Heel Spur and Plantar Fasciitis

While I was training for my Half Iron, my running was my weakest point.  I grew up a competitive swimmer which gave me a great aerobic base as well as the fundamental techniques for swimming.  That alone can be a huge advantage when competing in a triathlon. While I was a competitive swimmer, the dry-land exercises provided me with a great running background as well.  However, after I quit swimming after high school, I switched to bicycling and did not run as much.  Not to mention I got a bit out of shape my first year or so in college.  I was a cyclist though and had a good base for that part of the training.  However, a drawback of being a cyclist is that you are good at one motion, up and down with the legs, which is great however there is more to that when it comes to running, and the low impact from bicycling and swimming does not translate well into an untrained running body.  As I reintroduced myself into running, I also did a combination of other changes, which any athlete knows is the basic recipe for injury. But I did not pay any attention to that at the time, unfortunately. 

So the changes I made not only included starting to run again but also changing my foot striking technique.  The majority of runners are heel strikers.  Then there are some mid foot strikers, and lastly there are forefoot strikers.  I was, for the most part, a heel striker, though it is my belief that while I was swimming I was more of a mid-foot striker, although I can not exactly prove it.  When I started running again, I had made a decision to become a forefoot striker.  Much of my philosophy on training and living is to be as natural as possible, and as far as shoes go, they have become a hindrance and crutch for the majority of people because of the way they are designed. Thats a topic of discussion for another time and as always a preferential statement.  Since I had made the decision to go to a fore-foot strike technique I shifted my shoe choice to a low heel classic running shoe, designed after the old track shoes.  Sacuony Bullet.  I was also using some Five Fingers for a while but because of my long toes they do not work very well without giving extremely large blood blisters at the bases of my big toes.  I began my training slowly with half mile and mile runs in the park on a gravel track.  I would even train barefoot on occasions to strengthen my feet.  I was getting up in miles over the course of two months and was running 6 miles twice a week with a few shorter runs when I could get them in.  As the race neared I was still only at 6 miles and need to bump my mileage up prior to the race.  One Saturday after noon I took a nice easy paced 10 mile run up to my friends apartment prior to a GT football game.  At about the 8 mile mark I had a pain/twinge on the inside of my left ankle and had to stop for a few hundred yards and walk it out.  I did however finish the 10 miles in a relatively good pace at about 8:30 per mile. 

During the course of my running training I did not stretch as much as I should have, and the contributing factors are probably some laziness, as well as lack of knowledge on running specific training and stretching technique.  It was not till afterwards that I began researching techniques to take care of runners feet and stretches to keep the body loose and functional.  Unfortunately because of my ignorance and negligence I developed a heel spur on my left heel and some plantar fasciitis to go along with it.

It is my understanding now, hind sight is always clearer, that I could have easily prevented these two injuries with some minor stretching.  Specifically stretching of the arch of the foot with a simple technique where you kneel on your knees and toes stretching your toes forward(up) and in-turn stretching the arch of your foot.  In combination with the reverse of that stretch where you sit on your heels with your feel laid out flat on the ground, provides good flexibility and strengthening of the feet and ankles. 

Stretching

Over the past 8 months or so I have tried many different types of stretching to attempt to alleviate my injury.  Much of the reading I have done has focused on the lower body from the calf down to the toes; and although I do agree that there is great importance in stretching that area, I believe that there is more of a total body connection to injuries.  Our entire bodies are connected by muscles and tendons that push and pull constantly.  I do want to make it clear here as well that I think Chiropractors are a bunch of quacks.  There is however, some value in what they learn as far as body balance with muscle and tendon strength, joint flexibility, and total body health.

As far as flexibility goes, I have never been very flexible.  Perhaps it is because I was a tall child and am still considered tall that my muscles and tendons are under more tension than the average person.  It could just be the way I hold my body and which muscles, tendons, and ligaments I use for balance, walking, running, biking are slightly different than the normal person.  Who knows.  All I can say is that I was the most flexible during my years as a competitive swimmer where I was training 30+ hours a week.  I contribute that to a few things.  First, my coach stressed stretching before and after each workout. Second, swimming is a full body workout where you are flexing and stressing every muscle you have so there was a balance achieved when training.  Third: the cross training that was done during our dryland workouts helped build stabilizer muscles that contributed to overall fitness. 

For stretches I have done both static and dynamic stretches for the upper and lower body.  The lower body stretches are for the quads, hamstrings, hip flexors,  Iliotibial band, calfs, achilles, plantar fascia, toes and as much else inbetween as possible.  The upper body stretches are more limited to shoulder and back flexibility, with chest and neck included.  

In addition to the stretches above it is very important to have a strong core for balance and reduced strain on your other muscles. This is accomplished through abdominal workouts.  A good one to try is plank exercises.

The Injury

Now onto the speculated cause/instance of the injury.  I was following the basic training plan described in an earlier post as consistently as I could with my schedule.  I would miss a run here or there but made them up during the week or on my rest day (as I rested during the times I missed scheduled workouts).  With the race about 2.5-3 weeks out my swimming and biking were progressing incredibly well.  My distances had increased and my times were at or above my goals for this portion of my training.  My running however, had been my troubled area. Not that it was difficult for me to run, I was just not making the progress I had hoped to at this point in my training.

I should note here that I had lost some of my running form while in college.  This was a combination of my transition to bicycle racing for a few years and an injury I had while playing inter murals.  I got a stress fracture in my tibia while training and participating in my inter-mural Ultimate (Frisbee).  It got bad enough at one point, I was on crutches for two weeks.  After the injury I stopped running for a good while, probably almost a year but I cannot recall.    

Back to my Ironman training, during the course of my running training, and in the hopes to prevent further injury to my legs (including knees,hips, and feet) I had done quite a bit of research and had transitioned from a heel striker to a forefoot striker.  All those reading saying that this was a bad idea, I disagree, it was the right thing to do just not the right time or the right pace to do it in.  With forefoot striking come increase strain on the calf and arch of the foot.  These new added stresses to the calf and arch meet at the Achilles tendon!.  I did a pretty good job of taking it easy while increasing distance on the new foot striking technique.  I applied multiple strike techniques when going longer than a mile or two, heel striking and forefoot striking to keep the stress down on the calf and Achilles tendon and foot arch.

So at about 3 weeks out from the race, I decided that I was feeling pretty good and it was time to do a long run. So one Saturday I took off on a run off to my friends house 10 miles away.  more than I had every run before at one time in my whole life.

The Results

Before I get into other details, here is a basic summary of my results:

An overall time:    5:34:44.
Swim Time:             26:01
T1:                             5:14
Bike Time:            2:37:39
T2:                             2:18
Run Time:             2:23:34

The Breakdown:

Swim per 100 yds: 1:18 min/100yds
Bike mph:  21.4 mph
Run min per mile: 10.9 min/mile

Overall Thoughts:
Very happy with the swim, and the bike.  Not so much the run.  But then I would not have a need for this documentation blog if I was happy with my run.  My goal was sub 6 hours, which I made easily.  Unfortunately I was on pace for sub 5 hours, which was my new goal calculated during the ride portion of the race.

The Gear

Crucial to any sport is the gear.  Each sport has specific gear that is essential to function to complete the race.  Pre-race training with the gear is always a necessity to have a smooth race.

The Swim:  A set of tri shorts accompanied by a Xterra sleeveless wetsuit and goggles provided everything I need to get through the 1.2 mile swim.  Along with the specific cap for my age group.

The Bike:  The bike is a 1997 Bianchi, Titanium frame in the classic Bianchi green.  By no means is this a triathlon bike.  It is not set up for an aerodynamic position, it is a pure race bike.  A set of Mavic Ksyrum wheels with Refuse tires for training and racing.  Drive train is Shimano 39/53 chain rings and a 12/23 cassette.  The shifters is where it gets the most questions, Campy.  Yes, Campy shifters into a Shimano drive train   Why, it was the lightest configuration when the bike was built back in 97' for racing.  The two companies do have different indexes for their shifters and cassettes, which plagued me for many years.  However, there is an ingenious little device out there now that provides compensation for the differences in index ratios.  It can go Campy to Shimano or reverse, and attaches right at the rear derailure.  A set of Profile Design triathlon bars were added and the seat was adjusted almost all the way to the back to accommodate the aero position.   This combination would get me through the 56 mile bike.

The Run: A pair of Saucony Bullet running shoes along with my tri shorts and bike jersey were all I needed to get through the 13.1 mile run.

1.2 + 56 + 13.1 = 70.3 miles

Basic Training Plan

Trying not to get to detailed, mostly because I have forgotten exactly what each day and week was, here was my basic training plan for my first 70.3.  This training plan provided all of my workouts during the week and weekend while allowing me to work full time.  The basic plan shown here is for peak training time, and varied from week to week depending on events, work, fatigue, and rest days.

Monday:  Commute to work on bicycle - 23 miles each way (interval, heart rate, sprints, hills, etc.)
Tuesday:  Swim at lunch - 1500 to 3000 yards, Evening run 2 to 6 miles
Wednesday: Commute to work on bicycle - 23 miles each way (interval, heart rate, sprints, hills, etc.)
Thursday: Swim at lunch - 1500 to 3000 yards, Evening run 2 to 6 miles, OR Group ride
Friday: Commute to work on bicycle - 23 miles each way (interval, heart rate, sprints, hills, etc.)
Saturday:  Group ride: 40 to 60 miles
Sunday: Rest, easy jog, easy spin

The Chosen Race

A friend/coworker and I decided that I was time to attempt the goal of completing a half Ironman.  The race we chose was the second annual Augusta ESI Ironman 70.3.  It was to occur on September 25 2010.  I was able to develop a 16 week training program for the race after signing up, giving me a good four months to get into the type of shape that would be required to complete the race.  Generic sites such as beginnertriathelete.com provide a good base for training schedules and I use a few of them as go bys to develop my training program.

As with any training program there are specifics to an individual that need to be catered to.  These specifics include items such as: school, work, family, friends, vacations, etc.  Because of these aspects it can pretty much be guaranteed that a generic plan will NOT work for the average person.  As I mentioned previously however, these plans can provide the basics such as workout duration, variety, intensity levels, and duration over a 10-18 week time period.  I have used them in the past for training for running.  

So the race is chosen and the basic training plan has been set.

Achilles Tendonitis

One of my goals for a long time has been to complete a Half Ironman and then a full Ironman.  Taking on this challenge is not an easy feat even for those who are naturally athletic.  I have been an athlete, specifically an endurance athlete for many years.  I was luck enough to start my athletic career as a swimmer, which is believed to be the most difficult of the three triathlon events (swim, bike, run) to master if good technique is not learned at an early age.  As a competitive summer league swimmer and a high school and year round swimmer with the Dynamo Swim Club, I have a very good feel for the water and many years of experience to dial in technique for smooth swimming.  Being a swimmer in high school and training with a year round club, Dynamo, also provided a background in training discipline.  As an athlete of any discipline knows, a training program is very important, not only to establish milestones and progression but possibly more so to prevent any injury from things such as: stress, poor technique, under training, and over training. There is not much worse for an athlete than an injury from over training where the athlete is unable to train for an extended period of time, not only losing the fitness that was built over the previous training period, but disruption of a lifestyle.