I Share Random Information + What fixed my plantar!

(Jacket, long-sleeve, leggings, shoes)

Let’s chat about a few scenes from the day, and then we will get into the plantar talk!

The weather aggressively changed on me, so I guess we are doing this winter thing.

Once Brooke went to school, I headed out with Emilee for 5.11 miles of chatting.  We need our 80 miles per week thing back together so we can cover everything we need to talk about again.

Superhero day was an exciting thing.

That post-tumbling class endorphin rush:

Brooke and Knox give the hot chocolate kisses a 10/10, and Skye gives them a 5/10.

One of my favorite scenes.

We are celebrating Thanksgiving today, and I am very excited about this pumpkin pie.

The kid’s Christmas PJs arrived yesterday (we bought them at Little Sleepies) and we are very excited to all be together this year.

Thank you thank you for your comments yesterday and the help.  They calmed my anxiety big time.  Beck is scheduled to get the procedure done in a little less than a month (unless there is a cancellation, we can get in sooner), and I cannot wait.

He was acting a bit more like himself last night but still just wanting to cuddle all day.

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Let’s chat about plantar.  First, this is an incredibly frustrating injury.  I feel like for most of my injuries in the past, there has been one answer—> rest.  I had so many different sources telling me contradicting things for plantar, and I just had no idea what to do, so I tried absolutely everything.  I am SO glad that my podiatrist spent 54 minutes with me going through everything that was going on, and I recommend doing that first.  I have been 100% pain-free for two weeks now, so I thought I would share the things that made the most significant difference for me (even though I tried many other things too).

Reminder—> I am not an expert in the slightest, just hoping these things can help others dealing with this annoying injury.

*Deep muscle massage every single day (and sometimes multiple times a day).  Once I started being super consistent with my massage gun in my foot and calf, I noticed the most significant difference.  My massage therapist recommended this, and it helped a ton.  I love this thing.  I also use the foam roller to roll out my calves daily.

*Yogatoes GEMS when I am working at the computer. “Endurance, balance, and mobility all depend on well-functioning toes.  GEMS soothe aching feet and strengthen neglected, weak toes- fixing foot problems naturally.”  I should have started using these years ago.

*Hoka Cliftons 8… I have worn Brooks only for the last 10ish years, so this has been a strange change.  I have had so many people tell me that Hokas helped fix their plantar, and now I am one of the believers.  I think it did help, and so from here on out, I’ll probably be rotating through both Brooks, Hoka and continue to try different types of shoes over the next few years.  I get so stuck in avoiding change, but I have a blast when I am open to trying new things (like the Peloton ha).

*I wear OOFOS everywhere in my house (even in the shower).

*My podiatrist gave me Footsteps inserts!  I don’t wear them in my running shoes, but I slip them into any other shoes I am wearing!

*A cortisone shot from my podiatrist helped me relieve the pain for a few days (which was very needed mentally), but I was cautious not to do anything crazy during that time even though my foot felt so much better.

*The stretches in this video (and make sure to hold each one for two minutes).  I cannot tell you how many times I have done these stretches… but probably on average 4-5 times a day.

*I wore my plantar boot every single night.  For the first few nights of using this, I would throw it across the room a few hours in, but I wear it all night long once my foot gets used to it.

*50 ankle pumps to loosen things up before getting out of bed in the morning, along with stretching out my calf and foot by pulling my toes back towards me and using a towel to pull the ball of my foot towards me.

*Patience.  Which is the hardest thing ever for runners.  We want to get out there and run so badly, but I am glad I took about a month off from running entirely, and I’ll continue to just run every other day without any speed work for a while.

So now, what will I be doing to keep plantar away?

*Developing foot strength.  Walking in the grass barefoot is excellent for this, so is picking up a washcloth with your foot a few times and then releasing it.

*Continuing with strength training regularly… mainly to prevent injuries everywhere:)

*The stretching routine in the above video.

*Wearing my oofos, Hokas, and night boot as much as possible.

With this particular injury, biking did not hurt my foot at all.  I have biking shoes, and I’m not sure if that makes a difference, but I was thrilled to have something I could do while I wasn’t running.  I also did a lot of strength training.  I found that walking too much would aggravate my foot, and I paid very close attention to what caused pain and what didn’t.  If the pain came, I would stop!

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Anything to add for people looking for solutions from plantar! 

What area on your body gets most tight/sore from running/working out? 

Best pie on the planet, and what are your thoughts on pumpkin pie?

Traveling for Thanksgiving or staying close to home?