Ironman training when ion the injury train

[clyde]

Hello all,

What is the general recommendation of training when injuried? I have an Ironman the end of August and can not run very much ie 3 miles without discomfort. This is all due to plantar fasciitis. Just swim like a fish and bike a ton, and hope the foot heals enough to run walk the race? Frustrated, I've been dealing with this for about 2 months now.

Thanks for the input!!
Clyde

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

Hey Clyde, if your IM is at the end of August.
I suggest you focus on fixing your plantar.
And then get on with rebuilding your run training with a healthy foot.

If you wear flip flops often, then stop and wear proper foot wear.
You got to heat it up 3 times a day for 15min to loosen and increase/dram blood to the problem.
And make sure your not fore foot striking!

You got plenty of time!

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

Hey again, on second though, maybe have the foot checked out.
To make 100% sure you dont have bone spure.
Especially since you been having this problem for a couple months...

[clyde]

No spur, I took xrays of it myself. I do that for a living. All the pain is on the medial side of the fat pad. Just heat or do contrast baths. I have a topical steriod as well. I also thought about using some Nitroglycerin to bring blood flow to that area. Thoughts?

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

Hey Clyde sounds like you been very pro-active about it.

If nothing on x-ray, just heat your foot up 3 times a day.
Especially first thing in the morning and before trainining.

Only run 30 min very very slow every 3rd day.
And then as it gets better, every other day.
When I say slow, I mean slow like a Kenyan doing an ez run in the mid of a 300k run week.

When you swim, just push off the wall with your good foot only.

[Brandon Marsh - "-Tex"]

Clyde...are you the same Clyde that posted a while back on another foot or lower leg issue?

Amy dealt with P.F. for like 2 years.  Eventually she went and had some manual therapy done on it that helped get rid of it.  The manual therapy basically hurts like a mother, but breaks up all the adhesions, etc. in the tendons and fascia.

Plantar can be a tricky one, and for everyone who says it can be cure by 'forefoot running' you will find another that says it can be cured by 'heel striking'.  But, the things that helped more than hurt when Amy had it were...

- Warm it up like Matt said;
- Keep the soleus loose by light massage (that's not the glamour calf muscle, but the smaller one);
- Less stretching of the foot and arch

And, as I wrote before, she actually started to 'walk (run) this way' as Doc puts it.  She got further back on her foot (heel) and just ran relatively slowly for the first few months while learning that.  She's now been running consistent with no interruption for like a year and is running better than ever.  That all assumes that you've done some of the other suggestions you can find on the forum...

- move your cleats back on your bike shoes;
- Look at changing your run shoes around.

This thread has some really good info in it...

http://www.teamtbb.com/forum/index.php?topic=2169.0

[MaryBethEllis]

Brandon and Matt have covered all the things I would recommend.
I had PF years ago while I was running marathons.  For me, besides taking time off running, I also had to adjust my footwear.  I was running in racing flats that weren't the right fit for my running style.  I went and had custom insoles made and that in combination with 3 weeks no running cured me.  The custom insoles weren't orthotics but were a light weight mold and fit into my shoes.  Also sleeping in the boot has helped me nip reoccurences, it seemed to keep my PF from contracting while I sleep with pointed toes at night.
Best of luck!

[rosalynn]

Dear Everyone,

I'm trying to write a book, thanks for all this suggestion, I'm writing this out on a note.

pst. will inform you on my progress