I've dealt with a bit of this lately, and it's frustrating.

What I've found is that there are two things wrong: there's the pain and inflammation in your foot, and then there's something out of whack further upstream that allowed your foot to get angry. Unfortunately, the pain and inflammation could take a long time to calm down, and there's not much you can do but stay off it. What you should be doing in the meantime is visiting your favorite body magician to iron out the upstream issues.

Good luck!

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Hmmm... so an alignment issue? Everything else seems to be fine (knock on wood) at the moment.

I came off the bike right next to the leader and put my shoes on more hastily than normal. They weren't on right the whole run and I think I landed on something early on.

Had this recently. Pain would set in after about a mile or two of running and it would be sore just walking around for about a day or two. Went from 80+ mpw down to about 15-20, tops (with a lot of pain). No problem on the bike for me though.

Thought it might be a sfx, but x-ray and then MRI ruled that out.

Podiatrist targeted my shoes - too many miles in racers (Free 3.0s) and not enough in sturdier stability trainers - I had tossed my trainers and was too lazy to replace them.

Metatarsal pads really helped me. As soon as I ruled out sfx, I went out and bought some and was able to get back to running immediately. The key is the placement - just behind the ball, not on the ball. They're a bit of a nuisance, but much better than pain. I was able to ditch them in a week or two. They move around a bit if you sweat a lot, so you might want to buy a few.

Also Superfeet insoles (doc recommended Orange, but I think the green are more rigid in the forefoot).

Hope this helps you.

Thanks I hadn't thought of this.

If the pain ends up being morton's neuroma (inflamed nerve) metatarsal pads probably won't help, but you usually can get some relief by separating your toes when you are not on your feet. Ideally when you sleep too. You can buy toe separators or go DIY. Avoid tight fitting and well worn shoes.

Worst case it turns out to be a stress fracture in which case you probably need to be in a boot.

If you really want to bike, put platform pedals on your trainer and adjust your seat so you can pedal with your heels. Avoid kicking when swimming. Aqua run.

..

Thanks. Really avoid kicking? Damn I've been kicking up a storm the last three days.

I would say now is the time to get a proper diagnosis so you can plan your rehab the right way. Seek out a good foot&ankle specialist who has in-house diagnostic ultrasound as well as x-ray etc. It may be nothing- who knows-- you may have stepped on a rock with cold feet during transition-- but it could be capsulitis, a neuroma, stress fracture, torn plantar plate, etc.

I currently have a similar problem. Pain in the ball of the foot which built up over a month until this week my second toe became quite swollen.

I went to see a podiatrist today and they diagnosed capsulitis and gave me a cortisone injection. They recommended no biking until the swelling has gone, at least two weeks, and no running until it's completely healed. Apparently it's something which can get worse if you ignore it.

Definitely recommend seeing a pro about it

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http://www.thedeludedcyclist.wordpress.com

Did you just train through the pain to get to that point? I pulled the plug and have just swum after my last race and seem to be recovering slowly.

I dealt with this for quite a few years. Met pads definitely help, look at the hapad site. Also google crossover taping, that helps keep the second toe down.

Tony

I haven't been able to run since April anyway due to a sprained ankle, which may have caused the capsulitis from hobbling around differently. It didn't really affect my biking until after the last weekend where a messy open bar wedding caused my second toe to swell up to twice the normal width, one rubbish ride after made me seek help.

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http://www.thedeludedcyclist.wordpress.com

Gotcha. I'm going to try to see a doc early next week. I'm thinking it might be a neuroma. I can deal with the discomfort for my last two races of the summer so long as I know something isn't broken.

You can buy metatarsal pads that will protect your metatarsals a bit which will allow you to do minor exercise like stretching without too much pain!

Here is what I use and they are pretty good

http://nuovahealth.co.uk/shop/metatarsal-pads/

These looks ugly, but they completely fixed my forefoot pain. This may not work for everyone, but since my metatarsal pain was caused my Morton's Toe I added a cut out beneath the 2nd metatarsal head in front of the metatarsal pad. My left foot was worse than my right so I actually had to stack a neuroma pad over the metatarsal pad and add an extra insert layer under the forefoot and cut out. I tried custom orthotics but could never get them adjusted so they were comfortable so I decided to stick with homemade inserts. Before I tried this at my orthopedic's suggestion, I had a sharp pain under the 2nd met head and into my 2nd toe that was so painful I couldn't run. It was also extremely painful to walk barefoot on a hard surface. As soon as I tried this the pain went away and after a couple months I could walk barefoot pain free again as well. I have found the felt pads work best and get mine from hapad.com: https://www.hapad.com/...ions/metatarsal-pads