Ironically the name of my Chicago Ragnar group. Presently I have had a condition called plantar fasciitis. I have had it for a little over year off and on. Let me start with a little background on what plantar fasciitis is. Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition affecting the bottom of the foot. It is a common cause of heel pain. Plantar fasciitis can come from a number of underlying causes. The plantar fascia is a structure that runs from the front of the heel bone (calcaneus) to the ball of the foot. This dense strip of tissue helps support the arch of the foot by acting something like the string on an archer’s bow.
When the foot is on the ground a tremendous amount of force (the full weight of the body) is concentrated on the plantar fascia. This force stretches the plantar fascia as the arch of the foot tries to flatten from the weight of your body. This is just like the string on a bow is stretched by the force of the bow trying to straighten. This leads to stress on the plantar fascia where it attaches to the heelbone. Small tears of the fascia can result. These tears are normally repaired by the body. The chronic inflammation of the fascia can cause pain.
My plantar fasciitis started when I was training for Chicago Marathon in 2014. It would bother me during my long miles, particularly when I ran more than 14miles. I was able to complete my Marathon in October 2014. I took November off. I started going to physical therapy, along with acupuncture. I got better. I was ready to start race training again in December 2014.
Tape done by my therapist to relieve pressure on my plantar fascia.
I then started training for a marathon for April 2015. My training was going well until March. I went on a ski vacation, and had a few colds and the flu. I was out of commission for about a month. I did not have the energy to properly train.
In an attempt to catch up so to speak, I think I may have over did it. My foot pain returned, and now it was both feet. I continued to run, but I decided to downgrade my marathon to a half marathon. I still did my Ragnar Relay in early April. I ran a total of about 15 miles over two day. The last race I was able to do was Susan G. Komen 10k. After I ran that race, booth my feet hurt even when I walked. I shut myself down. I went back to rehab. I wore my night splints. My feet got better, but I still could not run. I decided to see a foot and ankle orthopaedic surgeon. I got tired of treating myself with not much success. I still could not run.
After seeing Dr. H and getting cortisone injections in both feet, I improved. Mind you that was the one of the worse pains ever, getting injections in both feet. I have tried to gradually get back to routine running. I still have some pains that resume after I raced on my birthday. So I will rest, and rehab, and of course try again. The struggle continues. I will continue to fight to return to my love- running. I have races to run, truncations to plan, more medals to add to the rack, and best of all more running friends to meet.
