My last post, I was bummed. The thoughts had crossed my mind that my season might be finished (almost before it began). But after the surprising effects of taping up my foot for a couple days, as well as modifying mowing the lawn (split into two days, with taped up feet) - I found that Monday morning my heel was not nearly as sore as it was the previous week. In other words, while I may have mildly aggravated it during the weekends activities, it didn't get nearly as aggravated as it had on other weekends.
This week I also scheduled an appointment with a sports medicine doctor, but that appt isn't until June 1. Given the progress I've seen this week, I think there's only a 50/50 chance I'll end up continuing with that appointment. It may seem silly to ditch an appointment (and the potential subsequent PT and exercises that would follow), but my reasoning is simple: Upon reflection, I have little reason to believe my issue is PF that has developed under typical conditions where it develops. While the end result may be the same (overuse of the tendons in the heel and general tendonitis), the cause came about because of a completely different reason: that I was trying to land on and use the front part of my foot almost exclusively while running over the past few months. This was such a radical departure from my typical form that of course it overstrained certain parts of my body when I didn't give it a chance to build up strength. Since my old form has served me well for so many years (I was just trying to eek out a bit more performance), I believe I can fully attribute this issue to doing too much, using a new form, too fast. So I'll keep the appt on the calendar, and see how things are over the next week before cancelling.
Also this week, I did some further research into how to tape up the foot to relieve even more stress from the tendon during the recovery process. So the past couple days I've done that (which involves some taping on the underside of the foot in a criss cross pattern). Earlier this week I was feeling around the heel and found a knot of what I believe to be the inflammation - as it was very similar feeling to the inflammation the doctor found when I went in for the IT band last year. So the past few days, I've been massaging that knot of inflammation to try and stimulate blood flow. It is not directly under the heel, but rather off to the side. The location is another reason for me to believe this isn't precisely a case of PF. This morning I stepped out of bed and felt very little, if no, soreness on the heel. That is an indication to me that the massaging, heat, and taping have been effective.
Yesterday I also snuck in a short (like, 10 minutes) run while walking the dogs in the woods, on the taped up foot. I just wanted to see if my heel would be more sore today than it was yesterday. Since I woke up with no soreness, I dont think I did much, if any, new damage. So tomorrow I may try a short 10-15 minutes around the neighborhood and see what happens.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sometimes its better to throw it all out and start over
After my last post, I was feeling pretty good. The heel was doing pretty well, and I thought that with less running I could turn the corner and gradually get the plantar fasciitis out of the way.
I guess I was wrong. I went out to do a 6 miler on Sunday, but failed miserably. It was the worst run I've had in my life, I think. I went in the late afternoon, trying to avoid mid-day heat - but I didn't realize it had actually been getting hotter as the day went on. I had also mowed the lawn earlier in the day, so my heel was, in retrospect, already aggravated a bit. I was also probably a bit dehydrated, although I wasn't showing the typical symptoms. So with all that, and the fact it was the first real warm run of the season and my body isn't used to shedding heat - it was a miserable time. I was trying to think of a single positive, and couldn't. The only non-negative thing about it was that it was an opportunity for my body to adjust to running in warm weather. Maybe that'll pay dividends.
On my way back (mostly walking), I went through a series of thoughts. Should I just skip the marathon this year? If I do, and with that being the major goal of the year - what should I do training wise (because whats the point)? Should I go back to running 3x per week, like last year? Afterall, I did make it much further, and one could argue that I gave myself more time to recover in between runs. Should I concentrate on cycling this year and give my body a rest from the pounding of running?
In the end, after I had some time to think, I decided on the following:
1) Take 3 weeks of no running. Do some cycling in the meantime to at least have some activity - build cardio capacity, legs, etc. That'll leave me with 20 weeks to train for a marathon. Not ideal, but possible - all depends on how the heel responds.
2) In the unlikely event I'm not able to do the marathon, I dont want this year to be a complete loss - so I can still do triathlons. So I signed up for the Webster Lake and Cranberry Country Olympic. I really should be able to do the 6 miles at the end of August. Hell, I did it last year in the midst of ITB friction.
3) Once I start running again, run 3x per week. Running 5x per week may be optimal for recovery and time training, but I really do not care about time in a marathon - I just want to finish.
4) This will all make completing the marathon that much sweeter.
So - last week I made sure to do the main PF stretches during the week, and by weeks end, things were feeling pretty good (again). On saturday I mowed the lawn (2 hours behind a push mower), and my heel was very sore. With that, it became a trend - so either that much walking, or the boots I wear while mowing are not helping. I had some gel inserts laying around, so I started using those to help cushion my heel. They helped a little bit, but the majority of the soreness and pain wasn't heel pressure, but when the foot is flexed during walking.
This morning I was doodling around the internet, and came across this. Normally, I read these types of columns with a great deal of skepticism, and I did with this one too. However, I had been wondering if getting something to support the arch would help - and, well, I had a roll of duct tape right by the computer. So I tried it out. I was amazed at the results. Not absolutely and completely pain free, but markedly better. In fact, the only pain I've had all day is pressure on the heel - which as I just mentioned, has generally not been the biggest contributer to pain in this whole ordeal.
Now, I am really not one to buy into the whole idea of getting things for your feet because they provide support. At least, not on a long term basis. I'm a firm believer that the human foot has the capability to provide its own support, and that artificially supporting it causes atrophy. However, in some cases - such as this where the support is only necessary on a temporary basis - I think support can be useful.
So we'll see how it goes. Now that I know that the combination of mowing and boots are a major contributer, I can start making adjustments to alleviate that. Hopefully after some time without reaggravating the injury every week, things will fall into place.
I guess I was wrong. I went out to do a 6 miler on Sunday, but failed miserably. It was the worst run I've had in my life, I think. I went in the late afternoon, trying to avoid mid-day heat - but I didn't realize it had actually been getting hotter as the day went on. I had also mowed the lawn earlier in the day, so my heel was, in retrospect, already aggravated a bit. I was also probably a bit dehydrated, although I wasn't showing the typical symptoms. So with all that, and the fact it was the first real warm run of the season and my body isn't used to shedding heat - it was a miserable time. I was trying to think of a single positive, and couldn't. The only non-negative thing about it was that it was an opportunity for my body to adjust to running in warm weather. Maybe that'll pay dividends.
On my way back (mostly walking), I went through a series of thoughts. Should I just skip the marathon this year? If I do, and with that being the major goal of the year - what should I do training wise (because whats the point)? Should I go back to running 3x per week, like last year? Afterall, I did make it much further, and one could argue that I gave myself more time to recover in between runs. Should I concentrate on cycling this year and give my body a rest from the pounding of running?
In the end, after I had some time to think, I decided on the following:
1) Take 3 weeks of no running. Do some cycling in the meantime to at least have some activity - build cardio capacity, legs, etc. That'll leave me with 20 weeks to train for a marathon. Not ideal, but possible - all depends on how the heel responds.
2) In the unlikely event I'm not able to do the marathon, I dont want this year to be a complete loss - so I can still do triathlons. So I signed up for the Webster Lake and Cranberry Country Olympic. I really should be able to do the 6 miles at the end of August. Hell, I did it last year in the midst of ITB friction.
3) Once I start running again, run 3x per week. Running 5x per week may be optimal for recovery and time training, but I really do not care about time in a marathon - I just want to finish.
4) This will all make completing the marathon that much sweeter.
So - last week I made sure to do the main PF stretches during the week, and by weeks end, things were feeling pretty good (again). On saturday I mowed the lawn (2 hours behind a push mower), and my heel was very sore. With that, it became a trend - so either that much walking, or the boots I wear while mowing are not helping. I had some gel inserts laying around, so I started using those to help cushion my heel. They helped a little bit, but the majority of the soreness and pain wasn't heel pressure, but when the foot is flexed during walking.
This morning I was doodling around the internet, and came across this. Normally, I read these types of columns with a great deal of skepticism, and I did with this one too. However, I had been wondering if getting something to support the arch would help - and, well, I had a roll of duct tape right by the computer. So I tried it out. I was amazed at the results. Not absolutely and completely pain free, but markedly better. In fact, the only pain I've had all day is pressure on the heel - which as I just mentioned, has generally not been the biggest contributer to pain in this whole ordeal.
Now, I am really not one to buy into the whole idea of getting things for your feet because they provide support. At least, not on a long term basis. I'm a firm believer that the human foot has the capability to provide its own support, and that artificially supporting it causes atrophy. However, in some cases - such as this where the support is only necessary on a temporary basis - I think support can be useful.
So we'll see how it goes. Now that I know that the combination of mowing and boots are a major contributer, I can start making adjustments to alleviate that. Hopefully after some time without reaggravating the injury every week, things will fall into place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)