Monday, April 26, 2010

Running Injuries - Plantar Fasciitis

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I am injured and not running at present. I reacted badly to the run on Friday. On Saturday morning I was particularly bad first thing in the morning when I was limping and hobbling around and unable to put my heel flat on the ground without pain.

The feeling in my left foot was as if I was walking directly on my bones and my skin and shoes were not able to protect me. The plantar fascia is a strong band of tissue that stretches from your heel to your middle foot bones. It supports the arch of your foot and also acts as a shock-absorber in your foot. My shock absorber has decided enough is enough for the moment.

Bad timing as I was in training for a 10k race at Breckland on the 3rd of May but this is out the window now.

As a previous sufferer of this condition the only real cure is rest. What causes plantar fasciitis?  Lots of running if you are not used to it. Could be the case for me as folowing injury I did put in a fairly intensive 3 months of training.

Running on  a surface you are not used to such as track or road if you are used to the country. In my case I always mix up my running on all surfaces so this wouldn't apply to me.

Wearing shoes with poor cushioning. As a neutral runner with high arches I need shoes with good support. I have alternated two pairs of Asics Gel Stratus 2 and 3's. Both showed wear fairly quickly. The Asics Gel Straus 3's I am still using but are beginning to show signs of wear after only 250 miles which is disappointing in a shoe as I expect to get 450 miles  to be considered a decent shoe. I have always got on well with Asics but am giving a pair of Saucony a go. It may be coincidence but it has put a doubt in my mind regarding Asics at the moment.

Increasing your running intensity - Yes guilty on this one. But what can you do if you follow a training plan you want to increase your intensity and quality of training sessions so you lengthen your longest run and run tempo and intervals. In doing this you can overstretch your foot sole.

Tight Achilles tendon - this is the  big tendon above your heel at the bottom of your calf. Yes after walking on Saturday or limping to a Beer Festival ( I forgot all about my heel pain for a while!) the pain has seemingly transferred from my heel my achilles.http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007021.htm

Having high arches  - yes this is me. You can tell by doing the paper test . Take your shoes and socks off and slightly wet the heel of your foot and then place it on a piece of white paper. If you see just your heel, the ball of your foot, and a thin line on the outside of your foot, you have a high arch, the least common foot type.

It is most common in people aged between 40 and 60- Yes thats me 

More common in overweight people who are over their BMI ideal weight. Yes again guilty of this by about a stone in weight but I need to run to lose some weight!

When will I be able to run again ? Well I am impatient and I will try running again on Wednesday. However if this is a bad episode of plantar then I may have this problem for many weeks or months.



9 comments:

  1. Bummer! Good luck with your recovery. I'm hoping the combination of cross-training and better shoes will help me overcome the dreaded P.F.

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  2. Ugh. Sorry to hear about the PF! Rest up - the last thing you want to do is not let the inflamation subside. I know people who had to go months on the sidelines because they weren't willing to take a couple or three weeks off when the symptoms first appeared.

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  3. no good! rest up dude - you do not want to be out of commission for long with this. i too have heard stories of people being on the bench for months :-/

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  4. Sorry to hear about your injury. I am sure that you will be up and at em in no time with proper care that is. The worst thing for a runner is NOT running. I can't imagine. Take care Paul and hope to see you running soon. Best wishes on Wednesday as you try it.

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  5. Any progress with the injury? Hopefully it's on the mend.

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  6. Sorry to hear about the injury. I run many of the routes in your blog, you are an invaluable guide as to where to run. Please don't stop!

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  7. Good luck with tomorrow's elections. I never could quite figure out the differences between the candidates, but at least I know that there are three parties involved and that their approaching the finish line neck and neck . . . and neck.

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  8. Thanks for all your comments I am so frustrated not being able to run and probably putting on lots of weight.

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  9. Thanks Simon

    good to hear you do some of the local routes around Bury. I am always looking for new routes perhaps you can point me in the direction of 1-2 !!

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