Yup, 5 days till my Half Marathon and my feet still hurt.

I haven’t talked about it because it’s too depressing. I try to ignore it in hopes it will go away.

The other day after the Chi Running workshop, when I complained that my feet hurt on the inside, the instructor asked me, “Do you have bunions?”

I said “Maybe, take a look.” and then she said “Yup, looks like you’ve got bunions forming.”

Oh no, I thought. I’m OLD. Only old people have bunions!!

She told me to stand and then she said that  to compensate for the bunions that I refuse to have, my stance can throw off my gait and lead to hip problems, knee problems, back problems.  I have them all.

According to the Internet, bunions are “painful swellings that usually develop on the inner side of the foot near the base of the first toe (hallux).” Often genetic (thanks, Mom!); usually found in women; thought also to be caused by high heels (Yes, I love high heels), or flat feet (but I have high arches).

 So, I have these disgusting bumps and they rub against my shoe.  That’s why my feet hurt!!

Solutions I have tried:

• wearing flat shoes during the day (well, I’ve only done that recently- I think the damage is done)
• wearing toe spacers
• wearing bandaids on my “bunions”
• ice after running
• ibuprofen
• new running shoes (my arches feel much better with these but not my “bunions”)
• tying my shoes loosely and unlacing the top  rows also as shown  below:

 In doing some “Bunion” research, I  found out that  Paula Radcliffe suffered from bunions.  Hers were so painful that she had surgery and then won a Half Marathon 6 months later (after 9 weeks off for recovery, ouch!)

Radcliffe running with pain

Do I buy another pair of running shoes? They say the Asics Gel 3010 features a new bunion window:

Then again, it could be worse— stress fracture?? (Am I a hypchrondriac???)

Pain or no pain, I’m running (or walking) my Half Marathon!! I’ll see about my foot (the right one hurts worse) after that!!!

Happy (Painfree) Running!