Sharp pain in foot.. when wearing spikes.

Training Advice/Discussion General

8 years ago 05/23/2015 8:54pm EDT

I run most of my miles in a pegasus neutral shoe and have a mid foot strike. I like to do tempo runs in road race shoes with less profile on them, run 50+ miles most weeks and all is good. When I put spikes on whether it's a zoom victory, matumbo, brooks mach xc spike, pretty much any spike, something along the middle and bottom of my foot has a very sharp pain like there is a tendon in there being stretched too far or something. The pain is basically perfectly in line with my middle metatarsal just under it in the bottom of my foot. Anyone else get this? Any ideas for solutions?

8 years ago 05/23/2015 10:30pm EDT

re: sharppp

This is in the ball of the foot, right? I think the shoes might be a little too narrow and are pinching the bones together when you foot hits the ground.

If the pain is more running down from the ball of foot through the middle of the arch, it's a plantar issue and you need a little more arch support.

Which is it? The solutions are different.

8 years ago 05/23/2015 10:38pm EDT

re: sharppp

If it feels like nails, your spikes might be inside out.

8 years ago 05/23/2015 10:45pm EDT

re: fisky

I would say the pain is ball of foot and then towards the toes. No heel problems at all, no pain at all where most people would typically complain of pain with plantar issue

8 years ago 05/23/2015 11:14pm EDT

re: sharppp

sharppp wrote:
I would say the pain is ball of foot and then towards the toes. No heel problems at all, no pain at all where most people would typically complain of pain with plantar issue

Okay, then the toe box is too narrow. It's squeezing the metatarsals together which causes the pain. Solutions include.

- get a wider shoe and/or a half size larger shoe

- wear a super thin sock

- go sockless

- cut a one inch slot in the toe box right down the middle of the shoe through the tongue and into the toe box. This will allow the toe box to expand when you put the weight of your foot down.

All these steps will effectively make your toe box wider, which in turn will give the metatarsals more room.

8 years ago 05/24/2015 11:03am EDT

re: fisky

It could also be the FHL tendon being "stretched out," or more strain on the distal aspect of the plantar fascia. Neither of these would be solved by your solution.

As an alternative, you can try wearing racing flats instead. They offer more support (which will offload the ball of your foot) and reduce/eliminate your pain. There are racing flats nowadays that are just as light as real spikes.

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