done it twice before when suspecting a stress fracture
and both times it has proven right. But this time it surprised me by not
showing any obvious inflammation in the bone, only beneath it (wohoo!). I know I've already announced
otherwise but luckily it wasn't that simple. So after going first deep down in
despair for a day or two the actual statement of the radiologist was a huge
relief. My two previous stress fractures took months to recover so any injury other
than a stress fracture is good news to me. It's not that the foot is any better
(well, it is a bit better) but the fact that I'm actually able to do things and
don't have to spend next 8-12 weeks solely in a swimming pool helps a lot. It
looks like I can do the trip to New Zealand but running the World Cup races there
remains to be seen.
Bye bye and Merry Christmas to you all!
