Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Pain in the foot: part one

The plantar fascia and you.

Plantar fasciitis. The mere whisper of these words will make a runner tremble. Maybe you think runners are too delicate and fragile.

How about Eli Manning? He’s a tough football player. Yes, but he’s a quarterback.

Okay, how about the Chargers’ tight end Antonio Gates? He’s a big tough dude and plantar fasciitis limited his playing in the 2010 season and persisted into the 2011 season.

What is plantar fasciitis? Here’s a description from heelthatpain.com:

“Plantar Fasciitis is a serious, painful, and progressing illness that occurs when the long, flat ligament along the bottom of the foot develops tears and inflammation. Serious cases of plantar fasciitis can possibly lead to ruptures in the ligament. This ligament is called the plantar fascia and it extends your five toes and runs along the bottom of your foot, attaching to your heel. When you walk or run, you land on your heel and raise yourself on your toes as you shift your weight to your other foot, causing all your weight to be held up by your plantar fascia. Such repetitive force can pull the fascia from its attachment on your heel and cause damage and plantar fasciitis.“

Sponsored
Sponsored

I’m not qualified in any formal way to make any diagnosis or recommend any treatment but I’m going to do it anyway.

Here’s the sticking point for me in the explanation above, “When you walk or run, you land on your heel and raise yourself...”

Woh, woh, woh. Hold on a second. When you walk or run you land on your heel? Walk yes. Run no. Do not ever, should you run for a thousand miles, land on your heels when you run.

Ever.

Never.

Nunca.

The thousand mile thing is an exaggeration because you’d never make it landing on your heels.

What’s the issue with the heels? Landing on our heels when we run isn’t how our bodies naturally work.

Right now go stand on a chair in your kitchen and jump off it. Go. Do it.

Did you land our heels? No, you landed on the pad of your foot and your entire muscular skeletal frame absorbed the impact with no effort. You could do this over and over again and never injure yourself.

How many times could you do this if you landed on your heels each time? How long until you jammed your femurs right up through your hip sockets? How long until the round surface of the heel betrayed you and you rolled an ankle?

This is exactly what happens when we run and heel strike. It is an injury waiting to happen.

Could the demon known as plantar fasciitis be yet another common injury which exists because of our shoeing habits?

Believe it or not this is going to take us back to ChiRunning.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Next Article

Gilbert Castellanos, Buddha Trixie, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Shane Hall, Brian Jones Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival

Grand Socials, gigs, and record releases in Del Mar, City Heights, Solana Beach, Little Italy, and Ocean Beach

Plantar fasciitis. The mere whisper of these words will make a runner tremble. Maybe you think runners are too delicate and fragile.

How about Eli Manning? He’s a tough football player. Yes, but he’s a quarterback.

Okay, how about the Chargers’ tight end Antonio Gates? He’s a big tough dude and plantar fasciitis limited his playing in the 2010 season and persisted into the 2011 season.

What is plantar fasciitis? Here’s a description from heelthatpain.com:

“Plantar Fasciitis is a serious, painful, and progressing illness that occurs when the long, flat ligament along the bottom of the foot develops tears and inflammation. Serious cases of plantar fasciitis can possibly lead to ruptures in the ligament. This ligament is called the plantar fascia and it extends your five toes and runs along the bottom of your foot, attaching to your heel. When you walk or run, you land on your heel and raise yourself on your toes as you shift your weight to your other foot, causing all your weight to be held up by your plantar fascia. Such repetitive force can pull the fascia from its attachment on your heel and cause damage and plantar fasciitis.“

Sponsored
Sponsored

I’m not qualified in any formal way to make any diagnosis or recommend any treatment but I’m going to do it anyway.

Here’s the sticking point for me in the explanation above, “When you walk or run, you land on your heel and raise yourself...”

Woh, woh, woh. Hold on a second. When you walk or run you land on your heel? Walk yes. Run no. Do not ever, should you run for a thousand miles, land on your heels when you run.

Ever.

Never.

Nunca.

The thousand mile thing is an exaggeration because you’d never make it landing on your heels.

What’s the issue with the heels? Landing on our heels when we run isn’t how our bodies naturally work.

Right now go stand on a chair in your kitchen and jump off it. Go. Do it.

Did you land our heels? No, you landed on the pad of your foot and your entire muscular skeletal frame absorbed the impact with no effort. You could do this over and over again and never injure yourself.

How many times could you do this if you landed on your heels each time? How long until you jammed your femurs right up through your hip sockets? How long until the round surface of the heel betrayed you and you rolled an ankle?

This is exactly what happens when we run and heel strike. It is an injury waiting to happen.

Could the demon known as plantar fasciitis be yet another common injury which exists because of our shoeing habits?

Believe it or not this is going to take us back to ChiRunning.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Next Article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.