Things I Need to Tell You Today + Weekend Highlights.

(Shorts, tank, bra, shoes)

There were some definite highlights from the weekend so let’s go over those first.

*I got in a run!  It felt pretty great during the run but then on Sunday, it wasn’t as happy?!  I’m seeing Dr. B this morning, and I’ll keep going with all of the stretching to lengthen my calf muscles.   It’s always frustrating for runners to get injured because we are trying to take care of our bodies by running!

PS I was originally planning on resting until my plantar fasciitis was better, but then I keep hearing and reading this type of thing when it comes to plantar…

Screen Shot 2021 09 19 at 7 29 21 PM

*We had pupusa (in the back behind the beans) for brunch, and holy cow they were good.

IMG 2355

*Skye is still so so so in love with rolly pollies.

IMG 2272

*Brooke got in three miles of a run/walk.  She is just three miles away from completing her marathon in a month!

IMG 2353

*We made a goal to hit this ball back and forth between our two paddles 100 times without it hitting the ground… I’m afraid to tell you how long it took us to reach our goal.  We didn’t give up.

IMG 2298

*Skye saw her first double rainbow (for some reason in the picture it is just showing one of them).

IMG 2296

*Knox told me he ate a peanut shell once?!?

IMG 2303

*Skye was extremely excited because Beck was reaching out to her for her to hold him.

IMG 2232 2

*Ben & Jerry’s with Andrew in the hot tub was the best way to wrap up the weekend.

——————————————————————————————————

Just in case you need a little help these days to get out and move your body, I have a few reminders.

IMG 1321

*You are worth taking the time to take care of yourself and do the things that make you feel alive.  It isn’t selfish.  We can’t help others if we aren’t taking care of ourselves too.

*You are absolutely 100% doing better than you think you are.  You just are!   We are our own harshest critics, and seriously, anyone else seeing what you are doing is amazed by you.

*We can uncover talents at ANY age.  It’s not too late.  It’s not too soon.  NOW is the time for you to go after the things that bring you joy and make your heart beat.

*Think of how you cheer on your best friends and family members, today is the day to do that for yourself!

*One hour of hard (or however long you go out) is worth it for the following 15 hours of endorphin/stress relief benefits.

*Don’t forget… you are always listening.  Let yourself hear some amazing compliments, pep talks, and encouragement.

(From the best running book EVER)

IMG 1840

*You can do hard things!  You’ve proved this to yourself over and over again.

——————————————————————————————————

Any encouragement you can add to my list for anyone struggling to get out for a run?

Do you eat the peel or shells of anything that most people do not?

-I used to just bite right into mangoes if I didn’t have a knife to peel them:)

Okay, I need to have all stories/recommendations/thoughts about plantar fasciitis in one spot… SHARE your story with me if you have had problems with your plantar?!

What was the most amount of time that you have had to take off because of an injury and how did it affect your running fitness?

You May Also Like

45 comments

Reply

I had really bad plantar fasciitis in high school which derailed my whole running career. In my early thirties I started using yoga toes toe spacers and haven’t had issues since. I don’t think it works for everyone, but it worked for me. Good luck, pf is awful!

Reply

THANKS for sharing Mollie, I will have to get those. I am so happy that you are able to be back running so so strong now and I can’t wait to see what you do in THREE WEEKS! Hope your Monday is a great one:)

Reply

The Strassburg sock is a MUST to recover from plantar fasciitis! It pulls your foot into a flex (versus the pointing our toes down to get under the covers at night) which you sleep. I also recommend running in the morning and wearing flat but supportive shoes until the pain is gone.

I think I took off almost two months from running after the NYC marathon I ran with plantar fasciitis (which I got about three weeks prior to the Marathon).

I think my running fitness lost was negligible; I usually take about a month off after the marathon anyway.

I eat pumpkin seed shells.

Reply

I am one who believes you can (and should) keep running (moderately) through plantar fasciitis as you treat it, if you caught it as early as you have (it may be a different story for people who have been battling it for months). I developed it during the 10th week of my first round of marathon training and was able to keep running, and go on to race (and run 9 more marathons) without any more plantar fasciitis. Here is my post on tips and tricks for dealing with plantar fasciitis: https://fitfunmom.com/2012/12/03/how-to-recover-from-plantar-fasciitis-heel-and-arch-pain/ This also has a link to how to make your own no-sew plantar fasciitis sock. It helped me to wear it overnight as I slept but if you cannot tolerate sleeping with it, even wearing it for an hour before bed if you can is helpful. Best wishes for a “speedy” recovery (double meaning intended!)

Reply

Oh I’ve definitely eaten peanut shells before lol. If I couldn’t open them when I was little I’d eat it. Now I don’t know if I would do that but Knox isn’t alone!

Whenever I struggle to get up and workout, whether lifting or running, I tell myself that’s fine but I have to do one round of the circuit or one mile. Then if I’m still tired or not feeling it I can stop. 99.9% of the time I do keep going but every once in a while I will stop because I can tell rest is needed instead

Reply

I have been dealing with Achilles tendinitis and plantar for the last 4.5 years but the last year has been the worst and I’m currently not running at all. Im not sure what the right answer is between rest/run but I would just listen to your doctor. I had surgery on my plantar in May and my foot is still a mess. Im on ‘no weight bearing’ right now for plantar, Achilles tendinopathy and bone marrow edema. It’s a battle and frustrating and right now I wonder if I will ever be able to even run again so just be careful and don’t make it worse!

Reply

Shockwave therapy helped me with my PF. I took about 6 months off from running and when I started running again I only ran in Hoka’s.

Reply

I haven’t been able to run since 12/19 due to an annular disc tear of my L4/L5 at S1. So I’m a huge believer in rest…I wish I had rested vs. pushing through the pain. At some point I was told it was just piriformis/sciatica and did PT for it (2 different PT’s told me this). It wasn’t until I went to a sports med dr and got 2 MRIs (1st one didn’t show the tear) that I got my true diagnosis. That said, I am a happy walker now, although I miss running, my body likes walking better. I’m signed up to do a 6 hr event in October and I will be walking the whole thing :)

Reply

Wow!! Brooke really looks like your niece in that photo!

I slept in a boot for awhile to avoid morning PF pain. In addition to PT with dry needling, it took time to completely resolve. I was able to run while it healed though.
Now I never skip my pre-run and post-run stretches from my PT.
And if my calf tightens up these days I wear a compression sock or wrap my calf in a heating pad. Oh and I do reformer Pilates which can loosen up my calves if I put in a request for that.

Reply

I don’t know how people don’t eat potato skins or the ends of the bread loaf. Those are the best parts!

I also have a four year old who will just eat a whole apple down to the core and has been just peeling a chomping a banana for years. I was always safe when he was a toddler, but I did roll my eyes when his preschool teachers insisted everything be cut up for them.

Reply

My husband and I both had awful PF at the same time. It lasted over a year for me. I had to wear comfy shoes all of the time (no heels) and would sit at my desk and roll a tennis ball back and forth with my heel. Finally it went away – one foot lasted about 2 months longer than the other. I never stopped running but I don’t run far so every person is different. My husband’s lasted a full 2 years and we finally had to buy shoe inserts. That helped immediately. The PF went away and everything was good for awhile and then he got front foot pain. I bought him some Oofos and now his feet have been good for a year+. But everyone is different!

Reply

I’ve stolen your mantra “I can do hard things.” I say it to myself when things get tough. I hope you don’t mind.
I’m sure I’ve eaten a peanut shell. I know my siblings and I, used to put them in our mouths, suck off the salt, then get the peanuts out of the shell, eat the peanuts, and throw the shell away. i don’t know why the shells were salted.
I’ve taken 6-12 weeks off at a time with my knee because I was unable to get a diagnosis. a few weeks after the cortisone shot wore off, it would swell up again. When the pandemic shut everything down in March 2020, they cut our hours back for tax season. I took the extra time and did a lot of research to figure out it was runners’ knee and started treating myself for that. so far, so good.
Have a great day! I hope your PF clears up soon.

Reply

Okay. I have to write about peels. My daughter peels the string off of the inside of banana peels and eats it. WEIRD! lol AND, then, my family does something I think is totally weird, and last year I did an Insta poll about it in my story, and it turns out that *I* am the weird one for peeling my peaches before I eat them. My family, and apparently 97% of my friends, lol, eat the skin on peaches. This skeeves me out–texture! Ew! I grew up with a mom who peeled our peaches and then put the cut up pieces in a huge bowl for us to take out into smaller bowls . I was stunned to find out that not everyone does this!!!!!

The most time I took off for running was either the 10 weeks I had off for my stress fracture in my femur or two summers ago when I had a strained adductor, and then I hurt the inner part of my ankle AT PT. Yes, who gets hurt AT PT?! This girl. The comeback can be a long road, but it’s a good PATIENCE teacher, something I wasn’t blessed with a lot of in life! Running is such an elvolving thing though, such a rollercoaster, and such a good metaphor for life. Even just a RUN is like that—have an awful one today; tomorrow could be fantastic. I’ve just learned to never give up hope with the body/running. The body’s ability to heal, with patience, is crazy amazing. Sending healing thoughts to that angry plantar of yours!!!!!

Have a beautiful day!!!!

Reply

Wow! Brooke is rocking that marathon–GO BROOKE!!
Plantar fasciitis has both sidelined and low-key annoyed me off and on for years. For me, there is no such thing as a point too far away from my heel to massage or stretch for some relief. While standing with my weight on the uninjured side, I slightly bend the knee of the injured side so that only my toes stay flat on the floor, then I roll my foot from side to side so that my toes splay out with a little pressure. Then I lower my heel so my whole foot is flat and shift my weight onto the injured leg with my knee bent to stretch through my heel and ankle. I use a lacrosse ball (it’s the right firmness for me) to roll under my entire foot–lots of attention on the ball of my foot and arch. Sometimes I hand massage my foot, Achilles, and calf; other times I use a foam roller or roll recovery to work up my leg, find any tight spots all the way up, including glutes. And maybe it’s overkill, but I go ahead and foam roll all the way up my back, too. Rotating my ankles periodically through the day, cautiously doing heel drops off of a step, and keeping a footstool under my desk to passively flex my heels down while sitting can also help.
Hope you get some relief from your massage, cupping & Dr. B!

Reply

Keep up with the Brad Kearns stretches! I think he says it took a few weeks for his to go away. And if you read the comments, they’re overwhelmingly positive. When I first started doing them (two days ago) I could feel a really uncomfortable pulling sensation in my heel during the stretch (my calves are REALLY tight) but now I don’t have that. I feel like I’m making progress!
And I can attest that rest won’t help. SIGH! I’ve had this PF for over a year, and two different times I took six weeks off- didn’t help at all. Might as well just keep running. Oh and I also got shockwave therapy which didn’t fix it- but it does work well for a lot of people. It might be worth looking into.
Good luck Janae! We got this!!!

Reply

I dealt with plantar fasciitis for a good chunk of 2019. The things that helped me the most to get rid of the issue were 1) 3 cortisone shorts to help with the pain in just walking around 2) then once weekly –> once monthly acupuncture on my calves since they were so tight and a huge contributor 3) wearing either OOFOS sandals or shoes all the time when I was walking around indoors and 4) running in Hokas when I did run. Once most of the pain was gone I stopped with the acupuncture but got a Hyperice massage gun to use before and after runs on my calves and added calf raises as strengthening work. And I still only run in Hokas and when not in Hokas I am in my OOFOS sandals. :) Good luck! I know everyone responds differently to injury interventions.

Reply

Try dry needling. It took 3 sessions to get rid of my p.f.

Reply

I use special socks to help with plantar problems! I forget where they are from, but I’ll wear them to sleep at night and that helps. Using a lacrosse ball to roll out my foot helps a lot too.

After my first (and only, so far) marathon, I was so injured that I didn’t run again for about a year. I still coached for Girls on the Run so I would run with the girls, but other than that I focused on strength and HIIT workouts to get strong again. That time off helped a lot and made me love running even more once I got back to it healthily.

Reply

Good job Brooke!! Only 3 miles left, wahoo!
My husband has dealt with PF off and on for years. He will sleep in a boot for a few days, and that (along with the stretches) seems to help him. Hopefully Dr. B will help you out, and everything will be ok in a couple of days. Your race is this coming weekend, right? Or is it the 1st weekend in October?
Oooo…. I love all those positive thoughts to help get you out the door for a run. Someone else said, “I just need to run a mile, then I can stop…” I do that too. Almost always I’m feeling good and keep going. And, I needed to read all those today. I ended up just running 3 days last week, which I think I needed, but I am now struggling a little with motivation. So thank you ?
Have a great Monday, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that your foot is feeling good soon.

Reply

I have eaten the peanut shells with the peanuts before!
Those of you struggling to get out for a run – remember that you “get” to run today. There are lots of people that are not able to for whatever reason. Think of it as more of a privilege than a chore.
I probably posted this before but Dr. Emily has lots of plantar stuff on the EBFAFitness YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/EBFAFitness
Search her videos for “plantar”
You could try trigger point release with lacrosse balls, I usually sit in a chair and do both feet at once to save time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rif3TXieV7w
I also love her videos where she uses her baby as a weight/counterbalance while working out, lol:

Reply

12 weeks. In the short run it hurt my fitness, but in the long run probably came back hungrier, motivated, eager than I ever was and was huge for my running.
Stay the course of recovery, if it is 2 days, 2 weeks, you will get back there. There is fire in your heart for speed. xoxo

Reply

Is it just your heel that hurts? I remember you said that last week. If it is only in one single spot then you might want to get into to see a podiatrist or someone to rule out stress fracture or an achilles issue. I have a calf stretcher that I use, it is this little thing that has a curved bottom and and I put my foot on it and rock it to stretch. My sports med doc recommended it, along with some strengthening moves. His recommendation though was due to another issue, not PF or foot related. Also, you might try some more cushioned shoes or an insert. Superfeet have some great inserts.

Reply

I have never had Plantar fascitis (luckily!) but have had pretty much every other injury. I am currently on my third non-running streak in the last year due to injury (stress fracture last fall, tendonitis in the winter/spring, and now a strained abdominal/adductor). I am very thankful that I’ve been able to keep up spinning and (modified) crossfit workouts, so my fitness hasn’t suffered too badly. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sad and frustrated about missing ALL my goal races the last 2 years, and I am definitely suffering from a loss of confidence. I hope to be able to train for a marathon/50k next year but am now really scared that I will end up hurt again.

Reply

PF is the worst. I tried to use the Strasburg sock which I have been told works really well if you can tolerate it. I could not tolerate it as it made my toes fall asleep. I finally went to Walgreens and bought the PF boot that has the hard plastic on top of the foot and was able to sleep with this. Wearing something at night is a must to heal up. I ran through my PF while marathon training and it eventually went away. I used to just wear socks around the house and found out that this can aggravate it. I bought a pair of Oofos sandals and they are so comfortable and I haven’t had any issues since. I also put a pair of Superfeet inserts into my daily walking shoes. So sorry you are hurting. Good luck with the healing.

Reply

YES to preferring the PF boot to the sock… I am just like you. I need to do better at keeping the boot on for longer at night too. OOFOS are the best and I’ll have to copy you with some Superfeet in my normal shoes. Thank you and I am so so glad that yours went away! Enjoy the rest of your Monday, Michele!

Reply

Lauren, I have one just like this… off to go find it because I forgot about it. Thank you so so much. Have a wonderful rest of your day.

Reply

I eat the peeling of a kiwi. I normally put in my oats or a smoothie, so you don’t really notice anything. My family thinks I am strange since the outside is “hairy”. LOL

Reply

I am totally going to try this in the smoothie and I’ll think of you:). I’ll tell my kids after they try it;). I hope your day is a great one, Kristel.

Reply

I had plantar fasciitis a few years ago really bad. I got inserts for my running shoes and did several exercises for it:
1-I roll my foot on a bar made specifically for this reason but a golf ball or frozen water bottle are good too.
2-I lay on my back and place an exercise band across the middle of my foot and pull my foot back towards me with both hands on the handles to get a good stretch in my calf, then I swing my leg over to each side for a little more stretch while keeping the band tight around the middle of my foot.
3- I lie on my back with one foot in the air and bend and straighten my leg, then with my leg in the air I roll my ankle to each side 10 times plus up and down. Doing these exercises a few times per week has kept plantars away .
I hope you get over this soon!!
As far as struggling with a run, just talk yourself into getting out there and also try to remember how good it feels after the run is done. I am nearly always glad that I went out even if it ends up being shorter than I planned.
I had to take three months off of running due to a back injury. It was torture to see other people out running when I couldn’t. I did bike which is fun but not the same!

Reply

Hey Shirley! I am rolling my foot out on a golf ball as we speak. I am going to do your stretches/exercises as soon as I am done at the computer. I am SO happy to hear that you have been able to keep your plantar happy. Way to go staying consistent with prevention.
AMEN to us always being happy we went once we are done. Oh a back injury would not be fun… I’m glad you are all good to go now. Happy Monday!

Reply

I used to eat bagfulls of peanuts with their shells on as a kid when we went to baseball games. I don’t know how in the world I survived that much salt & fiber at once, hah!

So many great recs for PF already, but here’s a yoga stretch that I always come back to when mine flares. It can be painful at first if your feet are tight, but you can work up to holding it for longer (remember to breath!) and then it’s a great preventative maintenance tool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLT4rpbViPo

Reply

You have a strong stomach! Thank you so much for the 5-minute clip, it looks perfect and I will be doing this today… I’m here for all of the preventative maintenance tools. I hope you are having a really great day, Michelle!

Reply

I’ve had some plantar, and it definitely felt better the more active I was. But I think my case has been pretty mild and only flared up a couple of times. I prefer to use the sleeping boot to the sock, but I think it’s just because my calves are too thick for the sock! Definitely all the stretches and strengthening your feet! There’s a good exercise for your (bare)foot where you have a hand towel on the ground you scrunch it up with your toes, and then try and push it back (I’m sure there’s a youtube vid somewhere) – it really works on flexing your foot and range of motion. That exercise was more for my Achilles stuff, but I think it would help with plantar too! Best of luck, I hope it’s a quick recovery! Physical therapy is always my favorite – I wonder if astym therapy would help you too!

Reply

Hey Tess! I am with you… I prefer the sleeping boot over the sock too. Thank you thank you for the tip about strengthening my feet with the towel… I’ll find the video and get going on it. I’ll have to look into astym too. I hope your Monday is off to a wonderful start!

Reply

I’ve had PF for over a year and I’ve stopped running most of that time because it was throbbing pain to run. Resting wasn’t helping either but I didn’t think it was wise to run through throbbing pain. So if you could run without pain and just had it afterwards, that’s a good sign.

Reply

Mary. I really hope that you are able to get your PF under control so you can run again! Where do you live?

Reply

I had to do some feet stretching and feet strengthening exercises to help with my PF. My doctor also said that rest could be counter-intuitive, but not to push myself and make it worse, so I guess it’s about finding a balance. I hope the treatments you are getting help! Also, thanks for the recommendation over the weekend about Let Your Mind Run; I’ve had it on my Kindle forever and needed a nudge to get started and I loving it so far, so cool that you included a quote from it in today’s post. Have a great week!

Reply

Emily, I am SO happy that you are loving Let Your Mind Run. I’m kind of jealous because I wish I was reading it for the first time right now ha. Finding that balance is everything right now! Happy Monday:)

Reply

Go Brooke! Hitting your marathon goal!
Thanks to the commenter that included the stretching link. I’ve been doing them multiple times per day as well and I do think it is helping. I had less pain than usual after my long run this weekend.
My secret Santa at work a few years ago got me this foot massager that you can either heat up or better yet, put in the freezer. I have a lot of foot issues including PF and I love this thing. Word of warning, my dog thought it was a chew toy. I store my in the freezer for that reason. It has gnaw marks on it, but she wasn’t able to puncture it. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
https://www.amazon.com/Fasciitis-Massager-Relaxation-Management-Therapeutical/dp/B07D6HKQJV/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=foot+massager+that+you+can+freeze&qid=1632170223&s=hpc&sr=1-4

Reply

I tried sooooo many things to cure my PF and spent a ridiculous amount of money on physical therapy. Here’s what finally did it for me: (1) glucosamine chondritin supplements (recommended by my running buddy who’s a doctor), (2) Strasbourg sock, (3) really working on calf stretches, and (4) never ever going barefoot ever. I’m six years out from my worst bout of PF and I just started wearing heels again in the last year—for probably a solid 2 years I wore running shoes everywhere, including church!

I could sometimes run through it but there were periods where I had to take a month off (the worst was when I was halfway through a 15k on the trails and felt a “pop” in the bottom of my foot, ugh. I finished the race mostly because it was totally unsupported and I didn’t want to walk back in, but I couldn’t run for so long!).

Reply

Praying for healing and recovery…you are experienced enough and you did the right thing by visiting a professional. I don’t have experience in plantar fasciitis but my friend did–and she stopped running, which I think made it worse. I believe you’re on the right track–it will get better, I promise. I know a few other runners that surpassed theirs. Easier said than done, I know!–I experienced hamstring pain years ago so I had to stop running for about 6 weeks–I hated it but it seemed so insignificant when you finally can take up running again feeling better. Visiting a sports therapist/chiropractor really helped me–stretching was crucial. Weeks right before my Philly marathon back in 2010, I started experiencing knee pain and same thing, the sports therapist/chiropractor visits helped so much. Wore a brace and finished.

Go Brooke on almost done with her mileage!

Reply

I don’t get any hits when I search downward dog on this page. Am I incorrect to think of this with regard to improving PF? Of course it can stretch the entire back of the leg, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing.

Hey, as long as the kids don’t eat watch batteries! I’m changing one of these types of batteries now, and there are a few warnings about not eating them.

Reply

Tell Knox he’s not the only one-I often eat peanut shells too.

Reply

I’ve dealt with PF for years (using a sleeping boot, doing PT, getting steroid shots, etc) and it wasn’t until I found a new podiatrist that it went away completely. Her advice has helped SO many people in my area: NEVER go barefoot. Ever. (She recommends good quality Crocs for indoor use).

And always wear shoes with rigid soles. She is a fan of Birkenstocks, Oofos, etc. and even has a shoe blog where she tests out shoes to see if they meet her criteria. I had to bring in a bag of shoes for her approval and many didn’t make the cut. :( But it’s a game changer as I’ve had ZERO pain the past 3 years. I hope this helps someone.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *