Fall Race Season is Officially Here – “Tuning” in to Avoid Injury

Saturday’s 5th Annual Silicon Labs Austin Marathon Relay kicked off the start of Austin’s fall recreational running race season. Congratulations to Team Jack and Adams/ Zapata Roadrunners in setting a new Guinness World Record time of 2:10.49. On October 4th, we are helping sponsor the Pick Up Your Feet for Parkinson’s 5K Run. It’s a great cause, so sign up for the race today! Registration closes October 1st.

No matter what distance you are training to run, the importance of tuning into your toes cannot be emphasized enough! Tuning into your toes means paying conscious attention to aches and pains you may be experiencing throughout your legs all the way to your toes during a run. This can be hard to do when running longer distances than our bodies our conditioned to withstand. Whether it’s because we are jamming to our favorite music on our MP3 players or we’re immersed in conversation with a running buddy, often times the onset of aches and pains are not at the forefront of our minds. Making a mental note of how far into a run the onset of pain begins and where exactly the pain starts, is valuable information in determining whether it is something that warrants seeking medical attention.

Running, as with any sport or exercise regimen, will cause some aches and pains when you are pushing yourself to progress to the next level by increasing the intensity or duration of the training session. It is important though, to learn to distinguish between soreness from the previous day’s workout, and actual foot and ankle pain. Soreness is something that is typically felt as a dull ache immediately following a sprint workout, following a training plan’s long run, or stiffness the next day that improves with activity. Pain signaling injury is typically felt as a twinge, stabbing, or sharp pain that radiates with activity or pressure. Walking fast or running can aggravate it.

A few of the common ailments that typically affect runners include shin splints, black toenails, blisters, tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and stress fractures of the metatarsals and tibia. With the exception of stress fractures, most common ailments affecting runners can be resolved with rest, ice compression, and elevation. Once pain free, making sure you are wearing the appropriate shoe wear and slowly increasing your mileage, may eliminate the return of many of these ailments. If you have tried this and the pain returns, you need to be evaluated by a podiatrist to rule out a more serious problem and review your training logs and shoe wear. Pain and swelling that is worse with walking or running, could be a stress fracture. Any pain that is not relieved with rest, needs to be evaluated to rule out a stress fracture.

When in doubt, get the pain checked out! You don’t want to end up on the sidelines on race day due to inaction. Make it your goal this week to tune into how your legs feel all the way down to your toes every day. If necessary, keep a diary if you have a pain that’s really been nagging you, and you just can’t quite pinpoint exactly when you’re experiencing it. We’ll get to the bottom of it and help you put the bounce back into your step!

Looking Forward to the Fall!

We have a lot going on at the Foot Associates of Central Texas, LLC over the next couple of months. With the weather bringing in new change, so are we! We are proud to say we are sponsoring the Pick Up Your Feet for Parkinsons 5k Run on October 4th in Williamson County Park. If you are active in marathons and races in Central Texas, sign up for the race and run for a good cause.


If you take a look at our website, we have been adding some exciting new sections to it, and will be adding new Tips & Tricks to the About Us page every month. We are also planning to include a partner or patient of the month to the site very soon! Stay tuned for more updates and news from us, and make sure to follow us on Twitter @TXPodiatrists and become a fan of ours on Facebook by clicking the fan box on the right side of our blog!