Here I must put in a plug for an insole I feel helped me get through the pain during my healing phase. As I mentioned, I tried several different insoles (about 15 in all) and only one really helped and some actually caused substantial pain. The insloes I tried ranged in price from about $3.50/pair up to just over $80/pair. I finally found a pair of insoles called 2 oz. miracles by Pro Feet and they really made a difference in my ability to walk and stand with less pain. I felt the difference immediately after purchasing the insoled and ended up buying a pair for every pair of shoes I owned. I found these at Target for less than $5/pair. POSSIBLY THE BEST $5 I EVER SPENT.

Despite my regimented self treatment it still took about 6 months before the I was finally pain free and able to run again. Yep… You heard me right 6 months of no running. I’m told that depending on the severity of the PF it may take a shorter period of time to heal. The key is to listen to you body and take care of the problem BEFORE it becomes cronic. I thought this was the end of the probem but a few years later it hit again. The pain started more intensely than last time and I once again set up an appointment with a podiatrist. This time he gave me some very specific instructions about proper stretching and I was instructed to start the routine (20 min per night) and take a week off from running. I followed his instructions to a ‘T’ and stretched every night and started running the following week. Almost immediately the pain returned so I set up another appointment. He sold me a night splint (my second and this one cost $175). He said continue the stretching and wear the night splint for a week and try running the following week. Once again I followed his instructions to a ‘T’ but the pain returned after my first run. (to be continued)

March:
Week 1: I was able to get in a long run of 8 along with a 15 mile ride on the same day so a pretty good workout day. Ended up the week with 16 miles running, 30 miles riding and two workouts. Not a bad week but I’ve got to pick things up if I’m going to get into shape.

Week 2: Long run of 10 miles on Saturday (8:10 mile avg) not terrible but not great. Just happy to finish without any problems. Ended up the week with 18 miles running, 25 miles on the bike and 1 workout. Gotta pick it up.

Week 3: Bad week!!! Uncle Harvey passed away. Very sad. Headed to Virginia to be with Aunt Peggy. We’re really going to miss him. Marine Corp Marathon won’t ever be the same. One good workout day with an 8 mile run and 25 mile ride. Ended the week with 18 miles running, 40 miles riding and 1 workout.

Week 4: Not a bad week. Sunday I got in a good 10 mile run and averaged 8 min pace then 10 miles on the bike (Good day). Monday was a short ride up to the gym for a decent weight workout. Tuesday was a good day with a 3 mile run then 25 mile ride. Wednesday got a 6 mile run and work out at the gym. Thursday was a good workout with a 25 mile ride and 5 mile run (legs are tired). Saturday was a 6 mile recovery run. Total for the week: Ran 30, Rode 65 and 2 workouts not bad. Feeling good but still not losing weight.

February:
I started running 5 miles three times per week and feeling good. No pain. Long run of 7 miles on Saturday. Still hitting the gym three times per week and getting about 50 miles per week on the bike. Not bad but I’m in terrible shape.

2nd Week: Running 5 miles three time and a long run of 8 on Saturday. Feeling real good but I don’t want to push it. 2 days at the gym and rode 40 miles this week.

3rd week: Running 5 miles three times per week. 8 mile long run on Saturday. Still feeling good. My plan is to not run any further than 10 until I’m training for a specific marathon. Once I get several more weeks under my belt I would like to start increasing the speed. Gym workout twice and got another 50 miles of riding. Still not losing weight. Uggghhhh.. I’ve got a long way to go.

Last week in February: Getting in three 5 milers and long run of 8 miles. Two gym workouts and about 40 miles on the bike. I’ve got about 15 pounds to loose so it will be a long battle. Why is it that you can gain a couple of pounds a week but you can’t ever seem to loose more than a pound here and there despite all the hard work. I don’t remember working very hard to gain but I’m working my butt off and can’t seem to loose the weight. Oh well…… work harder. March I start working with Nick to get him prepared to run Boston. I didn’t qualify this year so I need to really concentrate on prevention of overuse injuries and just slowly build my milage base agian.

After the run I was supposed to meet Nick and then the rest of our support crew (who had all my stuff). Nick felt terrible and crashed at the end of the run (he ran a 3:23) and I never found him. I must have walked 6 miles around that place. I knew his wife would be finishing so I hung around the finish line looking for her. Waited for two hours and decided I must have missed her. I decided to go to the area where pictures are taken to see if I can find them there but no luck. I waited for about 30 minutes and no luck so I decide to go wait at the exit where every runner if funneled out. As I’m waiting I see Julie (my neighbor) and decide to go with her to get some money for the subway. I felf that if I had some money I could at least get close to Uncle Harvey’s house and walk the rest of the way (Nick was my ride). I walk with Julie, got some money then back to the finish line to try to find Nick and the support crew. Around 3:30 (about 4 hours after I finished the race) I decided to head to the subway and make my way back to Uncle Harvey’s house and get some food and rest. I walked about 1.5 miles back to the subway, waited for about 30 min. for the correct train and head out. The ride is fairly quick (about 20 min.) and it just feels good to sit. I get off the subway and start on the 2 mile walk back to Uncle Harvey’s house. Love the hills in Virginis. I make it back to the house around 5PM and I’m beat. 26.2 mile run and nearly 8 miles of walking…. I’m starving and ready to take a nap. Long day.

After about 2 weeks off I noticed my heal wasn’t getting any better.  I remembered at our company health fair last year we had a chiropractor who said he was trained in a technique that was effective in treating PF.  I was desparate so I contacted him and set up an appointment.  My first visit we did a lot of talking and he spent about 45 minutes doing what I can only describe as a very deep tissue massage.  The treatment was extremely painful and he explained the reason it was so painful was because the months of tearing the Plantars Facia caused scar tissue to build up.  The first thing we had to do is to break up that scar tissue and then begin stretching the PF back out so it would begin to heal.  I told him that I only had two weeks and then I had to start running agian.  He said I may not be completely healed by then but he would give it a try.    

Two weeks later and about 6 treatments at my chiripractor and my foot is feeling much better. He tells me to start running a mile at a time and let him know how it goes. The following day I set out to the gym to run a mile on the treadmill. I start with a half mile walk to warm up then run a mile with almost no pain. I do the same thing for the next three days and I’m feeling pretty confident. I go back for my twice-weekly chiropractor visit and report that everything was going well so we decide to cut back to a once a week treatment.

The treatment my Doctor is using on me is know at Active Release Treatment (ART). Here’s what their website says about ART: ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles. You can find out more about this treatment at www.activerelease.com

Here’s what I can tell you about my experience. As I mentioned I had PF several years ago and it lasted over 2 years during which I was unable to run due to the pain. ART has allowed me to start running again with very little pain which is about as much as I could ask for. I would highly recomend it to anyone with this type of problem. Although I never completely healed during the next 12 weeks of training, I was able to train for the Boston Marathon with very few problems and very little pain.

LESSON LEARNED: In hindsite I would not recomend this much treatment to anyone. I think the next time I have this much trouble the best thing is to just stop running and heal up the old fashion way. The cortisone treatments were a total waste of time and money in my opinion. The chiropractor helped a great deal with healing the PF so I would recomend that but I would also advise to stop running while you are receiving this treatment.

It was a perfect day for a marathon. Reports said that it was in the 40s at the start with it warming up to the low 60s in the afternoon. Helicopters came flying by, the National anthem was song and shortly after the gun was fired. The first wave of the 32nd Marine Corps Marathon was under way along with Nick, myself and 12,000 other crazies (about 18,000 more started 30 minutes behind us in the second wave). Good thing this year was the corrals were by predicted finish time rather than bib number so Nick and I were able to get into the 3:20 – 3:30 corral with no problem. We were right near the front, which really helped. We expected our first miles to be held up slightly by the massive crowd, which they were but nothing like years past. Right around 8:30 pace for the first two miles, with the next miles settling in right where we wanted them, a 7:45 pace.

Immediately my fasciitis started shooting sharp pains up my heel. So much for the 10 rest days off hoping for some recovery, didn’t help at all. After a few miles the shooting pains dulled and I was able to get into a rhythm. No big deal at this point. We were enjoying the massive crowds to cheer us on. Through the first thirteen miles we were feeling good, hitting our 7:30 7:45 pace fairly consistently. We were able to see our lovely support group three times during the marathon, which is always nice. Coming through the halfway point I was feeling pretty good but knew if I kept this pace I would be in trouble. The fasciitis was causing me to run with a limp and causing other problems. Nick was feeling good so somewhere after mile 14 I told him to go ahead that I was getting into difficulty. The miles started slowing down fast after this point as my lack of good nutrition and fasciitis problems were beginning to take a toll on me. The miles from 15 –18 were generally about 8:15 – 8:30 but by mile 20 I had to stop several times as my reserves were sapped and I had nothing left. The calves were cramped due to overcompensating for the painful heel but I gutted it through 20-22 as I watched the 3:30 group pass me, what a disappointment. I kept taking in fluid (mostly sports drinks) but it was too late, my body was out of fuel. Luckily got some encouragement from a guy who was running past me. We ran together for about a mile when I saw the 3:40 group pass by. I told him I had to get moving and used the 3:40 group as inspiration. That inspiration was short lived as they dropped me like a bad habit. I managed to jog (yes I was only jogging at this point, not running) for the next miles and finally saw the finish line. What a bad joke. This year you actually run about a half-mile past the finish line, then do a turnaround and then up the hill to the finish line. I was feeling awful at this point and jogging very slow. I gritted my teeth and gave the last half-mile all I had and there it was the finish line at last. I crossed the finish line in 3:45 and some change. Thank goodness, this race is over. I was glad this was over and I learned some very valuable lessons about nutrition. Nick on the other hand had a good race and managed a 3:24 + change (top 900 finish for him).

A great weekend and a great race for anyone looking to do a marathon. I was hobbling around for a few days but was looking for vindication by Friday. Oorah! I’ll be better prepared nutritionally next time.

 I’ll be posting some nutrition advice later.

Sunday I didn’t run. Opted to ride instead so I could give my foot a rest. Good choice. We rode 40 at a fairly brisk pace. My foot was feeling better but still not great. Still looking at taking the rest of the week with no running. We’ll see….

Monday I did a weight workout, 30 minutes on the Arc machine and 10 mile ride at an easy pace. Hopefully this will keep my legs loose and ready to run on Sunday. My foot feels much better but I’m sticking with the icing, stretching and Advil. Still plan on not running until the marathon. We’ll see….

Tuesday was supposed to be an easy 5-mile recovery run. Nick did the run but I’m sticking with my no running philosophy. I rode 6 and took the night off. The foot is feeling much better, almost no pain at all today. I’m keeping up with the icing, stretching and Advil. I’ve also started to use the heating pad, which is supposed to bring more blood flow to the area. We’ll see…

Wednesday was supposed to be another easy 5-mile recovery run but as mentioned I’m staying off my foot. The plantars fasciitis is feeling much better but it is still there so I’m continuing to ice, heat, rest and stretch. Ended up riding 25 easy miles, 5 of which were along side of Nick while he ran the 5 miler. Weather was very nice with the cloud cover and temps dropped to just under 80. This is the last real workout before the marathon. All rest from here on. Had a massage today so my legs are feeling pretty well rested, hopefully not too rested.  Keeping up with the icing, advil and stretching.