“Geoff it’s been 8 weeks now and I’m still not running properly, what’s going on? I don’t understand how my foot can take so long to heel!”
“Sean just be patient and you’ll soon be back, you have to just ride it out. Day by day it’s getting better, you just have to keep cross training and rehabbing the foot.”
Plantar fasciaitis is such a pain to get rid of once you get it, I’ve been told by a good few people the quickest way to cure it is to “snap your plantar” no word of a lie. One the the girls I train with Charlie Perdue, told me about her plantar trouble and Sonia o’sullivan’s, where when they both snapped it they could have it operated on then it would heal much quicker than managing an inflamed plantar. Listen to this Sonia jumped off her kitchen table to cause the tear. Because after 6 weeks of and operation and being in a boot your almost ready to start jogging lightly.
10 weeks on with my plantar fascia pain of inconsistently training and having to manage it, you can see me think “hmm… I have a kitchen table!” Stood on top of it one day and thought “sod it, let’s snap this little fucker.” But then I’m thinking nah it will get better in a couple of days time don’t worry… Couple of days later go by and I’m back on top of the kitchen table. The cycle of a crazy athletes mentality when injured. I think I could probably send a physiologist to a psychiatrist after they have a session trying to fix me when I’m injured ha!
But yeh that’s why I’ve not been blogging too much, not had much to talk about but then one of my clients at the gym said don’t not blog because your not training or racing properly… “It’s good to let people see the other side of an athletes good spell, how you cope with hard times and then show people how you come out of the struggle.
The usual athlete will most possibly only blog when things are going perfect and they’re in personal best shape about to race… I would love to tell you all those things but it’s the complete opposite sadly.
It has now been 8/10 weeks I have had plantar fasciaitis. And I think it all started when I switched training shoes from adidas adistar boost to nike vomeros. Don’t get me wrong both great comfy running shoes but the thing is nike has a bit more of a wider fit and adidas is a tighter, narrower fit which suits my foot better I have now found out… The hard way!
It maybe a combination of things including the switching of trainers but that may have been the ingredient that tipped my foot over the edge. Some of the causes of plantar fasciaitis are high mileage (overuse), uneven surfaces, high impact, tight calves, poor glute activation, flat arches, poor toe and foot mobility and CHANGING SHOES!!! And I think I done all those things within a short space of time so it was almost inevitable that something was going to give but every athlete almost always thinks they are the exception to the rule.
So the things I’ve been doing to treat the pain are –
1- ice pack/ hot water bottle – I would switch between icing my foot for 20 minuteA and then putting the hot water bottle on for 20 minutes.
2- this is a must!! I bought a strassburg sock which helps keep foot flexed to keep plantar stretched out and improve toe mobility. (Ultimate Performance Strassburg sock on right)
3- took a short does of 400mg of Ibuprofen four times a day. This helped prevent further inflammation and slight pain killer.
4- went back to my adidas adistar boost! Stick to what you know works!! Don’t go for a shoe because they look kool.
5- get one of your dad or mates golf ball and get your foot rolling about on that. I have to say at the start of rolling your foot is a little sensitive and it is sometimes excruciating to have the solid ball underneath your heel but honestly embrace the pain. It will get easier!
6- knee to wall stretch. Try and get your foot as far away from the wall as possible to gain more flexibility in calf, soleus and Achillies. Do 3/4 times per day 5 sets of 30 seconds hold. Keep heel on the floor. Then you can advance the plantar and chillies stretch by putting toes/ fore foot on the wall and then try to bend your knee, Such a good intense stretch for your plantar, you may feel a burning sensation at base of heel where the plantar is inflamed.
7- calf stretch on step. Again hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute, repeat that 6 times 3 times per day.
8- Use trigger point roller on your calves!! Must Must Must ease off upstream from plantar problem!!! loosen off those stiff calves, soles and Achilles.
9- Decrease mileage, intensity of running, and get on soft flat even surfaces. It good to run on grass but make sure it isn’t uneven because that causes a little more unnecessary stress on the achilles and plantar.
10- Cross train on Bike and pool, and rest when foot is too painful and feels like it is getting worse.
Well there you have it, the 10 commandments to helping plantar pain. There are so much more but I feel that these points have really helped me. There are different methods also but like I said this is not an absolute and some people may have different ideas also but these are just little tips that I wanted to share with anyone who feels that they have exhausted all avenues and not tired these points.
Hopefully anyone reading this and then gets success from these tips I would love to hear you success stories, there is nothing worse than an injured athlete on the sideline and watching your peers training hard and getting the miles in… Drives me mad!! But I channel that anger and frustration into a sensible way to motivate me to cross train and keep as much fitness as I can.
I hope you have enjoyed the read and learned something new. Thanks for reading guys. Another blog on my injury update coming soon.