I did the Lone Star
AERC ride (LD) last weekend near Bandera, TX. At about 20
miles of mostly trotting my left foot was just excruciatingly
painful. It's in the ball of my foot and it hurts and stings and
burns. I am using some wide endurance stirrups with pads and
ride in Ariat Terrains. My husband said "Morton's Neuroma, honey" and
I said "no way", but I did some internet research and the
symptoms for that are identical to what I am experiencing. It's from
repetitive pressure to the ball of the foot and something that runners
get.
I have a friend who does have this diagnosis (from
a doctor and not just her hubby) and has been through about a year of
intense pain, surgery, and even worse, and is still riding. Up to this
point, I really didn't realize that what I've been feeling is what she's been
dealing with.
She said she might start riding in caged stirrups
and running shoes. For both of us....giving
up riding isn't going to happen!
I hope to move up to 50's eventually if I can with
this problem. I know that should be everyone's goal, right, to move up to
50's?? :-)
For those of you that have this and deal with it,
what do you do? What kind of riding shoes/boots and stirrups do you
use?