I am posting in hopes you can shed some light on a problem I am having -- I ran with Portland group on Saturday morning and am now experiencing pain on the outside of my right foot, ouch!

A little about me: I am a 28, F, 5ft 4in, 140 lbs and wear an 8 1/2 running shoe. I jog at an avg. pace of 10:30 - 11:00 min/mile. In general, I experience left knee pain, on and off when running and have to be careful to throughly stretch my right periformis muscle before (and sometimes during) runs. As far as I know, I have normal arches, a normal stride and no major red flags re: gait from the folks at Portland Running Company. I recently (two weeks ago) purchased the latest model of Adidas Supernova's from them and changed out my shoes. This make/model has seen me through three Hood to Coast races, so I've been sticking to what works over the past few years.

A little about the pain: I had zero pain during Saturday's run. It first presented itself later on Saturday when I was walking through a farmers market. Depending on the type of shoe I am wearing, the pain manifests vertically around the outside ankle bone (when in flip flops or barefoot) or at the outside base of the foot about and inch in front of the ankle bone (when in my old running shoes). The latter is the same spot where I've noticed *slight* swelling.

I have no pain while sitting, only when walking and the pain seems to build throughout the day. So for instance, this morning I woke up thinking I was healed and then by lunchtime the pain was back after minimal walking around the office. I've been icing, taking anti-inflammatories (800 mg of advil) and experimenting with different shoes. But yet, still experiencing quite a bit of pain (6.5 out of 10) when walking.

I hope this information is helpful -- looking forward to your insight!

Mer,
Great information so far. It sounds like you may be compensating during your gait cycle and favoring your left knee, which would put extra wear and tear on your right side. With new shoes there is usually a break in period and if you were running the full distance in new shoes that can easily flare stuff up. From the sound of it you may have a cuboid (lateral foot bone between the calcaneus and metatarsals) that is out of position or a bit of tendonitis from the peroneal msls. I am bit curious why you stretch the right piriformis to help the left knee? Is your knee pain on the outside (lateral) or inside (medial) of the knee? It would be in helpful if you stoped by Sat. so one of the docs can take a look at the knee and ankle.

Take home message:
Keep up with the ice and NSAIDS (ibuprofen).
Let me know if there are shoes that light you up more than others.
Stretch out all the muscles in your lower legs.
Break in your shoes slowly.

I hope this helps.
Dr. Jake

Thanks for the reply.

The ankle pain seems to be improving, though I am still in the daily cycle where it increases into the evening. I found some stretches via Google for the Peroneal tendon area -- which also seem to be helping.

The left knee pain is medial (I actually had a medial meniscus tear and plica removed about ten years ago) and the right periformis issue/stretching is more of an additional trouble spot rather than to alleviate left knee pain.

I'll plan to take turns between the new shoes and the old, as well as to stop by the tent on Saturday.

Thanks again for your help!