Do I Need More Time Off? (Read 66 times)

I am an 18-year-old male, 5'8, 145 pounds. I ran cross country and track in high school, and in Fall 2018 I entered college and began running on my own. Throughout summer of 2018 I prepared for a half marathon race, which took place at the end of September. Training-wise, I did 40-45 miles/week during the peak training period. I dialed it down two weeks prior to the race, and was well rested for the race.

Here's where I messed up. Following the half marathon, I only took three days off, when I probably should've taken a full week. Upon returning to running, I really did not limit my mileage. I stayed between 35 and 45 miles per week up until the end of December. At this point I was really only doing that much mileage to stay in shape (if we're being honest, I just feared the "freshman 15"). I was kind of expecting to run to run a 5k or 10k  or two between the end of September and end of December, but it never happened. I just kept running on my own. It was mostly just recovery pace runs, ranging from 7:20-7:35/mile. I did a few workouts in that period of time, but not many.

As Christmas got closer, I returned home from college and ran in my hometown. Time went on and the bottom of my feet began to hurt more and more. I blame this on two things: 1) I have plantar fasciitis - my feet are nearly flat and weak and I have always been a severe overpronator, and 2) even though I replaced my shoes at the correct time, I neglected to replace my Superfeet between April and December. I should have done this immediately after the half marathon, but I didn't. I wasn't sure if my plantar fasciitis was really to blame, because the pain that I was experiencing was not the "tearing" feeling that typically comes with plantar fasciitis.

On Christmas Day I decided that it was beyond time for a break, especially because I am running a marathon in the beginning of April, and I cannot make it all the way to April without some time off. So I took 8 days off of running, and returned to running yesterday with brand new Superfeet. I expected that 8 days would be more than enough time to heal my feet issues. But on my easy 4 mile run yesterday, my right foot began hurting after only a couple miles, more than it did before my break. It is mostly pain around the arch area (all on the inside of the foot), but again, it did not feel like tearing. It only occurs when I push off the inside of my foot, but I have no idea how to avoid this. I tried going 5 today and could barely finish.

I'm worried that I overtrained from September-December without taking time off early enough. However, I really thought that 8 days would be enough to get rid of the foot pain, except now it hurts more than it did before the break. With 13 weeks left before the marathon, I know I have to start real training soon. I'm wondering if I need to take another week off, or if there is something I should do to strengthen my foot in order to ease the pain. I don't want to be dealing with this throughout my marathon training, but I'm thinking that maybe I am doing something wrong or overlooking something.

Let me know what you all think.

Thanks
Thomas

Your mileage and recovery make sense to me, without knowing much else about you.

I think your issue is lack of pre-hab/rehab/strengthening, rather than lack of recovery.  Arch issues can turn into an insidious cycle of weakening and deterioration that rest will not fix.  Try strengthening your feet and ankles by doing concentric and eccentric band exercises in all directions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGwJRsE1JT4 (I didn't listen to what she's saying, but see how she flexes her foot at the ankle AND flexes her toes and controls the movement eccentrically; do this side to side as well, don't worry about extreme range of motion)

https://www.sportsrec.com/537087-toe-flexor-exercises.html

Pick up marbles or a towel with your toes.

Massage your arch.

See a PT who has experience treating runners.

I'd suggest NOT stretching your PF.  Stretching your calves might help, might not, probably won't hurt.

Also, don't freak out that it feels worse after time off.  It sounds like you not only beat up your plantar fascia, but also strained your flexor hallicus longus and brevis, and maybe posterior tibialis.  All these tendons/muscles wrap around the inside of your ankle and attach to the bottom of your foot in different locations.  They are responsible for keeping the curve in your arch.  Having flat feet is not inherently a problem, but you don't want to damage the tendons and structure and have the arch collapse even more.