Dreaded plantar fasciitis struck me at the very end of 2014. I
ran a half marathon on December 27, 2014 and felt the first twinges
following the event, but I initially wrote it off to the poor race
conditions (every form of precipitation possible fell during the race –
sleet, snow, freezing rain, rain) and my new standing desk at work,
which had also resulted in a little foot pain. A couple of weeks later
when I touched my heel after a long run and literally jumped out of my
chair, I couldn’t write it off any longer.
With that, a few online searches led me to self-diagnose with PF. I immediately began all of the typical recommendations in January 2015: rolling with a golf ball/lacrosse ball/frozen water bottle, wearing shoes at all times, icing multiple times a day, experimenting with shoe inserts, buying new work shoes, wearing a compression sleeve, and a lot of stretching of the foot and calves. I progressed to a night brace and heel cups, and bought my first pair of Hoka Cliftons. I was determined to run through this by throwing everything at it! At the time, I was running just 4 days a week anyway, and I tried to do more swimming instead of other cross-training on my non-running days to increase my time off of my foot.
Although many/all of these things seemed to help, nothing would make it go away. Once you have PF, it seems like everyone else either has had it, or currently has it too! I heard from people who said to stop running immediately before it got any worse or I would regret it (which made me paranoid), and others who said they kept running through it (which made me hopeful!). I kept running. Overall, there were good days and bad days, and it didn’t get better but it didn’t get worse.
In May, after I ran a half marathon in racing flats and really regretted it, I tried taping for the first time. Midway through my workout that day, I had to sit down on the track and remove the tape, and then ended up calling my workout early because the tape made my foot pain much worse. Then I resolved to see a medical professional, because a workout cut short was my limit.
I made an appointment with a podiatrist, but due to the wait time for an appointment I saw a chiropractor/ART therapist in the interim. ART, one missed long run, and a few weeks off speed work helped a lot, but PF was still hanging on. When I made it to the podiatrist, he gave me an injection of primarily ethanol (sclerotheapy) and a small dose of anti-inflammatory medication, which was intended to speed up the body’s natural healing processes, along with several of the usual PF treatment suggestions. He said I was fine to keep running if I could tolerate it, and I could. The injection helped, but my foot still wasn’t 100%, and a month later it seemed like I was back to square 1. Good days and bad days, but it wasn’t gone.
I kind of just resigned to living with it at that point, and hoped it would go away if I took some time off over the winter. I was in the best shape of my life and certainly not ready to take any time off at that point! Thanks to the Hokas I was able to keep running with it, but it was always there. The podiatrist told me to stop stretching and rolling my foot and to stop with the night brace, so I’d tapered off most of the other “interventions” by this point as well. I was still wearing the compression sleeve to run in and icing regularly.
Then I saw this link posted online at the beginning of October, and decided to give it a whirl. I didn’t really expect it would work, but it felt good anyway.
http://mobilitymastery.com/lea...ompartment-syndrome/
Within a week of doing this stretch 1-2 times daily, my foot was perfectly fine. I stopped the icing and compression sleeve, and it was still fine. I have continued to run almost solely in Hokas (once in awhile I mix a pair of Asics in there), because it was too late in the game with marathon training to change shoes, and I like them well enough (really I like everything except them looking like moon shoes).
Someone told me that it’s difficult to know what actually works for PF, because it goes away on its own for most people, but I disagree with that for me. This is what worked. My calves have gotten tight a couple of times after speed work or 5K, and my foot pain returns. I then increase the frequency with which I do this active release stretch, and my foot is fine again! Typically, I do it once a day, after running.
One final note: I am confident I got PF to begin with mostly due to switching to a standing desk at work while wearing cheap flats (I don't think running helped, but I also don't think it was the main culprit). In retrospect, I should have known better! But let this be a lesson to those of you who don’t have foot issues (who probably aren’t reading this, ha ha!): wear quality shoes when not running. Doing that up front would have saved me a lot of hassle and money in the long run! I dress up for work but have found some supportive dress shoes that are even decently cute (and if I’m in my office alone for awhile, I slip on running shoes at my standing desk).
Everyone’s PF is different, but I hope this stretch can help someone else out there. It literally changed my life!
With that, a few online searches led me to self-diagnose with PF. I immediately began all of the typical recommendations in January 2015: rolling with a golf ball/lacrosse ball/frozen water bottle, wearing shoes at all times, icing multiple times a day, experimenting with shoe inserts, buying new work shoes, wearing a compression sleeve, and a lot of stretching of the foot and calves. I progressed to a night brace and heel cups, and bought my first pair of Hoka Cliftons. I was determined to run through this by throwing everything at it! At the time, I was running just 4 days a week anyway, and I tried to do more swimming instead of other cross-training on my non-running days to increase my time off of my foot.
Although many/all of these things seemed to help, nothing would make it go away. Once you have PF, it seems like everyone else either has had it, or currently has it too! I heard from people who said to stop running immediately before it got any worse or I would regret it (which made me paranoid), and others who said they kept running through it (which made me hopeful!). I kept running. Overall, there were good days and bad days, and it didn’t get better but it didn’t get worse.
In May, after I ran a half marathon in racing flats and really regretted it, I tried taping for the first time. Midway through my workout that day, I had to sit down on the track and remove the tape, and then ended up calling my workout early because the tape made my foot pain much worse. Then I resolved to see a medical professional, because a workout cut short was my limit.
I made an appointment with a podiatrist, but due to the wait time for an appointment I saw a chiropractor/ART therapist in the interim. ART, one missed long run, and a few weeks off speed work helped a lot, but PF was still hanging on. When I made it to the podiatrist, he gave me an injection of primarily ethanol (sclerotheapy) and a small dose of anti-inflammatory medication, which was intended to speed up the body’s natural healing processes, along with several of the usual PF treatment suggestions. He said I was fine to keep running if I could tolerate it, and I could. The injection helped, but my foot still wasn’t 100%, and a month later it seemed like I was back to square 1. Good days and bad days, but it wasn’t gone.
I kind of just resigned to living with it at that point, and hoped it would go away if I took some time off over the winter. I was in the best shape of my life and certainly not ready to take any time off at that point! Thanks to the Hokas I was able to keep running with it, but it was always there. The podiatrist told me to stop stretching and rolling my foot and to stop with the night brace, so I’d tapered off most of the other “interventions” by this point as well. I was still wearing the compression sleeve to run in and icing regularly.
Then I saw this link posted online at the beginning of October, and decided to give it a whirl. I didn’t really expect it would work, but it felt good anyway.
http://mobilitymastery.com/lea...ompartment-syndrome/
Within a week of doing this stretch 1-2 times daily, my foot was perfectly fine. I stopped the icing and compression sleeve, and it was still fine. I have continued to run almost solely in Hokas (once in awhile I mix a pair of Asics in there), because it was too late in the game with marathon training to change shoes, and I like them well enough (really I like everything except them looking like moon shoes).
Someone told me that it’s difficult to know what actually works for PF, because it goes away on its own for most people, but I disagree with that for me. This is what worked. My calves have gotten tight a couple of times after speed work or 5K, and my foot pain returns. I then increase the frequency with which I do this active release stretch, and my foot is fine again! Typically, I do it once a day, after running.
One final note: I am confident I got PF to begin with mostly due to switching to a standing desk at work while wearing cheap flats (I don't think running helped, but I also don't think it was the main culprit). In retrospect, I should have known better! But let this be a lesson to those of you who don’t have foot issues (who probably aren’t reading this, ha ha!): wear quality shoes when not running. Doing that up front would have saved me a lot of hassle and money in the long run! I dress up for work but have found some supportive dress shoes that are even decently cute (and if I’m in my office alone for awhile, I slip on running shoes at my standing desk).
Everyone’s PF is different, but I hope this stretch can help someone else out there. It literally changed my life!
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