Pain in heel

[Ruby7]

I have been getting sharp stabbing pains in my right heel. It s worse after each run and I have to stretch my foot by flexing it towards my knee, right and left to make it go away. Recently it has been getting worse and as I'm now on w7 with longer runs, it's putting me off. My right foot is half a size smaller than my left foot, and I have gel insoles in both trainers. What can I do. I don't want to give up now. Thanks for your advice.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

I had a similar pain which I attributed to tight achilles tendon. I stretch by standing with my toes on a step and lowering my heels down below step height and holding for about 30 seconds, gently raise up again for about 10 seconds and then repeat two or three times. I still have a tight tendon, especially in the morning, but no longer have the pain. It may be worth resting for a few days until it is no longer painful. Good luck.

[Ruby7 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thank you, I will try that tomorrow when I do w7r3. Thanks.

[Lyndle]

I recommend you do the stretches recommended by iannodatruffle and see a podiatrist. It could be plantar fasciitis - if you google this you will find some good stretches to do which probably won't do you any harm either way. A podiatrist will assess your shoes and inserts to see if they are giving you the support you need. Don't ignore it, it won't get better by itself.

[Ruby7 Graduate in reply to Lyndle]

Thank you, I will try the above stretches and google it after this. Plantar fasciitis sounds scary. Thanks

[Jaynew01]

Stretch and rest as advised podiatrist as advised and ice regularly. Hope it soon settles down.

[Ruby7 Graduate in reply to Jaynew01]

Thank you, will try the ice along with the above stretches.

[Cazmagoo Graduate]

I sympathise completely - it's a nightmare dealing with injury and trying to stay on track with the programme. As Lyndle says don't ignore it - it doesn't go away, I can vouch for that. IannodaTruffe's exercises really help, as do pre run warm ups suggested on this forum (thank you to the lovely person for the Strong Runner tip). Sore tendons hit in w6 for me, but a week's rest, repeating w6, icing and the warm ups (before setting out) seem to be doing the trick, fingers crossed. I also stop the podcast after the 5min walk and do some gentle calf stretches before running. It's soooooooo tempting to ignore the warnings and just run through them towards that shiny graduation badge, but it could set things back months. Desperate to do wk6r3, but taking things cautiously, repeating r2 til things feel right, hopefully this w/e!! Hope things work out ok for you - don't lose faith, just have patience (which is harder than the running!!!).

[Ruby7 Graduate]

Thanks, I agreed with my friend to do the 5k on March 15th. I was 'sailing' along but now the pain is there even when I'm not running. Trying to be patient, but don't want to let my friend down. Will do the stretches after 5 mins like you say. Going to do a run tomorrow. Thanks for your help.