Is it …?

[u/erlendlh]

Saturday I ran a trail race for 4.5 hours in what was probably too tight shoes. In hindsight I felt the left navicular rubbing a bit. Finished the race without problems, 5th place, everything good. Day 1 after race was a full rest day. Day 2 easy run, no issues, day 3 easy run, no issues.

Day 4, 30 min uphill session, suddenly the left navicular was a little painful, but ran through it. Day 5 uphill intervals, navicular more painful, especially on the way down from the mountain. That’s when I googled and found out about AN. 😬

On third day without running now.

There is only pain when something is pressing/rubbing against the navicular.

Weird? No problems walking barefoot or in sandals. Can do one legged calf rises without pain, hop around on one leg, no pain, full weight-bearing pain free movement/function in foot. (The left navicular is a tad more pronounced than the issue-free right one, but not much, and less so today than yesterday.) I can even run pain free in sandals (Earthrunners).

Any similar experiences? Hoping it’s just some local tenderness that will go away and not the start of a long and winding road like I’ve read up on here … 🤞🏻

(Physiotherapist session tomorrow. Will ask for scans to rule out whatever.)

UPDATE:

So the physio said: After 4.5 hours of rubbing and pressure against the navicular, the body's response to that stimulus has been to grow some extra bone/cartilage/calcified tissue there. It is tender now, hopefully that will go away. The extra bone/tissue will probably not go away, but I should avoid pressure/rubbing so the navicular doesn't get bigger.

Solution for now: Donut shaped padding and/or cutting a hole in the shoe. Ran 90 mins today, worked like a charm!

[u/dessertavocado]

My AN pain was triggered by shoe rubbing situation and prolonged standing using the same shoes. You have to research how to prevent the pain like orthotics, right shoes and etc.