When One Sore Spot Turns Into a Whole-Body Problem: My Left Foot, My Nervous System, and the Lesson I Keep Relearning
A Runner’s Injury Story: When Left Foot Problems Never Fully Go Away
I have been dealing with left foot problems for a long time.
In college, my big toenail was chronically sore and always felt like it was on the verge of falling off. I have a mild bunion on that foot, and my plantar fascia tends to feel chronically tight. For years, it stayed manageable enough to ignore.
Until it didn’t.
Why My Big Toe and Arch Pain Flared Up Again
This flare-up felt different because the mechanics were louder and harder to work around.
My arch is not strong enough, so it collapses on footstrike. To compensate, I dorsiflex my big toe excessively in an effort to “self-correct” the faulty arch mechanics. That compensation has led to extensor tendonitis on the top of my foot, with a palpable bump where the tendon is irritated.
The soreness is worsened by shoe laces pressing on the bump, and pushing off the ground has become painful.
Extensor Tendonitis From Running: Symptoms That Changed My Stride
When pushing off hurts, your body finds a workaround.
I ran through it and altered my biomechanics. I started overstriding to avoid excessive ankle flexion on landing. It felt protective in the moment. It was not.
That altered stride pattern led to:
- IT band irritation
- Quad strain
- Inner calf pain
And suddenly the problem was no longer “just my foot.”
The Injury Cascade: How One Sore Spot Creates Multiple Pain Points
This is the part that messes with you mentally.
It became a nebulous problem that felt impossible to localize. I could not tell which issue appeared first, and that made it harder to know what to treat first.
When you cannot identify the first domino, every run feels like guesswork.
When You Have to Stop Running Again to Calm Things Down
Eventually, I was forced to stop running yet again to calm the extensor tendonitis down, hoping the other symptoms would resolve once the compensation pattern settled.
Right now, I am in deep discovery mode:
- researching how to strengthen my arch
- wondering if I should consult a podiatrist
- shuddering at the cost of custom orthotics
- piecing together physical therapy exercises to rebuild foot function
Treadmill Running and Injury: Why Speed Does Not Always Transfer Outside
Months of treadmill running has left me feeling both overstimulated and bored to death.
But the bigger issue is this: I’ve been able to run faster on the treadmill, while knowing that speed likely won’t translate to outdoor running because my left foot is basically inactive.
The treadmill belt propels you forward. It can mask problems that show up immediately outdoors, where you are responsible for your own push-off.
And that creates the question that keeps looping in my head:
If I cannot push off the ground correctly because it hurts, and the treadmill reduces that demand, how am I supposed to run outside?
So for now, I’m back to the elliptical, trying to maintain fitness without feeding the injury.
Winter Training Barriers: Why Getting Help Is Not Always Simple
You might be wondering why I don’t go to a real PT and have them diagnose and prescribe exercises.
Two reasons:
- We are in the middle of round three of snow and ice, and I’m hesitant to schedule appointments when I’m not confident I can even get my car to the main road.
- Insurance won’t cover it, and I know it will be expensive.
So, like many runners, I’m trying to problem-solve solo while still training.
Nervous System Overload in Runners: Definition and Common Symptoms
This is where the injury stopped being just physical.
When you are trying not only to train, but also figure out why different parts of your body hurt during and after training, your mind literally never gets recovery. You never get to turn “off” from running.
That ongoing stress can contribute to nervous system overload, where the body stays stuck in a heightened state instead of shifting into recovery.
Signs and Symptoms of Central Nervous System Overload
Common signs include:
- Chronic anxiety: persistent worry or fear without a clear cause, like your system is always on high alert
- Fatigue: feeling constantly tired even after rest, because the system is not recovering from prolonged stress
- Sleep disturbances: difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, often creating a cycle of stress and poor sleep
- Emotional instability: irritability, mood swings, feeling unusually reactive
- Physical symptoms: unexplained aches and pains like headaches or muscle tension
- Digestive issues: bloating, indigestion, IBS-like symptoms (stress affects gut health)
- Difficulty concentrating: brain fog, poor focus, trouble processing information
Injury Hypervigilance: When Self-Awareness Turns Into Constant Body-Scanning
Being self-aware is lovely.
Being hyper-vigilant all the time is exhausting.
When every session becomes an assessment, your nervous system never fully gets to exhale.
What I’m Working on Now: Rebuilding Foot Strength Instead of Forcing Form
I have internal and external pressure to perform, and I truly want to be successful. But when there is a big barrier, it can feel like using a bucket to get water out of a sinking ship.
So I am shifting the goal.
Instead of persisting in the futility of trying to change my running form on the treadmill, I’m working on finding the hole in the ship and repairing it.
Right now that looks like:
- calming the extensor tendonitis down
- rebuilding arch strength and foot function
- choosing cross-training that supports recovery
- reducing the mental load by creating a simple plan, not an endless experiment
Because a plan is not just training structure.
It is nervous system relief.
If You’re Dealing With Running Injury Confusion, You’re Not Alone
If you are in that gray zone where something hurts, nothing feels consistent, and every run feels like a test, I want you to know:
You are not behind.
You are not broken.
And you do not need to “toughen up” to solve this.
You need clarity, progression, and a return-to-running strategy that respects both your tissues and your life.
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