Rroof: Can I run with Plantar Fasciitis?

Triathlon Forum
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I’ve had plantar fasciitis for several months now. I don’t feel it when I run, but it’s pretty bad afterward and of course first thing in the morning. I kept running with it until my season was over, and now I’ve stopped running for just over 3 weeks. I’m doing all the stretching, massage, golf ball, etc., but it’s not getting any better. Is it OK for me to keep doing all this stuff but also start running again as long as I keep my runs on the short side (6-8 miles)?

Thanks.

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ST: AR you using a night splint? I had PF a few years ago and I believe the one thing that aided my recovery the most was the night splint. I took a few weeks off, but not alot of time. You might also try rolling a frozen water bottle under your foot. When I had PF I thought my distance days were over, it was so painful. It does not bother me now, but you have to find out what works for you to get rid of the pain now. Good luck.

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What Barry said.

I got some PF in between LP and Kona, and the other stuff (rolling on frozen water bottle) seemed to keep it at bay, but it wasn’t getting better. A week of the night splint and I could run again.

I also think that my calves getting very tight post-LP from the race was the culprit, so religious stretching of them, coupled with the night splint (which is kinda/sorta passive stretching) is what did the trick. YMMV, and of course rroof is the uber expert on this topic, so do whatever he says.

Taking some time (whether that be totally off, or just shortened runs and less fequent) for however long it takes to get it cleared up NOW is a very good idea. You don’t want it to become a chronic issue, then you are buggered.

PS - I didn’t have any problem cycling, so I maxed out the biking during my little to no running period, which kept the OCD part of me in check, since I was still doing lotsa training. Again, YMMV.

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Thanks Barry. I haven’t tried a night splint yet, as I’ve seen mixed reviews. Do you remember which one worked for you?

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Here is an article that might offer some help.

http://www.runningbarefoot.org/?name=PlantarFasciitis

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Oh ya I forgot to mention as ML said stretching is very important. What you want to stretch is the calf, so the wall stretch is good for that. The make of my night splint is “corflex”. http://www.corflex.com/index.php.

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Have you done a search here for Plantar?

What worked for me was using the ProStretch 1st thing in the morning for about 10 minutes, bare foot, parallel to the floor.

http://www.protherapysupplies.com/pd_prostretch.cfm

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Strausberg socks work well for me. “Relatively” comfortable to sleep in, lightweight, and they definitely help recovery in conjunction with all the other modalities.

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Have you done a search here for Plantar?

I did do a search, which generated lots of good information. There wasn’t agreement, however, on whether continuing to run was still possible, so I thought I would ask our resident podiatrist.

Thanks for the suggestion on the ProStretch.

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I defer to someone with a license but 3 people just did Marine Corp after I showed them how to tape their feet. I also know one guy who completely tore his PF doing NY last year but quite honestly, he was an idiot for doing it. I have never seen a foot that was completely black and blue on the bottom and that was before he left for the race. That said, I taped him up and he finished. Here is what I just posted on another thread. Good luck.

All of the posts contain sound advice but here are two items not mentioned: 1) PF, if it gets cranked up, can take from a couple to 18 months to heal. It will go away during that period of time even if you do nothing. Mine was around for about a year and I did almost everything mentioned in the posts. That’s the bad news – here comes the good news. 2) There is a way to tape your foot that really helps some people. I ran 2 marathons with my foot taped. Couldn’t get out of bed in the morning without limping but I ran all I wanted. You need a disposable underwrap and 1.5 inch Zonus tape. I really need to post a pic but the basic move is put the underwrap around the middle of your foot to protect the skin and then circle it twice with the Zonus. Then make a horseshoe strap with the tape starting from the tape on the middle of your foot (on the side) around the heel to the other side twice. Then anchor it down by going around the middle of the foot again. You need Zonus b/c it won’t let go when it gets wet. I also taped both feet because the taping is obviously reducing the pronation in your foot to some degree and I decided to stay balanced. That may or may not be smart but its what I did. And, b/c you are messing with your foot strike you need to listen to your body. Finally, tighter is not better. Just get it sort of snug. If that description made no sense I will try again.

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Try a different running shoe. Can you fold your running shoe so that the toe touches the back - too stiff a shoe can create havoc.