Foot problem
sjbroadhead
Posts: 4
in General Chat
Hi all
First post on here.
Having had a very frustrating year where I aimed to complete my first triathlon and only managed to go through an abundance of injuries since January (after previously being fairly injury free) I wondered if anyone here had ever had foot problems such as plantar fasciitus or over pronation
Basically every time I run now I seem to pull my calf muscles on both legs which I am told is due to over pronation and the shape of my feet. I have been recommended to see a foot specialist and try to get some orthotic in soles but just wondered if this was a common problem on the board and if so how well you responded to treatment
Cheers
First post on here.
Having had a very frustrating year where I aimed to complete my first triathlon and only managed to go through an abundance of injuries since January (after previously being fairly injury free) I wondered if anyone here had ever had foot problems such as plantar fasciitus or over pronation
Basically every time I run now I seem to pull my calf muscles on both legs which I am told is due to over pronation and the shape of my feet. I have been recommended to see a foot specialist and try to get some orthotic in soles but just wondered if this was a common problem on the board and if so how well you responded to treatment
Cheers
0
Comments
* wobble cushion - great for use daily for strengthening my ankles, and also for after a run
* sit with a tennis ball under my foot and roll it backwards and forwards for 5 minutes each day (unfortunately the dog often mistakes this for playtime and tries to steal it!)
* standing on the edge of some stairs and lowering my heels, and holding that position for 30 seconds or so.
* walking for 10 minutes before and after running, and doing numerous different calf stretches towards the end of the pre- and post-run walk
* I've just started wearing some compression socks after reading the glowing reports on here which seem to help as well.
Touch wood I've been injury free for about 5 months now, although I've just started upping my running distance as I've signed up for my first OD, and I'm feeling a bit of a twinge so need to be careful. Hopefully this thread will offer up some further useful advice.
Will definityely take some tips from this
I do however have some othotics for my work shoes and a pair of fashion trainers. I found the best stretch for the calf/achillies is to hang the heel of my foot off the edge of a step and gently lower the heel down, hold then bend my knee forward - that will target the different muscles in the calf. And as said above doing some foot rolls helps loosen it too. Oh i also wear compression socks and really stretch out after a run. Hope that helps
Last year I had calf problems. I got over those (only to move the problems 6 inches upwards), but, what worked for me:
1) Getting in the gym for a programme of strengthening - working on calves, ligaments (I had very tight hamstrings). I worked with a strength/conditioning coach for this - it was well worth the money, as I'd never really done this kind of programme before - i.e. one aimed at injury recovery/prevention.
2) Getting some compression socks. Not only did these hold every thing together, preventing setback, and buying me the time to get stronger/healed, they also had a noticeable effect on my run times. It could have been psychological - i.e. I felt safe enough to go faster - or it could have been the promised physiological effects - but I think they made about 30 seconds difference on a 5K. Best £10 I spent.
The downside was that I just ended up with knee problems - I think the calves were failing before it got to the knee, but once I'd got the calves out of the way, then I was able to go hard enough to murder the knee. There is a cautionary tale there...
So, I've now been working my way through the ChiRunning book. This holds out the promise of injury free running. While I a lot of it annoys me, the magic of the book is encapsulated in:
1) Develop good form
2) Focus on the development of running economy, not on hard sessions.
There is specific advice and exercises to do to cure things like over-pronation. But, if you want to be injury free, you'll probably have to ease up a bit, given that you have been struggling with this for a while, - i.e. make being injury free a higher priority than smashing PBs.
How old are you? One thing that I've really noticed, is that, returning to racing (running) after some 25 years, the body has changed significantly - injuries are more likely, are more severe, and take far longer to recover from. I really have to work hard on making sure that I have sufficient rest days, and spend a lot more time in the gym working on things like stretches and relatively light load bearing exercises (i.e. not trying to build muscle specifically), core work etc.
Good luck, and I do hope you can work through it!