I have good news and not so good news. The good and exciting news is that I am super excited to be running in the Nike Woman’s half Marathon next weekend. The not so good news is that I am battling a not-so-fun flair up of plantar fasciitis pain in my left heel.
I have been battling these foot and heel pain for a few months. I have iced, rolled, avoided hills and stretched to my hearts content. Yet, my left heel feels like it is constantly bruised. I find that I must wear shoes with very good insoles just to walk with out limping.
However, the amazing thing is that when I run there is not shooting pain. It is just an annoying bruised sensation with each pound of my left heel.
I know that when your body sends you a signal saying, “This hurts!” one needs to listen to that signal. However, how does one get to the root of that problem to FIX the pain when I don’t even know what is actually causing the pain.
I do plan on running next weekend’s half marathon. I do not plan on setting a personal record. I do not plan on running the entire hilly course. I do plan on enjoying the race and the scenery! It is the Nike Woman’s Marathon after all!!
In preparation for the race and to try to eliminate any more plantar fasciitis pain, I have been adding these 5 steps into my day.
5 Tips to Reduce Plantar Fasciitis Pain
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Rest (reduced time on my feet running & walking). This tip is super hard, especially when training for a race (like me). However, when injured, time off to heal is always a good idea in terms of long term fitness goals.
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Roll and/or Massage under the foot. Use a rolling pin, golf ball or a special friend (who doesn’t hate feet) and massage the arch and heel of the foot. This will help stretch out the tendons and muscles that are tight and causing pain.
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Stretch your calf muscles. Tight calf muscles can lead to tight foot muscles. Use a foam roller to massage your calves which will loosen those tight muscles. Another great way to stretch while on your own is try to flex your feet (toes pointing your legs).
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Hydrate! Seems like a silly thing to point out, however a dehydrated body will cramp and injuries happen. Drink your water!
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Take an Ibuprofen to help alleviate inflammation. Minimizing any pain and discomfort you might have, will help calm your nerves and help you function with the activity you are attempting.
There are many more tips and tricks on how to reduce plantar fasciitis pain. Those tips range from getting orthotics, specialty products to help stretch and easy sore feet/muscles and more. The above five tips are what I am working on and hoping will work for me come race day.
I am not a physician or athletic therapist. If you are in pain I suggest you going to see your doctor. These tips have helped reduce my plantar fasciitis pain, and I am sharing this with you in hopes that it can help you too.
Freeze some water in plastic bottles and use those on your feet to roll with… the ice adds that extra “Ahhhh” moment and helps reduce inflammation while you are rolling. Also tennis balls work well. I keep two in my car so that immediately when I am done with my walks/runs before I even drive home I can roll them on my feet and stretch them out. Also get one of the flat resistance bands and place it under your arch and toes and stretch your feet towards you.
Good tips. Also strengthen the foot with toe grabs and toe walking (land on foot, then roll up to the ball of the foot). Stretch the foot, seated ankle over knee, pull back on toes.
Then when nothing else works, get a cortisone shot. That’s what I had to do after months of foot pain. Which, of course, gets rid of the pain and inflammation, but doesn’t solve the problem that caused the plantar in the first place.
Great tips! Another good one is to avoid walking barefoot or itch an unsupported arch. Good luck in the half mary!
Great tip! I too find that I need to wear shoes (even inside) now. No more fun flip flops for these tired feet!
Congratulations on the NWM! I have a goal that I will at least walk the half before I turn 40 (5 years to go). I have pretty bad plantar fasciitis in both feet, I’ve ended up in a walking boot cast for it. One thing my physical therapist recommended is icing the arches of the feet with a frozen water bottle so you get the rolling too. I have water bottles in the freezer labeled “FOOT ICE” and when I feel it flaring up I pull them out of the freezer sit on the couch and roll my feet back and forth over them. Good luck on race day!
I agree with you that stretching & foam rolling are two of the best things to combat this. I know it can be painful at times, and when you’re already fatigued it can be easy to skip. But they will help. Like you said, some calf stretches, golf ball rolling, or even a barbell under the arch will be effective. And if you have the money/time, highly recommend visiting an RMT to get a proper massage. Thanks
Oh, that is NO fun. I hope you battle it quickly. I have to agree that stretching is probably the best thing to fix this. Can’t wait to hear how the half marathon goes. 🙂
I have been dealing with pesky plantar fasciitis pain for a few months now. It’s so painful, right? I’ve also been running through it, but taking several approaches to healing and reducing pain like you have. A few other things that have worked for me – rolling my foot on a frozen water bottle (pour some of the water out before freezing so it doesn’t explode), and ultrasound (I know this sounds so strange, but my chiropractor suggested it and it really helps a lot – the sound waves apparently break up the scar tissue and inflammation). Good luck in the race!!!
Oops … I just saw that this was a super old post, but it came up on Pinterest this morning :). So scratch the part about good luck in the race!
My husband gets plantar fasciitis from time to time, I’m totally making him do these things. He’ll be so excited. 🙂
Compression Socks helped me when I developed it back in January! But I think really it just takes time…lots of time. Eventually though I’d say my foot is 90% better now.
I need to stretch my calf muscles – I do NOT do this and sometimes I feel like they might BURST!! Ha! Weird, but true!
Avoid walking barefoot or wearing cheap flip-flops, as the lack of support and cushioning around the heel and arch.
First of all, GOOD LUCK! Second, I dealt with Plantar Fasciitis last year (at this exact time of the year), but I caused it myself by doing something stupid and jumping and landing really hard on my bare feet on the hard kitchen floor. I got it in my right foot and I spent weeks not being able to walk. It was so painful. Nothing helped, except times…many months. But at the end of the flare, I started wearing compression a lot and that seemed to help a bit too!
Great tips! PF is the one running injury I’ve managed to avoid over the course of my running career, though I’ve seen it absolutely debilitate other runners. Hoping to stay injury free !!!
My calves are going to be the death of me! They cause me so much trouble from being tight. Great tips!
The dreaded PF – always one of the worst to have to overcome. Great tips!! Rest is so important and always the one I want to hear the least. I hope this isn’t an injury I have to heal anytime soon!!
You know – I’ve (thankfully) never had plantar pain, though I’ve suffered with shin splint pain for years. If I ever do experience this I’ll make sure to come back to this post! I do regularly roll my foot with a tennis ball simply to keeps things lose and because it feels good.
Oh no! I’ve never had PF but I’m coming off an Achilles injury. I don’t know why or how but doing everything that I wasn’t supposed to do to heal it, actually made it better. Who knew running 26.2 miles would cure it?? Good luck!
Plantar Fasciitis is awful. I feel your pain. When I had tendonitis in my foot I also had PF and was happy that the boot helped to relieve the PF as well. My mom had to wear a night brace to help with it when she had it. Take it easy at the race so it doesn’t turn into something worse! Thanks for the tips for helping to ease the pain from Plantar fasciitis.
Plantar fasciitis is the WORST! I’ve had it a couple of times and now, anytime I feel a twinge in my foot, I get nervous. But rolling out my calves and and working on hip mobility and foot strength has really helped.
I’ve never experienced plantar fasciitis before, but I remember feeling quite a bit of pressure on my right knee when I was training for the half-marathon last year. Coincidentally, it was also the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon (in San Francisco)! Will keep these tips handy in case I get this the next time I train for a half-marathon!
Old post, but it came up on pinterest this morning. :v . I have to agree that stretching is probably the best thing to fix this.
Hey Rachel! Resting your feet is an excellent way to get rid of plantar fasciitis. If you don’t have two-three weeks to take off from training, try sleeping and running in plantar fasciitis sleeves. They take care of the situation so quickly, you will be amazed! They worked for me!