Day 68

It was my first ever visit with a chiropractor.

After I gave some background and told him I was training for my first marathon, the first set of questions were an attempt to see if the injury was related to a sudden increase in training. I pulled out a sheet of paper that outlined my training history - including the highest mileage I had reached prior to the start of my official training and how long I had been running for. It stopped that line of questioning.

I then told him about my theories - including the skipped rest day, the shoelace theory, 6 hours teaching class on the Monday before the injury, etc. I asked if he wanted to see my running shoes (which I had brought) - he did, then commented that they looked new. I'm assuming that ruled out the possibility that the shoes had caused the injury. I walked back and forth a few times and he then examined my feet.

There were a lot of push against here, stretch it back, move it this way - and he seemed a bit surprised that I wasn't in any pain. I then pointed out the problem and again he seemed a bit surprised that it was so localized and right near the surface. "I don't normally see this," was his remark as he tried a few more things. (I'm not sure why - but it feels like I've heard that comment a lot.)

He ordered some x-rays to rule out a fracture. He admitted that originally he was worried that would be my problem but after examination he was more convinced it was a lot less severe. Possibly a burst blood vessel or tissues that had clumped together (these are my words, not his). He agreed with my suggestion that I may have been tying my shoelaces too tight - and suggested that I might need some padding to stop the problem from re-occurring. (True story - I had attempted padding when the problem first surfaced, cutting up a sock and trying to tape it to the injury. It just didn't stay on.)

He used laser therapy on my foot. Of course I immediately thought of James Bond in Goldfinger - with a laser shooting out of a ceiling. This was a lot less interesting - the first laser treatment wrapped around my foot and shot lasers for about 5 minutes. The next treatment was a different type of wrap - again for about 5 minutes. The third treatment was a pen type of device that he manually pressed against the injury (and we both had to wear space age glasses). The goal was to speed up the healing of the tissue (assuming it wasn't a fracture).

I scheduled an appointment for next Tuesday, then went to get my x-rays. They gave me a CD right on the spot which I'll bring for my next treatment. He recommended that I stick to the bike until then - but I'm thinking it won't be long before I'm back running.

One bike ride for 50 minutes and an unusually intense class of martial arts was my training for the day.