[pct-l] plantar fasciitis

[at2002 at mac.com (Gary Wright)]

On Nov 11, 2004, at 3:59 PM, Paul Longton wrote:
> The stretch he recommended was to stand facing a wall with one foot 
> against the wall with the toes up against the wall and higher than the 
> heel and then to stand straight and stretching the calf muscle. I did 
> all of the above and ended up wearing New Balance 2001 running shoes 
> (which is what I ordinarily run in) with Superfeet inserts.

I started getting some heal pain near South Lake Tahoe on my PCT hike 
this year.  I thought it was a bruise of some sort and that it would go 
away but it only got worse.  It wasn't until I had talked to a number 
of thru-hikers who had experienced plantar fasciitis that I started 
doing the calf stretches that Paul describes.  The pain gradually went 
away over three weeks. I suffered for about a month before I got clued 
in to the calf-muscle stretches. A few other thoughts:

- stretch the calf muscles *before* you stand up in the morning.  Clasp 
your hands together and behind your foot pulling your toes towards your 
shin before standing up.
- stretch your calf muscles at *every* break before walking
- ice your feet when possible (cold springs work well, fill a hydration 
bladder with the cold water and use it as a compress, don't stick your 
feet in the spring!)

Radar
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