[Phaedrus49er]

Originally Posted by UConnJulie

And how much above 90 can you bend it? (into dorsiflexion) Any history of ankle sprain on that side? And this is on the larger side that is less strong?

If a straight toe is 180 and normal position is 90, I can dorsiflex to about 60 (maybe a tad further) using just TA strength, though to hold both feet in that position, I can feel the left TA fatigue slightly within a couple seconds (yet maintain the hold) while the right TA remains unaffected for much much longer. I don't remember an ankle sprain on the left side, only the right, though I've had weak ankles until the last five years or so, and yes, the larger (left) side is where I'm having problems. Also of note, the left knee was slightly hyperextended in 1995 (wrestling) but only resulted in minor pain/discomfort/swelling for about a week.

I'll also throw this out: growing up, I was moderately pigeon-toed, became self-conscious about it, and attempted to correct the issue by turning my feet out to a neutral heading. My feet are now mostly neutral (with the exception of slight in-toeing/pronation following the push-off phase of a running stride), but my patella face about 30 degrees outside of center. While it appears that the knee joints swing neutrally, I think over time (while making that conscious adjustment growing up), the ball joint at the femur and pelvis did the actual compensation, turning both legs slightly outward (noticeable by looking at the upper leg muscle development--quads and hamstrings developed slightly turned out and in, respectively)

Originally Posted by Bill Hartman

First things first. Get your running gait assessed by someone who knows what they're doing. Someone like Zig at Motion DNA or I'm sure there's some running addiction group ( ) that knows who to see.

It sounds like you have pretty large kinetic chain issue involving at minimum the hip and trickling downward. the lower extremity fatigue pattern may be the indicator (sounds like you're staying in pronation too long on the affected side)

That said, you may have a bit of a deep peroneal nerve issue (this goes along with hip, ITBand, hamstring, and some other fascial issues). Have someone test your dorsiflexion manually and compare sides. Use a pretty decent level of force to test it and use a sustained force of about 10 seconds or so because it'll take a little time for the fatigue to kick in.

If you test weak or it feels like it takes a whole lot of effort to resist, go see an ART doc for a quick fix. If that doesn't work, follow up with your doc and get it checked.

Bill

Addiction? I don't HAVE an addiction! Who do you think you're talking to, huh? HUH??? I'll have to dig around for someone in Charlotte who's qualified to do a proper stride analysis. Closest thing I've had here is from a friend who manages one of the major running stores here (noted a very slight end-of-stride pronation but neutral position through the rest of the stride); also had one (sprint-focused) from Mike Mejia via Anthony Galvin back in 2002 (I think).

Oddly, I have an ART guy but no general physician. Might have to remedy that soon, though I'd prefer a doc who's an athlete himself/herself.