51 Weeks

51 weeks ago today, I finished the Vineman 70.3 triathlon, limping my way through 13.1 miles of running--the rest of the race went pretty well, but the run was the nail in the coffin that I had to do something different to fix my foot. And I did--which finally resulted in my return to running yesterday, with my first race since that date last July. I completed a 5k, and did so without redestroying, reinjuring, or otherwise seriously exacerbating my foot again.

While 51 weeks seems like an awfully long time, it's really not when put in perspective with the last time this happened to my foot, back in 2000--that round of plantar fasciitis resulted in me quitting running and triathlon, and not returning to either of them until 2006. So, 51 weeks is a lot better than 6 years.

The biggest difference though, isn't the amount of time, but how I've recovered from it--that 6 year recovery was me simply staying out of running, and my feet healed over time. The root cause however, was clearly still present since I wound up reinjuring myself at a later date. This go around, I maintained fitness, primarily on the bike, and had a number of false starts with running. Therapeutic interventions included everything under the sun--most of which I'm still doing now to keep my foot on the path to success. Egoscue therapy (www.egoscue.com), TP therapy for Plantar Fasciitis (http://www.tptherapy.com/Shop-Online/All-TPPT-Products/Foot-Lower-Leg-Kit.html, if you're looking for it), massage therapy, acupuncture, and the Graston method were all tools that I employed to various degrees of success.

I have to say though, that without a doubt, the single most important thing that made the difference this time was the advice of my coach, Joanna--she kept me sane, and talked me off the ledge of quitting a number of times over the past year. I am sure there were times that she thought I was such a mental case that I was beyond saving, so I definitely owe her a big thank you! So, thank you, Joanna!  Looking forward to you kicking my ass as my foot continues to improve.

I've still got a long way to go--I'm very certain that if I were to stop the therapies I've got in place now, I would immediately hurt myself again, but I feel like I'm over the hump. Stretching, strengthening, and foot mechanics are all things that will require constant vigilance from me.

If you've stumbled upon this page looking for a magic bullet for the cure for plantar fasciitis (as I was hoping to find many times when I scoured the web), I can't tell you that I have it. I think that everyone's case is different--for me, it was probably the sum of a number of things. This last few months, I've spent time essentially relearning to run, by bumping up my cadence to above 90, which resulted in changing my foot strike. Acupuncture and the Graston method left me horribly bruised many times, but helped to break up and heal what was likely years of scar tissue. TP therapy helped to keep my calves healthy and various exercises from the Egoscue method have helped me to activate strength in the major muscle groups of my lower body.

So, I'm glad to be back at it, and looking forward to my first triathlon in quite a while. Just keep running!