So I am in my final IM push for Germany and last Wednesday in the midst of a 6.5 hour ride, about 5 hours in I noticed a dull but persistent pain on the top middle third of my foot–this pain is concentrated to the outside and extends down to the edge of my foot.
I loosen my bike shoes (which I had foolishly cranked down too tight) and this brought immediate relief. However the pain comes and goes and when I ride moderately for a couple of hours or mash it for an hour (as I did today in a race) the pain comes back.
The pain stops (for the most part) as soon as I stop cycing and I have yet to feel it when I run (I favor wide shoes). I’ve taken to applying Valtoren lotion (and anti-inflamatory) to the top of my foot but I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem, knowsw what it is called, knows how long it lasts and how best to deal with it?
it sounds like your feet have too much volume for your shoes or your shoes don’t have enough volume for your feet. Which could be that your shoes are smashing the dorsal nerve creating your pain.
So either your shoes need to grow taller, your feet need to shrink in height and/or your shoes need to get wider or feet thinner.
I think if you read your post again, you’ll see you gave yourself good advice. Check the part where you talk about your running shoes.
fwiw, I struggled with this for ~4 years and multiple pair of shoes. Finally went custom and I can say it’s the best money I spent EVER on cycling equipment. Better then a PM, disc wheel, carbon frame etc.
thanks Brian–did you ever get to the point where you couldn’t ride or run post ride?
Today I had my bike shoes very loose but the pain came on in the latter stages of the ride–not enough to stop me but ehough to shift a fair amount of the workload over to my other leg. when I ran I had no problems (well that’s not true–I had my usual problems but no problems from the foot pain)
“fwiw, I struggled with this for ~4 years and multiple pair of shoes. Finally went custom and I can say it’s the best money I spent EVER on cycling equipment. Better then a PM, disc wheel, carbon frame etc.”
Since you know what brings on your symptoms and you also know what relieves them … you are ahead of most people with painful pathologies
Since you are looking at IM distance cycling (i.e. low power, no sprinting, etc.) - just make your shoes looser! The topical Voltaren gel (dicofenac sodium) is simply treatment your symptoms (and weak at that with less than 8-12% systemic absorption, depending on how large an area you are “rubbing”). Perhaps some new shoes that are easier to adjust and have more even dorsal pressure - I highly recommend the new Specialized S-works boa road shoes.
Check your cleat position … I had this problem because my cleat shifted in a way that ended up putting too much pressure on the on the side of my foot just above the ball of the foot. Extreme pain after 60-miles. I went too long before doing anything and it took quite awhile to get better.
I went with D2. Rocket 7 was going out of business about the time I was deciding which custom maker to go with.
I’ve had 1 hot spot, first outdoor ride, and zero other foot problems with my custom shoes since then. They are so comfy I wear them as casual shoes around the house. (just kidding, I’m a barefoot type of guy normally)
