According to http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp09001.htm,
"The plantar fascia is a thick, broad, inelastic band of fibrous tissue that courses along the bottom (plantar surface) of the foot. It is attached to the heel bone (calcaneus) and fans out to attach to the bottom of the metatarsal bones in the region of the ball of the foot. Because the normal foot has an arch, this tight band of tissue (plantar fascia) is at the base of the arch. In this position, the plantar fascia acts like a bowstring to maintain the arch of the foot.
Plantar fasciitis refers to an inflammation of the plantar fascia. The inflammation in the tissue is the result of some type of injury to the plantar fascia. Typically, plantar fasciitis results from repeated trauma to the tissue where it attaches to the calcaneus."
This resulting diagnosis was no surprise, since this is what I have suspected all along. Still, there is something about having an expert do some official evaluation to confirm those suspicions.
The good news is that I now have an official verdict and a plan of attack!! Other good news is that the intern doing the evaluation is also a runner and my physical therapist also works for the athletic department of our local university. They know athletes. In fact, the PT told me that she doesn't like to have her patients cease all activity in their sport unless it is really necessary. She said with my reduced mileage, as long as I felt ok, iced it and took care of it, I could still do some running.
My homework is to do some specific stretching and strengthening exercises and report for treatment about twice a week for the next few weeks. Then we see where we are at that point. There didn't seem to be any alarm about my condition or need for any drastic measures.
With all of that, since I ran yesterday I did not expect to run today. My daughter was a little stressed with her school work so I suggested a walk. She then countered by suggesting a run. What a great idea!!! So instead of running in the morning we ran our two laps tonight - 1.42 miles in 18:52 min. It helped her relax to get back to her school work, and saved us from having to wake up early for a run. I like seeing her view running as an outlet or a way to relax.
So now to do some stretching!
4 comments:
"And knowing is half the battle" -GI Joe
Great that you have an official verdict even though you all ready had that sneaky suspicion.
Also, how cool is it to get a good PT. When I had pulled my quad really badly in 2001, my PT had the same plan of attack. Of course, my injury precluded running right away, but I had homework to stretch and exercise it in between her beating and shocking the hell out of it... later that year I had my marathon PR time!
Excellent news about the diagnosis/plan of attack. You'll knock it out! And I am joyed to hear that your daughter suggested a run - you are so lucky!
I agree with Terry er... GI Joe. When the daignosis is confirmed, you start to feel just a little better. Your plan of attack sounds like a winner!
How does this affect your race schedule?
I was looking forward to seeing you at the Outback Distance Classic ;-)
Maddy: I am going to talk to the PT tomorrow to see if I can do the Outback 12k. If not, maybe I can do the 3K fun run with my daughter. We will be there either way because I think hubby is running so perhaps we can hook up! :-)
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