heel pain

[parchibald]

Hey all,

I am pushing up my mileage in Annadel SP (I love it up there). It is pretty rocky up there. Sometimes after a couple hour run up there my heels hurt, pretty much right at the bottom of my heels. My shoes are fairly new, and I wear some Karnazes insoles.

I wonder if I need more of a cushion for my heels, or if I should tape them or just buck up. (I did 15 miles yesterday, and my heels are pretty much fine today, so its not the same every time.) Or maybe I need better shoes? (I am wearing Sauconey Grids just now, I have very neutral feet)

Anyone else have that kind of pain, and what did you do about it?

We are having a half marathon in Annadel Feb 7, come on up! Check out www.trailmonger.com/ah/

[nathan]

Read Born to Run. It will tell you exactly why you are having that pain.

[claytonsteve]

I feel for you my brother! I've been dealing with the same issues for the past year and a half. I've tried everything from, wearing night splints, custom orthodics, and accupuncture. I've researched and done everything podiatrists recommend but still dealing with the on and off pain in the heels. I have read the book Born to Run and highly recommend it. I know the pain is coming from my increased running mileage but I can't help it! I'm addicted to these trailruns. The best recommendation I have for now is taping the feet for races and long runs to give them more support. I do like the Karnazes insoles. And incorporate some barefoot running to see if that strengthens the feet to help rid the heel pain. Good luck my friend!

[alistairadams]

The premise of Born to Run is that expensive running shoes are bad for you and that we've all been brainwashed into the marketing hype that shoes need to support your ankles and provide cushioning. I tend to agree with that but I came to that conclusion without having read Born to Run, instead I'd stumbled across this site www.sportsscientists.com/2008/04/running-technique-footstrike.html. I later read a few pertinent pages of Born to Run that someone marked out which are pretty indicting of the shoe industry in a Michael Moore sort of way.

I suspect a lot of problems are caused by running style and the site I mentioned discusses some of them and it has links to other related articles and discussions. There's a lot of reading and sifting between the lines of various opinions but good information if you have the time to wade through it all.

[Steve]

Superfeet work pretty well as they compress your heels from the side and give you some extra, natural cushioning. www.superfeet.com/activity/running-walking.aspx

[Erik]

I agree with all above. Try and keep your cadence fast, in other words, take shorter faster steps. The long ones do the most damage. Try landing on the ball of your feet first, then the heal.