Oh My Aching Feet

The Magic Golf Ball

There comes a time when everyone must slow down and listen to their body! My time is now.

Last week, after my #2 Dopey Test Run, my feet hurt like the dickens; especially my right. When I looked up potential causes, I realized I was suffering from over worked and tight muscles. In other words, the beginning symptoms of Plantar Fasciitis.

What is Plantar Fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis is a very common kind of tendinitis — especially in runners — but instead of a tendon it’s the plantar fascia of the foot that’s inflamed and/or degenerating.

The plantar fascia is a rope-like band of tissue with almost no elastic properties that stretches along the bottom of the foot. If the arch is over-stressed the fascia will not stretch, instead it will pull away from the attachment site at the heel bone. 

The classic symptoms of this injury are more pain with the first steps in the morning and when you first stand after sitting for an extended period of time, or at the beginning of a run. During the initial stages the pain subsides after warming up but in the chronic cases the pain can progress beyond the initial steps of a run to a constant ache or sharp pain. 

One of the more common causes of plantar fasciitis is tight calf muscles. If there is not enough motion in the ankle joint due to a lack of flexibility then there will be extra strain on the fascia which may lead to this injury.

Foot type and how the foot functions can also play a significant role in this injury. The two extreme foot types—flat feet and high arched feet. I am a high arched individual.

Do-It-Yourself Remedies For Plantar Fasciitis
In addition to stopping or reducing running, I completed this daily regime until the pain subsided.

• Ice: For the first 48 hours post-injury, ice for 20 minutes at a time every 3-4 hours. 

• Frozen Ziploc bag: it allowed me to re-use the bag.  
• Roll a frozen water bottle under the arch: be sure to stretch first then roll out the arch for 10 minutes; you don’t want to stretch the tendon when it’s ice cold.  
• Freeze a golf ball and massage the fascia: roll the frozen golf ball under the foot, starting from the front and working your way back. Put good pressure on each spot—the medial, center and lateral positions—for 15 seconds before moving to the next area. Then, roll the ball back and forth over the entire foot.

• Compression: Use compression when elevating. I wrapped my feet the first couple of days to help with support. 

• Elevate: Elevated my legs at night by placing pillows under my legs. 

• Deep Tissue Massage:  Because we runners often have tight spots and interconnected issues when volume and intensity are high, deep tissue massage is often the modality of choice during hard training segments.

 What's Next?

1. Today is my massage and I know I'll be out of commission for three days. So I'll continue to rest. 
2. I switched back to my THIN socks! I was wearing mid-weight socks and it was proving to be too tight on my poor feet. After all, they do like to breath!
3. I got refitted for new shoes and went up 1/2 a size. 
4. Increase my stretching, incorporating yoga into the plan.

Conclusion

If I continue this training plan, I'll be injured.  So, on Oct 26th, I'll run/walk the Halloween Half, then revamp my plan for reduced Long Miles. After all, the goal is to "Go the Distance the Disney Way!"