Healing

So a few weeks ago I had 2  main problems: my knee and my heel. For about a week my knee has felt better. I haven't ran and have been pretty sedentary . Today I had to run to get somewhere and it did not hurt, so that's a good sign!

On the other hand my heel still has a raised spot that is uncomfortable. After some research I have been lead to believe that it is a bone spur caused by plantar fascitis. So what is plantar fascitis?

"Plantar fasciitis occurs when the plantar fascia is strained as a result of increased or over activity, poor foot biomechanics, or in association with the normal aging process. The ligament is typically strained repeatedly, over time before the onset of plantar fasciitis. As the ligament stretches beyond its normal extension it causes the soft tissues of the fascia to tear, usually at the point where attached to the heel bone. This leads to inflammation, heel pain, and possible growth of a bone spur (calcaneus) at the heel bone attachment."¹

The remedy for plantar fascitis is to stretch the calf, achilles, and plantar fascia.

One thing that I haven't done in months is massage my feet. I used to do this after every run, but became lazy. I massage them by rolling a tennis ball under them. It feels great, is easy to do, and loosens up the plantar fascia.

Since running did not cause me any pain I am going to start running next week or late this week. I am going to start at 1 mile and increase it 10% per week. A great thing about this is that my girlfriend will be running with me. When I asked her to run before it was intimidating because I was running 10+ miles per run. I told her we can start small and build up. I hope this is something that can build our already awesome relationship.

We also plan on hiking some over our Christmas break. I found a book at the library of North Georgia trails, so we should just need to pack our bags and hit the trails.

^{1. http://www.plantarfasciitisbraces.com/what_is_plantarfasciitis.html}