My training plan had a 22km tempo run scheduled for today, but I had already decided last night to do an easy 10km instead, at the most. My bothersome right arch seemed better than yesterday, and I set off for my run with some optimism, but like yesterday, after about half a kilometre I felt a slight burning sensation in the arch and then some low level pain on foot strike thereafter.
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I decided to switch to my 5km flattish loop through Copa, running slowly and deliberately limping a little to protect the foot. The pain was still only a 1 - 2 out 10, so not very bad, but I'm worried there's a chance it could become worse if I persist. Many years ago, when I was a National Serviceman in the Australian Army, I developed a serious arch problem that impacted my running for a year or more. I blamed it on Army boots, but don't really know what caused it. The pain I feel now seems faintly familiar, so there is some reason for concern. On the other hand, I ran 36km on the road two days ago and that didn't make it too much worse, so I'm guessing a minor tear of some sort is the problem.
After completing the run, I spent some time Googling my symptoms, but couldn't positively match them to an injury. Most arch queries related to running suggested plantar fasciitis, but I don't think that is the problem (hopefully). I can't really say why, but I sense that if I give it total rest for a couple of days it may repair enough for me to run without pain. I may be wrong, but I've decided to give it a shot and have two days of minimal activity with no running and then resume running on Friday. Managing injuries is the most difficult thing most runners face, and as discussed in a previous blog post, it sometimes only takes a few steps to go from "fit" to "out for three weeks", or worse. And there's no "do overs".
