Yesterday I went back to see my podiatrist, Dr. Crane at FAANT, for a follow-up after my near stress fracture from four weeks ago. Since my last appointment, I’ve been running exclusively in my trusty Adrenalines and worked back up to 4-mile runs with zero foot pain. Awesome. So I had two questions for her:

1. Is it even possible for me to run in the Vibrams, and if so, how should I transition?
2. What can I do about my nagging left knee pain?

I love Dr. Crane. She’s very nice and knows her stuff and has a cool confidence about her, but she talks and works quickly so you have to listen fast. She knows I’m paying good money for her medical opinion, and she expects me to listen and obey. I wish more doctors were like that.

After running several simple strength tests on my feet and lower legs, she gave me the following conclusions:

1. My foot muscles, particularly the abductor hallucis muscles (the main muscle in the arch of the foot), are “puny”. (Just what every guy wants to hear from a lady!) On the plus side, it helps explain why my feet are so flat. She prescribed six simple exercises to strengthen my weak feet.
2. The backs of my legs are strong, but the fronts are too weak. I need to stretch my hamstrings and calves like heck and strengthen my quads and the muscles on the front of my lower leg. I’ve already been working out my quads, and it’s definitely helped my knee pain. Today I’m going to pick up my dad’s bike for crosstraining. My friend Logan helped his knee pain by cycling, so I figure a good ride once a week would be a nice addition to my plan. Once I have quads of steel, I’ll be ready for a marathon, right? =)
3. I am “young, strong, and faster than average”, (thanks!) so I should be able to run in the Vibrams. Awesome. However, the transition period will be “like watching paint dry”. She recommends adding a few hundred yards a week in them and finishing the run in more normal shoes. So it might be 3 months before I’m actually running a 5k in them. I could also get an in-between shoe such as a training flat to replace my Adrenalines.

So overall a good report! I did 4 miles Wednesday evening with no foot pain and only a very mild ache under my left kneecap, which is significant progress compared to this spring. Right now my biggest challenge is the heat. I do most of my running in the evening these days so I’m out of the sun. I might go race Saturday morning if I can find one I like.