Saturday, December 13, 2008

Seeking the Silver Bullet

Not running this past week has meant a lot more time on my hands. When I've been on the disabled list before, I've given more attention to some of my other hobbies such as reading, fly fishing, and ham radio. All noble pursuits, in my opinion. I can't say the same for this time around though, as I'm hopelessly addicted to Runescape. They should seriously consider renaming it Crackscape.

At least the rest has been doing me a lot of good. The plantar fasciitis has calmed down dramatically, however it still lets me know that it's hanging around. My senses tell me that more rest might be a good idea before I try running again (perhaps Christmas?), and I'm still considering my next options (traditional sports doctor, active release therapy, massage therapy, chiropractor, to name a few).

The frustrating thing about PF is that if you talk to 20 different people who have experience with it, you'll get 20 different answers as to what is the best way to deal with it. To make it worse, some advice is in direct conflict with another piece of advice. Obviously, nobody is necessarily wrong... it's just a matter of finding what works best for each individual. Experiment of one.

For now, I'm going to get back to icing the living you-know-what out of my left foot, along with massaging and stretching. I also got a pair of Heel That Pain inserts in the mail yesterday, and am giving these a try. They came on the recommendation of a seasoned veteran and they worked for her. Hopefully they will for me as well.

Alright, time to get back to slaying level 42 moss giants... jeez, this has to stop.

5 comments:

middle.professor said...

Jamie - If I could solve PF, I'd be a gazillionaire. I've only had it once and it was certainly manageable. Sore after getting out of bed and at the beginning of a run. But not much other than that and I'd have to say, the pain was easily tolerable. I think I rolled a lacrosse ball off and on. But I ran through it. Didn't even adjust my training. Looking back at my notes, it took time - maybe two months - and the soreness waxed and waned. I'm not sure I did anything. No ibuprofin. I did soak my feet in really cold water a few times. Not much else except the occasional lacrosse ball.

Looking at PF experiences on letsrun.com, I'd say that many if not most runners run through it. You could be resting a *long* time otherwise. You should read some posts on their message board. They have a very primitive search function but it might be worth the search. Certainly better than Runescape! Good luck. - Jeff

middle.professor said...

Here is a recent letrun.com post:
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2561707&page=0

word of caution, anecdotal stories aren't good data. My PF was self-limiting for example. Anything I had done in the prior two months I could claim was a "cause" of the PF disappearing. Who knows, maybe it was the rolling my foot on the lacrosse ball!

I do tend to side with the "strengthen your feet" argument although maybe this is wishful thinking because this is how I'd like the world to work.

Garry said...

Jamie, hopefully you get the PF solved. You were off to a great start in your training and I am sure you will get back there in no time. Some time and patience is two of the biggest ingredients for your recovery.

Jamie Anderson said...

Thanks guys. Jeff, I'm beginning to agree with running through it, with some limitations on mileage. While the time off has helped some, it's simply put the beast in the cage, rather than kill it. Perhaps a little more time will change things, and I'll stick with my original plan and take another week off just in case.

Thanks for the support, much appreciated. Stuff like this is all part of the sport.

Love2Run said...

I wish you good luck with this Jamie. I've got no experience with it but hope you can find the right solution soon enough before you get creamed by a 3-headed sand monster or something.