Tape it.

Keep it taped all the time for a couple of weeks.

I had it in both feet in the last five years- and I can say they both are totally healed. Went to PT where they did ultrasound and massage. Lots of stretching. Cut back on mileage but kept running. Iced it after running. did night splint for a while. Used arch supports in all my shoes. It takes a good six months to really heal. It's two steps forwards one step back for a long time.

i have had it for nearly 12 months on and off and have still not sorted it

i honestly believe there is no absolute cure !!!

it will leave your body when its ready

its driving me to beer ;-)

keep away from HOKA

Can you elaborate on why staying away from HOKA is advisable?

I had it bad training for my first IM. I tried all the home remedies while continuing to run, but ended up having to take 3 weeks off while starting both ART and EPAT. I then started back slowly, and while some pain was still there, it was more manageable and got me through the IM. After the IM, I took 2 months off running completely, started back slowly and haven't had it since (4+ years).

I run 5-6x week and only wear shoes with some support, currently Hoka Arahi.

Good luck with yours.

I started wearing running shoes to work (instead of nicer shoes without padding). That helped a lot for me during the day. I also lightened up running for a bit.

I tighten up when I stop running, so I would advise against halting unless your pf is especially acute. Dialing back the distance for a while is reasonable. Perhaps consider knocking your long down to a medium, your medium to a short and adding a short if you can manage four runs in your schedule to keep your overall volume from falling too much. Your worn out shoes combined with age probably precipitated this. By all means begin using your new shoes, and make sure they provide good support. I am not familiar with Hokas so you need to do your research there. A year or two back my ortho, an avid runner, suggested Bondi 5 when I saw him for pf, so you are probably good there. Work diligently on staying stretched. Especially focus on stretching your calf muscles against a wall and off the edge of a step several times daily. I found a link on one of the pf threads in this forum to a youtube video in which the guy performed a scraping procedure with the lubed handle of a big box wrench against his plantar fascia. I did that a few times and found it helpful to a degree. There are night boots/socks that keep tension on your calf muscle and down into the pf at night. I've experienced both good and bad from using those, so I would advise easing into using them if you decide to try it.

Time and patience, you will work your way through it. Best of luck!

Chop your foot off, it is the only way.

Really just take time off combined with rolling your foot on frozen water bottles and golf balls, and other massage forms. Also stretch and consider attempting to sleep in a splint sock. Then when it does not hurt any more, take another week or two off and give it a whirl.

Wow. Thanks for all the advice. I want to make sure it does not get worse. No big races coming up, just a sprint in a few weeks, so I'll probably ease off the running after that and just ride and swim mostly. That'll cost me, but hopefully I'll be better in time for a big race next spring. Patch, patch patch!

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Last time I had it I tried the Strassburg sock, rolling my foot with a golf ball, etc. None of it really worked. I settled on stretching my glutes, hamstring, and calfs, did eccentric calf raises, and was always wearing supportive shoes. If I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom I put on a pair of running shoes. Avoid wearing shoes like thong flip flops or sandals.

Work the calfs a lot. Here's a good video from a buddy's business and he's an awesome triathlete also:

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/...text=0&width=476" width="476" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>

Calf work, stretching and acupuncture/dry needling can all be very helpful.

I've had a couple of bouts of it. The Strassburg sock works pretty well...knocked it out on my first PF experience. The 2nd PF experience lasted a lot longer. Working the calves, dry needling, the sock, Superfeet inserts (I use the blue ones) in my running shoes and some "wrench" work knocked it out the 2nd time. I'm not kidding when I say "wrench" work. I saw a video of a guy using a standard double-ended wrench and running the handle part of it up and down his calves to work out the kinks and knots. He also used it on his heel and arch. I tried it and I think it helped.

The taping works but you have to use the right tape. Go on YouTube and search taping for PF and you’ll find many. The tape you need is that standard white medical tape but the kind that has no stretch in it. The taping will allow your tissue to repair itself without doing more damage. The problem with PF is you are always doing damage. Because you are always on your feet.



I heard something from a stand out triathlete (he’s 72 now and no longer racing but he ruled age group racing for almost 20 years) He told me recently that his sports doctor told him to keep Advil in his system for 1 week straight. He said it worked great. I hesitate to say this because I’ve never done that but because it came from him I trust it.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

Hoka's are 4mm or 5mm drop depending on the model. With PF you want to go to a higher drop shoe. If you've been in 4mm then 8-10mm shoes. That will help alleviate some of the strain & may lesson the symptoms.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I fought it most of 2017. Without writing a book: I reduced my weekly mileage to 30 mpw. I gave up on lightweight training/racing shoes. I dumped Altras, Sketchers, and Hoka Cliftons... and went to Hoka Bondi 5's and then 6's with double insoles. I wore a boot every night for about 8 months. I only ran on on an indoor rubber track, or occasionally a treadmill. I upped the interval work on my indoor bike trainer to stay fit. By the end of 2017, the PF was gone, and I was back to running outdoors. It hasn't returned. I'm not messing around with shoes, and staying with Bondi 6's, even for racing. I'm not increasing my mileage, and staying at 30 mpw. I'm having fun again, and back to winning age groups awards again. I even ran a BQ marathon this spring.

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Athlinks / Strava

That's interesting because switching to Hokas is what brought me relief from my PF. Goes to show there is no single magic bullet to fixing it

x100

PF since October 2017

Don't use it any more. When it is gone, then get a PT.

Goal: Sept 1, 2019

To be continued...

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/

I had it and asked around for treatments. Ice, golf balls, strapping, inserts, rest etc etc until a doctor told me you can try all of that but it doesn't matter what you do it'll take 2 yrs until its gone. The good thing is that it'll take 2 yrs to go through all the remedies.

This is a fascia issue. Which has to do with toe box. Go to correcttoes.com and see a muscle activation specialist.

Tim Ferris covers this in the 4 hour body.

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Triathlon is hard. We like it that way.

There’s also a long thread in this topic if you search

agreed- there is a thread with a ton of good advice- also some great tips above. I would recommend some regular massage, rolling your feet on a golf ball or small can, rolling pin, etc. You really need to break up the tissue manually. If possible, only run on grass fields/soft surfaces for the time being. Also, don't walk around barefoot- grab some sandals with good arch support. My all-time fave ( wearing some right now) are the original Adidas Adilette:

https://www.adidas.com/...e-slides/288022.html

Good luck!

My wife makes fun of me for wearing those same sandals....love them!! And I agree as I have PF right now.

i heard to avoid wearing slippers round house

i have started wearing a clean pair of running shoes indoors for walking around

but thats a good point about flip flops