Foot Frustrations

I have been plagued by foot problems in the past.

Little niggles in the arch or the heel. Pain in the ankle. Stuff that would go away after some rest and then I could get right back into running.

And now it’s back.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been having pain in the heel. It has been coming on after a good run, but not really bothering me, and usually going away enough before my next run,

But it really flared up a week ago.

I went out for an easy run making a stop at the middle school track for a short straights/curves workout. Just a little speed play.

Later that day the heel was not feeling good.

When I woke up the next morning the pain was so intense I couldn’t even take a step. It hurt just getting out of bed.

I never realized it before, but this is plantar fasciitis.

It is frustrating me now, because I need to rest it.

My plan has been to keep a consistent weekly mileage until I start marathon training the last week of July. There is a small voice in the back of my head that is telling me how bad it will be to miss a few weeks of running. How that will make the training plan get off to a bad start. I’m already setting up for failure.

That voice is a liar. I know that it is a liar, but I still have to keep convincing myself that rest is the proper thing to do.

I know it is.

Really I do.

So, as frustrating as it is, I am resting the foot.

I have also created a torture device.

It is called a peanut massager. You can buy them, but they are pretty easy and cheap to make. Simply take two baseballs and duct tape them together.

The poor tape job is working my nerves a little bit, but I can always re-tape it if it comes too loose.

Thanks to a few hour lost on YouTube, I learned how to make this and use it to massage out the fascia along the bottom of the foot. It can also be used to massage the calf and parts of the leg.

Now, instead of sitting and stewing in the fact that I can not run, I am using these few weeks as an opportunity.

I am going to get into a proper stretching routine. At night or in the morning when I would normally be running I will be stretching. Proper stretching that will actually loosen up the muscles and increase flexibility and mobility.

That is something I should have been doing for quite a long time, but something that is easily neglected. Maybe if I create a routine, a habit, of doing it now then it will carry over into training and I can do it for the rest of my life.

Like I am supposed to.