About my blog

Welcome to my trail running site. I enjoy being on the trail where I can take in nature and clear my mind. I prefer running in the mountains, but anywhere rural will do. In years past, I have completed four 100 mile trail races and many other ultramarathons. I spend countless hours running in the Franklin Mountains and the surrounding desert in far West Texas, which I call my church. My little Mexican hairless dog, Taz tags along sometimes. I am slowing down in my old age and am mostly running 50K trail races these days.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

What I've learned since having Plantar Fasciitis

If you love to run like I do, plantar fasciitis is your worst enemy. I’ve been icing, resting, swimming, stretching, biking, researching, and wearing a night splint to try to heal my foot quicker. This is a slow process, but I’m optimistic that I’ll be back on the trail before too long. I hope to be more cautious in the future and try to incorporate more cross training into my routine. I love trail running more than road running and think that staying off the hard surfaces may help me prevent this in the future.

Here are a few things that have come to light since I haven’t been running for a month.

  • Aqua Jogging sucks
  • Swimming is a great workout, but quite boring
  • Watching paint dry is fun
  • Riding a bike one handed while holding three dog leashes is dangerous
  • A Springer Dog Jogger makes biking with dogs safer
  • Lucy would make a good lead sled dog in the Iditarod
  • According to my podiatrist, I need a shoe with a high heel
  • I don’t look good in pumps
  • Nike shox have a high heel, but aren’t good for running
  • Some runners swear that running barefoot has alleviated all their injury problems
  • Running shoe salesmen beg to differ
  • Runners with PF will try anything they read on the internet to try to make it heal quicker. If you told me to boil fish heads with eye of newt and spider claw and drink on the next full moon while wearing my wife’s pumps, I would probably try it. (Fortunately she doesn’t own a pair of pumps.)
  • A cortisone shot in the heel could be a temporary fix (about 3 months), but I only have three of those cards in my deck. I may soon play one of those cards.
  • Airrosti, or Applied Integration for the Rapid Recovery of Soft Tissue Injuries has helped some runners with PF as well as other injuries. This painful manual manipulation treatment might work, but doesn’t exist out here in the desolate Chihuahuan Desert. I’m stuck with eye of newt for now.
  • There’s only so much stretching one can do
  • There’s only so much icing one can do
  • Rolling your foot over a racquet ball is beneficial in loosening the tissue
  • According to my podiatrist, I need a shoe with a lot of cushioning
  • Hoka Mufates are the most cushioned running shoe available, but are very expensive, not to mention look like a teeny bopper shoe stuck on top of a neon marshmallow.
  • I may buy a pair of Hokas
  • Waiting for PF to go away sucks
  • Did I mention that aqua jogging sucks?
See you on the trail.

Guess which one is Lucy, the lead sled dog?



7 comments:

  1. Very funny Greg! I did have a laugh about that. Hope it starts to clear up soon and you're back on the trails.

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  2. Thanks, all we can do is laugh when these things happen. We'll get through it. -Greg

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  3. very amusing! hope you do find a way to get back on the trail...Any "snake oil" stands in the desert?

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  4. I'll keep my eyes out for the snake oil salesman! Maybe it will help me. -G

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  5. Hope this clears up soon. I spent several years away from running due to plantars and snake-oil podiatrists who put me in bad orthotics (and happily charged my insurance for many follow-up visits that never did much to help) until I found the doctor/orthotic/shoe combination that worked.

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  6. I was having some plantar issues before I did the Big Bend 50 back in January. I was wearing REALLY flexible, minimal Inov8 F-Lite 195 shoes. The BB50 is a super rocky, uneven course. The combination of minimal shoes and uneven ground was a godsend. After the race, the plantar issue was gone, gone, gone. I'm sure if I had been wearing a built up shope, orthotics, or whatever, I wouldn't have found relief.

    I think part of the problem for me was the transition from trails to roads. The slight grade of the roads keeps my gait consistently uneven, i.e. the left leg is always higher, etc. I was working with a massage therapist and he found the problem to be in my peronials. After he work on my peronials, they always felt great. Of course, after a few days back on the road, the problems returned.

    And then Big Bend... So rocked to have the plantar issue gone.

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  7. John: Thanks, I'll keep searching out the answer.

    Chris: Glad you found the solution. I've been wearing custom orthotics for years w/no problems, but this is the second bout in 3 years. I'm about to try the minamilst approach that seemed to help you. I made it through Big Bend, but had to drop to 25K. I've been resting ever since. Thanks for the insight. -Greg

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