Giving the Boot the, erm...boot

OK, so that sounded better in my head, but whatever; after my podiatrist appointment I sat the boot down and had a long conversation with it. It went something like this:

source

Now, it isn't all sunshine and roses; I'm not out of the woods yet, and a few other cliches to say...I'm still banged up. However, I do NOT have a stress fracture and podiatrists aren't evil naysayers bent on keeping me from running.

barefoot running, on the other hand...Well, that is likely off the table. Sure, barefoot running didn't cause me to break my foot or hobble me for life, but it compounds what I discovered were underlying issues. Yes issues, with an S. More than one. what issues? Glad you asked.

First, I have 'Morton's Toe.' You've all heard of it; it's the one where the second toe is longer than the first (Well, it's more about metatarsal length and a disproportionately longer second...yeah. longer second toe works juuust fine). This drives to the second issue, where my second metatarsal sits lower in my foot than the others. Considerably lower. As in, if my foot were one of those cool British doubledecker buses, they would be on different decks. This makes my second metatarsal bear the brunt of my running. Add a forefoot-first running stride, take away the cushioning of, well, anything, and you have a recipe for metatarsalgia (fancy medical term for "the ball of my foot really hurts, man.").

no, I'm not flipping you off..I just happen to have a long birdie toe...

I never make absolute proclamations (Yes, I realize I just did...), but it seems unlikely that barefoot running is in the cards for me. I'm one of the people Jason Robillard was talking about when he said bfr may not be for everyone after all (and there's nothing wrong with that...). Actually, I don't know his specific thoughts on a case like mine, but an exceedingly vulnerable bone structure seems like a valid case for some manner of protection...

Anyway. For now I'm not running, barefoot or otherwise. I still have some healing to do. When the healing time passes I'm not certain what I'll do; but, I am pretty sure it will involve shoes and very close, careful attention to proper running form.

As the title says..Restart, rinse repeat, no?