Hey guys,
Just wondering if anyone had had this problem before? I was training really well all year and about 8 weeks out from the comp I started developing some pain under the heel of my foot. This just so happened to coinside with my program starting to intensify as I was moving into a racing phase. I had programed everything almost perfectly this year (or so I thought). My speed endurance, strength, power, and acceleration were all starting to reach a peak after a really good 10-11months training.
In hind sight I should have rested and had the problem seen to but being single minded, as us sprinters generally are, I decided to continue racing. Now, I’m watching from the sidelines, the race that I was training for was won in 10.80 +1.3wind. The conditions were perfect!! It was heart breaking, I had run 10.74sec +1.1 wind 4 months prior. My P.B. is 10.40 but due to injury I haven’t run that since 97.
I was finally starting to maek some gains, and then, bang, this happened.
Anyway, if anyone has any advice, it would be much appreciated. I’m starting to lose focus. I’m turning 30 next year and wondering whether I’ll reach that illusive P.B. form again. My motivation was Athens, our Relay qualify is only 10.47sec. I thought I was on track to run that 3 weeks ago.
I have been recovering from the same injury. Has been about 15 months now.
I am quite flat footed and actually had my foot stomped on in soccer June (not this past June but the year before)
Get rehab right away. Look at Orthotics and be prepared for some frustration and misery. I had to hop on one foot to the shower for 2 months after getting out of bed in the morning.
It still bothers me now but I am able to train. I can’t do any lateral runnng movements anymore (soccer is out of the question)
Check out heelspurs.com
If you do have plantar fasciitis, my heart goes out to you! This injury can take many months (even years) to recover from. I thought I had developed this injury earlier in the year when I was doing a lot of soft sand running in bare feet. I think this activity is bad for those prone to plantar fasciitis. Fortunately, at the first sign of pain, I put myself on crutches for 9 days straight, then only walked for the next week. After that I was able to jog, then eventually sprint. It took me about 1 month to fully recover. From reading the message board at heelspurs.com it’s clear that you cannot push through this injury because it will only get worse. Maybe you should try the crutches for 1-2 weeks. This might allow the foot to recover. Remember that every time you put weight on it, you are stressing it and tearing fibers.
Good luck!
i to have this problem, i just let it get so bad (to the point where i was unable to walk) that finally something had to be done.
i went to the doctor and he gave me localized cortizone shots in my heels, and i rested for a week. i also took a 2 liter bottle full of water and froze it, and 3 times a day (for about 10 min) i roll out the bottom of my feet trying to loosen up the tissue.Also, now everytime you are on your feet, make sure you are wearing shoes that are cusioned and are comfortable for you.
i should have rested longer, but it seems to be a little better (although my volume has decreased much). just try to increase your range of motion (progressing mildly). this injury sucks, but you can recover-it just takes time.
WARNING- if you think you are getting plantar faciitis, attack it early before it progresses!
Well, I was probably around the 80-82kg makr when I ran my P.B. I’m sitting on about 86kg mark now. But, with the added body weight my strength has increased linearly.
Squat: 235kg
Bench press: 135kg
Power Clean: 105kg
Dead lift: 170kg
Also, I have noticed that a lot of you guys that are predisposed to this injury have mentioned that you are fairly flat footed. I have relatively high arches? And, I did actually get orthotics fitted yearsa ago for shin splints, I ended up taking them out because they seemd to work for the shin splints but caused other biomechanical problems associated with changing my foot strike.
I’ll try the deep tissue massage, ice, stretching and CAUTION. Its just frustrating doing all this training and seeing it go to waste because of such a debilitating injury.
Plantar fasciitis sure is a frustrating injury that I see in my office everyday. But I think it’s important to note that the key is to rest the area immediately! For sprinters in the acute phase of injury, I may put people on crutches and even in a removeable cast. Icing & massaging is usually done also; stretching an acute injury is just asking it to become more irritated. I might even give a steroid/anesthestic injection also. When the pain decreases, it is time to think about PT (ultrasound, strengthening and stretching the intrinsic muscles of the foot), and orthotic control. High and low arches both can cause this injury but for different reasons. An orthotic controls the position of the foot as it contacts the ground, allowing an “abnormal” foot to function more like a “normal” foot. Also continuing stretches of the heel cord is important as some of the fibers attach to the plantar fascia. This solves 90% of patients. Others go on to such things as shock wave therapy (dubious results at best), or surgical correction. I hope this long-winded paragraph was helpful!
One is to splint your foot at night to keep it in dorsiflexion. This avoids tightening of the plantar fascia over night and can be achieved by simply wearing a strong boot that limits plantar flexion in bed or by taping it. Taping can be done by applying a non-elastic tape on your foot so that it runs from your anterior tibia to the dorsal aspect of the foot. If you hold the foot in dorsiflexion while you apply the tape it should resist and thus prevent subsequent plantar flexion.
You can also ask a podiatrist about a new treatment method called extracorporeal shockwave treatment.
I had this bad several months ago. I’ve had it for years, and always managed to train around it. When I was playing rugby, I would wake up in the mornings and have to limp around on my toes until it warmed up. It persisted after I retired from rugby and took up strongman and powerlifting competition. I was asking questions about this fairly recently, because every time I went to improve my conditioning, it would flare up.
Then…it went away. I don’t know why, and just remember waking up one day and thinking “Shit. My heel doesn’t hurt!” I can jump rope, walk, do box jumps, squat, olympic pulls and hill sprints, and there’s no pain.
I researched this and it freaked me out. According to specialist I spoke with the success rate isn’t super high and the recovery takes a long time. I was going to consider it as a last resort…
Yes, the success rate of ESWT is pretty low.
Justin, you might try the PainEze Plus EMS device. It’s small and portable, cheap and very effective in relieving the pain of many conditions, including PF.
You can check it out at http://www.EziStim.com
Looks like i’ve got a lot of informative information, hopefully it will help me in some way get over this. I don’t like the sound of having this injury for months and having it be a recurring problem as most of you guys who have had this knows you can’t do a lot due to the pain and if you do try training on it, it just gets aggrevated.
I’m actually doing my final exams for uni in a couple of weeks so, some forced rest and the chance to catch up before the exams is not a problem at the moment, but, once exams are finished I’ll be keen to start back again.
Mean time, will be trying the deep tissue massage this week, thanks guys,
Cheers,
Justin.
P.S. Brad, call me again mate, I’ve been busy with other things, Last full moon party (EVER) is tonight!!
Justin, I had the same problem a year ago. It lasted for about 8-12 weeks. It started as a mild pain and got worse until one day while sprinting hard it blew out. I thought I torn it completely. I had a doc look at it and he wrappped it and suggested orthotics (spelling). I did but no luck. I did some research and found out the problem could be caused by tight achilles tendons. They overlap at the attachement point of the plantar tendon on the front of the heel and can exert a pull on it if the achilles is tight. I have a habit of sleeping on my stomach and if you do your achilles is fully relaxed and can shorten overnight. When you get up the next day you stretch the achilles and it in turn pulls on the plantar. Do you have a lot of pain in the morning when you first get out of bed? After draining the lizard or 3-5 minutes it starts to loosen up, right? I also have high arches so its not just guys with low arches. Try sleeping with your feet hanging over the end of your bed or better yet while on your stomach stick your feet between the end of your mattress and the base board of the bed and push yourself down so your achilles is in a stretched posistion. I know it may sound a bit crazy but it worked for me and it never came back. Good luck
