Hiking: Stretch those calves to avoid heel pain!

I woke up this morning excitedly anticipating my third 10-mile hike, but as I stepped out of bed and made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth I got a sharp jolt of pain at the rear of my right heel. I get this from time to time, but usually I just walk it out and it feels better after 30 minutes or so. But after I’d dressed, packed my bag with the day’s rations and headed out the door, the pain persisted, so much so that I limped my way to the car.

Khizer, who last night made a joke saying, “Should I call the police?” when I mentioned, “My heel is killing me,” turned from comedian to nursemaid when he saw me struggling to walk normally. He’s a runner and no stranger to foot issues, so when he suggested I ice it I knew it was a good idea. But I wanted to know why it was hurting in the first place, so when we stopped at Starbucks to use a couple of our free coffee coupons I got online and did a Google search to see if I could find information on the type of pain I was feeling.

I typed in “hiking heel pain” and followed a link to a site called SportzDoc with an article titled Diagnosing Heel Pain. Within seconds I was able to find what was causing my problem – over time I have been developing a condition called plantar fasciitis. According to SportzDoc, pain caused by plantar fasciitis “arises from an overstretching of a ligament under the arch of your foot, called the plantar fascia”.

This overstretching causes inflammation, and it is apparently a problem common for those with pronated or flat feet, which I definitely don’t have. But it is also a problem if you have very tight calves, which according to the site places the fascia under even greater tension.

The problem may require medical attention, according to SportzDoc, as heel spurs may also be a problem here. But I believe in my case it’s due to the tight calves from so much hiking and not enough stretching pre- and post-hike.  According to the site, “You will do well to change the mechanical factors that make this condition worse: stretch those tight calf muscles, use shoes with a slightly higher heel as well as slippers at home (this reduces the tension on the tense fascia), and use insoles that help to support those tired and flattening arches.”

Sounds like good advice to me! So this afternoon I’m going to do some research on calf stretches and report on my findings in a follow-up blog post later today – after doing the stretches myself, of course. I’m hoping I’ll be able to reduce the inflammation today so I can get out tomorrow or at the latest on Sunday to complete my third 10 miler.