Maybe I should shut down running for a bit. How long is a good amount of time? 2 weeks?

I'm one of the people in the "take the support away so the foot can do its job" camp. There is another PF thread on here. My story is there. The main issue is that people just want to stop the pain. That might be just masking the problem instead of curing it. To cure it, the pain could be a lot worse in the short term. You have to be committed to sticking it out till the feet get stronger. My first week or two with the transition shoes was really painful. The PF was going away, but the feet themselves were really hurting while they were getting stronger.

BTW, there are studies out there showing that too stiff of a cycling shoe will increase the chance of developing PF.

I ignored my PF for a few months before shutting down running. Been down for just over 12 months and still have the same question. I’ve seen people come back from broken legs in less time.

YMMV,

Scott

Has no one made the connection in your post yet? You've been running in Hoka Claytons for overnight a year now, and your PF came on last winter, which I'm guessing if your from the northern hemisphere, means that you were running in the Hoka's for a short while before getting PF symptoms? If so, ditch the Hoka's and go back to whatever was working for you previously

I tried taking 3 months off after getting it for the first time in July. It happened after running more in my racing flats, and I quickly purchased a pair of superfeet for them. I started running again after the 3 months and it was the same, not much had changed. I will not be taking a big chunk of time off if I get it again.

Walking in shoes with good arch support helps not to aggravate it further for myself. I find doing calf stretches regularly and the stability exercise of rising up slowly on my toes in bare feet while standing on a softer surface has helped. I am guessing that is loosening up my calf and strengthening the stability muscles.

I am now running in Asics GT 2000 with an insert similar to super feet. The stability shoe and insole seems to help, but it definitely isn't enough on it's own. Gotta be consistent with stretching and exercise and the shoe seems to be some protection on the road to recovering and strengthening against future injury.

Like I said, taking a huge amount of time off didn't help me. I think reducing volume, listening to my body when it hurts, and building back up is getting me through.

Take 2-3 weeks off to heal and strengthen your feet, then slowly build back up. If you have inflammation, use NSAIDS and ice. Once inflammation is gone, then make sure to stretch calves 2-3x a day, sleep in compression socks, and do calf raises for strength training. That is what works for me. I have also found I need a more supportive shoe, especially for long runs when my feet fatigue.

100% This.

Suffered with PF for almost a year. I was running in escalantes and even they had too much cushion. It wasn't until I ran in a thinner shoe that I realized I was never letting my right heel touch the ground. Which was putting a ton of strain on my foot. All from a hamstring injury that was preventing full extension.

The cushion and/or heel lift masked the form issue.

I still love my escalantes (my favorite shoe) but I personally found that I needed to take the shoe away to discover what my actual problem was. 10 steps in and it was like "oh, I'm not having a PF issue - I'm having a running form issue"

If I did this, my heels would be hurting inside a week.

For me, padding helps a lot. Even replacing a worn pair of shoes with the same kind helps significantly. Also, running on a rubber track instead the road helps. Trail running hurts.

(I usually run shorter, faster distances.)

I think you and many others are mistaking the adaptation discomfort of going minimalist/barefoot as an injury. It's not. It's the necessary and normal part of adapting to the forefoot stride. As a regular-shoed runner as well, you almost certainly overstrike on the heel when you switch to a barefoot strike (hence the heel pain) - happened to me repeatedly for weeks during my minimalist transition before I finally got my achilles and feet strong enough to maintain a true forefoot strike. (It's not just a matter of thinking 'land on forefoot' - you need the muscles and tendons to support it.)

I'm pretty much fully adapted now and run trails, steep stuff, and fast stuff no problemo with truly minimalist shoes with zero cushion. My form has also adapted a lot, particularly on downhills, to use my leg as a spring rather than clomp away on the cushioned heels of running shoes.

Bottom line, just because it's hard/painful to run minimalist style in your first few weeks of it, doesn't necessarily mean it's bad for you nor does it mean you're not built for it. You likely just haven't given it the time to properly adapt to it.

The cushioning can definitely be used incorrectly as a crutch in lieu of correctly done slower buildups. When you look at the super high rates of runner injuries that sideline them for a brief time and/or account for doctor visits, it's well over 50%. I can't help but feel that this overreliance of cushioning and built up shoes to get you running more and faster than you should be doing, is a core part of the problem. This is a lot harder to do with minimalist buildups - your body slows you down a lot earlier in the process, which is a good thing in my opinion.

I haven't run in 8 weeks and it has done my PF little to no good. I have pain every single day to one degree or another. I have found that the shoes I wear when NOT running are every bit as crucial. I am on my feet a ton (high school teacher and coach) and I have to wear sturdy, firm, supportive shoes 24/7 or I pay dearly. Wish I had a solution, this is getting old fast!

I'm sure you are right on the percentages, but it is NOT guaranteed. I for one am a forefoot striker in Asics GT1000s. There's very little evidence that my heel ever actually touches the ground. I'm wearing a recently retired pair right now (after 400 miles of running). I still have the microscopic "waffle" pattern tread on the entire sole aft of the bridge between the forefoot and heel portions of the sole. Other than the rubber being a bit "dull" it would be hard to tell that the heel sole isn't new. However, even the LARGE tread sipes are gone in the majority of the forefoot sole, and the very middle of the forefoot sole is completely smooth.

My point is really only that everyone is different to varying degrees. AND this runner's problems with PF may or may not be resolved by a minimalist shoe approach. As I said above, I REALLY think he should start with a visit to a qualified sports medicine specialist, so that he can address his specific issues with PF (not yours or mine).

Two things that have helped me when I have enjoyed a bad case of PF are (1) heel pads in my street shoes, and most importantly, (2) stretch. Stretch a dozen or more times per day. Don't stretch too hard or too long, but stretch often. (3) when sitting, it helps me to keep by feet up (opposite of pointing your toes) by resting them on something.

There are three types of people in the world, those who can count and those who cannot.

@Tom - I agree with you, but I'll also add the wear pattern I saw in my Brooks Transcends and other shoes I wore prior to my minimalist transition - ALL of them had predominant wear in the mid-forefoot. In no shoe was there a predominance of heel wear aside from that little outer corner edge that wears out nearly immediately with most folks and isn't a weight bearing surface.

So you can still def heel strike but wear out the mid-forefoot much, much faster than the heel area. I'll bet a big part of this is that the heel forces are more of a vertical direct force, rather than the much more shearing horizontal forces that you get in the forefoot area, hence faster wear there despite initial heel impact.

(I'm not saying you yourself are a heel-striker predominant, and honestly, even if you were, if it works for you, nothing wrong with that!)