Ask a Question about Your Condiition

I developed PF about two months ago. I cut back on my running some because my foot hurt so much in the morning. I can stretch the foot and it seems to go away and if I run four miles I feel great but once I sit down it gets sore in a hurry. If I run eight miles my heel hurts at the end of my run. I am using a sock at night for PF. Is it best to completely stop running or just cut back?

This is just my opinion,but I was a 40 mile a week runner who had been running for 17 yrs when I developed PF 10 yrs ago. I soon realized that I would have to stop trying to run through this nasty condition or become permanently debilitated. Even the bike irritated my foot as did walking. In desperation, I took up deep water running. I got my running coach to design a program for me that mimicked land running i.e.a long, steady "run" on 90 min., an interval run etc. I also weight trained harder at the gym. As my foot became less painful, I added stationary biking, occasional rowing and finally,the elliptical trainer. After 8 months, I began running again like a novice: run 1 minute, walk 4 minutes for 20 min. Every week, I increased the running intervals until I could run 20 min straight. From then on, I increased the time by 10% a week.As I was no spring chicken, I returned to running, but decreased my mileage and kept up the cross training. I was mostly pain free from then on, give or take a twinge! For the first time in 10 yrs, I am feeling the pf again, fairly mildly, but enough that I have again stopped running. All this to say, I highly reccomend laying off the running .It may not be as long for you ( I was 48 at the time) but this is a tricky condition and can become extremly debilitating.