Help! Heel pain

[AJ-7]

Finished W5 last week, and since then I’ve had quite bad heel pain on my left foot. I have run since then (I’m a weekday runner); but have bought some new trainers. I plan to do a good warm up today (like always), as well as my cool down stretches. Any other advice though?

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Heel cushioning may help... I suffered a little at the beginning of C25K, Landing heavily) so got some heel support.

sportsshoes.com/product/sor...

got mine on Amazon...( make sure of the correct size)

Also.. do try to land lightly... I call it kissing the ground with your feet. It works... particularly in the longer runs

[AJ-7]

Today I did the “run” on a cross trainer, increasing my speed and resistance on the “running” bits. I started on the treadmill, but it was too painful, so moved to the cross trainer. My left heal is also a bit swollen, so am wearing my walking boots today to try and provide a bit more support

[Millsie-J Graduate]

Is this PF? You probably need to get it checked out properly.

If it is, try daily heel dips on the bottom stair. Never wear fully flat shoes...,a small heel is all that is required. Hope it settles soon.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

If it persists then get it checked out. An extra rest day may help.

As Millsie-J says, heel drops will strengthen the area.

[Sadie-runs Graduate]

This does sound a like a touch of plantar fasciitis to me, but recommend you go see your GP for a proper diagnosis.

I had the beginnings of this a few weeks ago, but think I got to it before it got severe. I looked up specific foot stretches you can do for PF, and included heel drops three times a day, followed by rolling a hard massage ball under my arch three times a day. It seems to have stopped it in its tracks.

Hope you get it sorted soon. Won’t hurt to try the gentle foot stretches, but maybe get GP advice too. But don’t ignore it; it will just get worse and harder to deal with.

Sadie-runs x

[Millsie-J Graduate in reply to Sadie-runs]

Also a frozen bottle of water rolled under the foot is v good. Mine got sorted by a physio eventually but I maintain my heel drops regularly in case, and am mindful of shoes worn always.

[AJ-7]

Thanks everyone. I took a week off from running and did other cardio, like rowing and cross trainer for the same length of time. I then went back to W5R1 yesterday and enjoyed it but was quite tough. Now though, I’ve got a horrendous cold/flu with added sickness and diarrhoea; so not sure when I’ll be back to running. Feel like a complete failure as this programme is meant to be “for all”. Just another thing I’ve failed at