Running, especially long-distance running, has never been more popular in the United States as more and more people have laced up and headed to the great outdoors to stay in shape since the onset of the pandemic.
“Since 2020, 59.1 percent of active adults say that exercising outdoors, such as running, is one of the top ways they’re staying fit, per RunRepeat Fitness Trends Report,” says LiveStrong.
And people are not only running but they are channeling their inner Forrest Gump and running marathon distances.
“As racing came back in 2022, the share of runners on Strava who ran a marathon nearly doubled compared to 2021,” reported Strava with the number of runners who ran a marathon in the U.S. doubled.
At Sweeney Foot & Ankle Specialist, we understand the needs of marathon runners better than others as The Woodlands is home to the fastest marathon course in Texas, and a popular qualifier for the Boston Marathon, as well as one of the premier triathlons in the country, the IRONMAN Texas.
Along with the exhilaration of running 26.2 miles can come the punishment that your feet take, and some runners may suffer from a condition known as “marathon feet” – pain resulting from inflamed soft tissues of your feet from the hours of pounding on the pavement on race day.
While long-distance runners and marathoners can experience a variety of issues with their feet including blisters, calluses, toenail problems, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, and other forms of foot discomfort or pain – marathon feet are their own special condition.
Lewis G. Maharam, author of the “Running Doc’s Guide to Healthy Running: How to Fix Injuries, Stay Active, and Run Pain-Free” helped coin the phrase after getting phone calls in the middle of the night from patients, as he describes in the book:
“Doc, I just finished my first marathon yesterday, in 5:40.59! What a great time! I followed all your advice, but last night – starting at about 3 a.m., both my feet started killing me. I could not walk! It hurts even to have my comforter rest on them! Is this normal? What is this? How can I prevent it?”
Maharam goes on to say that “what my middle-of-the-night callers are describing if there is no bony tenderness or swelling, is what I call “marathon feet.” In basic terms, it is inflamed soft tissues of the feet from the street pounding of 26.2 hard miles (although I have also seen it at the half-marathon, 13.1-mile distance). We most commonly see this in people who have trained on softer surfaces (like the reservoir track in New York City) than on a paved road or who race in thin racing flats when they did not train in them. The inflamed soft tissues get more and more painful until it’s truly hard to walk or even put a comforter over them.”
Several factors contribute to the development of Marathon Foot:
Preventing marathon feet starts well before race day as there are strategies you can use while training and then there are race day prep things you can do.
Let’s look closer at the prevention strategies:
Training Leading up to Race Day:
Race Day Preparation:
If marathon foot does occur, there are some treatment steps that runners can take to alleviate the pain:
"If you experience “marathon feet,” it can take 2 to 3 days post-race for your feet to stop hurting. If at any point you feel tenderness in a bony area of your foot, see a podiatrist to make sure it isn’t a stress (or full) fracture in your foot," advises Dr. D. Sean Sweeney, D.P.M.
In addition to Marathon Foot, long-distance runners should be vigilant about other foot conditions, including:
Long-distance runners can maintain foot health through proper training, suitable footwear, and attentive self-care.
If your problems persist or worsen, make an appointment with Sweeney Foot & Ankle Specialists to have your feet examined by our doctors of podiatric medicine in our state-of-the-art offices in The Woodlands and Magnolia.