Plantar fasciitis

[tibilicus]

It's been a recent development for me. I just completed my first 3 mile ranger shuffle with the medium level *of 3* arch support. I was instructed to break in gradually 30-45 minutes for a few days so as not to cause further injury. I'm rolling the frozen water bottle under my foot as I type to stretch and cool down the inflammation. Feels ok but the proof will be in the next 10 days or so.

I feel your pain. I started running properly in June. From time to time my feet have become so sore I haven't been able to walk comfortably for days. My best advice to prevent further pain in the future is to break from running if you start to feel pain. Some people will give the advice of "run through the pain", this isn't wise. I normally take a quick rest every couple of KM's to take the pressure of my feet.

Also if your running shoes are new then give it a week. My current shoes were hell for the first week or two, I actually considered dumping them but you'll get used to them eventually, so will your feet.

[Whacker]

Ugh, yet another thought here.

Running sucked/sucks. I never liked it, it's too high impact and my legs from the hips to the tips of
my toes were always, always sore every time I did it.

A MUCH better cardio workout, in fact THE best you can do, is swimming. You will work all of your muscles and you can go as hard or soft as you want to, provided you have access to a pool with lanes that no one else wants to share with you. Even just fooling around in the water, treading, swimming under it, holding your breath, etc, all give your body varying degrees of a 'workout'. The best is, there's no impact or jarring from it, unless you choose to do really violent flip turns.

So...

Hosa, I would highly suggest looking into finding a pool where you can swim at. If you aren't very good at it or even can't swim, look for a place you can take lessons from. It's not necessarily cheap, but I think you'd really enjoy it and it would definitely accomplish a lot for your physically from the exertion and effort, and your muscles will thank you (eventually!) from the gradual strengthening, conditioning, AND stretching they'll get.

[Hosakawa Tito]

I swim like a fish but really don't have dependable/consistent access to an indoor pool. The outdoor swimming season around here might be 3-4 months, and this year's crappy summer was much shorter. I have always enjoyed jogging & lifting weights outdoors in the elements. However, if my foot does not improve I might consider one of those elliptical machines...maybe.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Well, I'm 6 days into using these arch supports and I must say the improvement is remarkable. There is still a slight bruise like pain and a little tightness, but I think that's due to an ongoing adjustment by my feet and will go away by the 10 day mark as advertised. There's hope for this old dog yet.

[Centurion1]

I am happy you feel better, i am sure you aren't regretting the cost of those supports now, aye.

[Xiahou]

I had a similar problem a couple years ago- I tried a few different things, but in the end, some new work shoes did the trick. Looking back, Im guessing it was the change in arch support that made the difference.