I had done everything ‘’right’’ during my fall 2022 marathon training. I was getting at least 8 hours of sleep every night, I was fueling my body properly, staying on top of my strength training, and following my running program to a tee.

Yet, the week before my marathon, the thing I dreaded the most as a runner happened: a stress fracture. Only at the time, I didn’t know I had a stress fracture.

Our feet are the base of our support system when we walk, run, jump or just simply stand. Yet, time and time again it seems that we neglect them whether this be by wearing shoes that compress our toes or we just ignore tiny little aches and pains until it becomes unbearable. This then impacts the rest of the chain; the knees, the hips even the lower back which can start moving differently and cause us other problems.

Mobility tools such as foam rollers and self-massaging balls have grown in popularity over the past few years. Self-myofascial release is the term commonly used to describe these techniques where you roll out a tight muscle with one of these tools.