The good news, not great, is that my plantar fasciitis problem has gotten somewhat better. I’ve started running a bit over the past few weeks but I’m still feeling some discomfort. You cannot imagine how much I’ve read out there about PF on what to do, not do, what to put on, how to treat it, ice, heat, massage with tennis ball, with gold ball, no just massage with a frozen water bottle, put on a night splint, run, don’t run, x-train, etc. In the end each PF is different and each body is going to react different depending on the severity.
What has worked for me is taking time off (I swam for 3 weeks), stretched every day twice, iced it every day, massaged with foot with a golf ball as much as I can, and I have been sleeping with a night splint for the last 3 months. I decided to use my foot to do certain activities, like stair climber and spinning (active recovery they call it) and only after I felt no pain on everyday activities, such as a simple walk, did I start running again. And when I did my first run, about 3 weeks ago, I did 2km/10min runs every other day, then 2km 5x/week, and now I’m trying to get to 5km 5x a week.
It’s not like I’m feeling great, I still feel discomfort when I run and I have some good days and some bad days, but there is no pain like before (like a nail shooting through your heel) and that is very important. As long as the pain is not there then I can continue to ease into running and other activities while taking it slow. I ran 7km twice in a row this week (Wednesday & Thursday) and felt pretty good, except for my legs that have obviously lost all the endurance over the past 3-4 months. Then on Friday I felt my foot tired and a bit sore but I had planned to run the “Chase the Coyote” trial run at Mono Cliffs Provincial Park on Saturday which would have been difficult since I haven’t really done any trails and it was 14km! In end I decided not to go, my foot was sore and there is no point on hurting it all over again.
The Bad news front, after 3-4 years of using my trusty Brooks Cascadia, I have changed shoes. And yes they are Hokas. I read several blogs that stated that using them would alleviate the tension on PF so I decided to give them a try. They are not cheap at $160/shoe but I got a good deal on a BOGO 50% off, so I bought 2 for $240. So far so good, the little trail running I’ve done with them I’ve noticed the lack of stability when compared to the Cascadias but maybe it just takes getting used to it. I may go back to Cascadias for certain types of races/terrains, but for now I've only been using Hokas.
Apart from that, all is quiet, and I’m still pissed about missing such a great summer of running and I'm trying to enjoy the little running I’ve been doing during the best time of the year, fall. Hoping all gets back to normal over winter so I can start running longer again in early spring, if not I'll be looking for a foot transplant.
Did Karl talk you into Hokas? Next comes Ryder sunglasses and a Red Bull cap! Glad you're finally healing up, you'll be good to go for next year. I'll send you an email soon, curious to see what everyone's plans are for 2014.
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