Cho pat straps really helped my knees - but ow I hurt my heel - any thoughts? (Read 383 times)

I'm building up my weekly mileage a little at a time, following Hal Higdon's plan, to train for a half-marathon that I will run in late March. I just picked up running last October. Well, perhaps the buildup is too soon too fast for my 43 yr old body! Last week my knees were really sore after my 7 mile 'long' run. I bought some Cho-pat straps for my knees and they worked wonders. I ran 8 miles two days ago and my knees felt great! Unfortunately, now my left heel is sore - right where the achilles tendon attaches to the heel. It's not terrible, but it's definitely sore and I'm kind of hobbling around right now to avoid feeling the pain. Any ideas of how to treat? Or prevent this from happening again? I'd love to hear your advice and experiences with this type of injury. By the way, the other thing I did last week is I went to a running store where they filmed my gait, and fitted me for some shoes. I was running with these new shoes on the long run - the shoes felt great during the fun, and worked well during my shorter runs earlier in the week, so I don't know if they are something to be concerned about or not. The problem with my sore knees last week prompted me to get fitted for these new shoes.