Planter Fasciitis

Got a case of planter fasciitis on a six mile run, barefoot, on the beach at South Padre Island. It would start to get a little better and I’d push it, and of course, it would get worse again. Was planning on signing up for the McAllen Marathon, but let the registration deadline pass because I wasn’t sure the planter fasciitis would clear up in time. 

I cut my mileage in half, which helped, even though I’m discouraged about the time it’s going to take to ratchet it back up. 

I decided to get off the sidewalk, where the repetition of movement isn’t doing my heel any good. I’ve come to the conclusion that planter fasciitis is **** in the foot. It comes from repetition of the same movement. That repetitive movement is reinforced when running on a smooth concrete surface.

From now until the planter fasciitis is completely clear I’m going to run on the grass in the greenbelt along Second Street. Grass is softer than concrete, 17% softer according to an article in Runner’s World. More important than that, the surface is uneven, changing the range of motion in my leg with every stride. It will take a couple of days to see if this will work, or if I have to do that one thing that all runners dread, take a week off.