Plantar Fasciitis and Running

[KnottedYet]

Our feet are nice flexible irregular blobby things that do a wonderful job on nice flexible irregular surfaces. (dirt)

So many foot problems come up because we live in a flat hard world. (pavement and floors) Every step our feet take in this homogenous hard flat world makes them move in one way, over and over again. It's a repetitive stress injury just waiting to happen. Some foot muscles get lazy because they are hardly ever asked to work. Some foot muscles swoon because they are forced to work every time and never get to pass the buck.

The plantar fascia ends up taking far more stress than it was meant to. It is your foot's last resort. (the muscles are the foot's first resort) All this stress that was never meant to be there starts causing microtears in the plantar fascia and pulling tissue away from the bone, which leads to heel spurs as the body fills in the gap with more bone.

You can think of modern shoes as an attempt to get a little "dirt" between our feet and the flat world we've created. Highly technical and over-engineered portable dirt, but really just dirt! Hard and flat on the sole side to match the hard and flat world. Irregular and flexible and smushy on the insole side to match the irregular flexible blobby foot.

Toe exercises and barefoot walking on Cobblestone Walkways (either real or fake) are quick ways to perk up the muscles that the foot should be using all along. http://www.fitter1.com/Catalog/Items/CBLSTN.aspx

I like VFF, but I can't wear them. Our toes want to work! Injini socks are great for freeing your toes inside shoes and they let you wear flip-flops or Chacos in colder weather. http://www.injinji.com/

[Jolt]

Knot, good point about the hard flat surfaces being part of the issue as well--we spend more time on these than is natural and healthy, and it does result in neglecting a lot of the stabilizing muscles. As far as modern shoes, why do they (almost) all have an elevated heel? That changes the whole weight distribution of the body and interferes with walking mechanics causing the heel to hit the ground harder and earlier than it otherwise would. A lot of shoes also don't give the toes enough room to spread out and work the way they are supposed to.

[KnottedYet]

As far as modern shoes, why do they (almost) all have an elevated heel? That changes the whole weight distribution of the body and interferes with walking mechanics causing the heel to hit the ground harder and earlier than it otherwise would. A lot of shoes also don't give the toes enough room to spread out and work the way they are supposed to.

Part of it must be fashion. Part of it (like in running shoes) is probably intended for shock absorption. Part of it (like in hiking shoes) is a need for a heel that can help with grip and balance like our own heel would if we were barefoot.

I cannot run well in running shoes. I wear Chacos to run in, and have much happier feet, knees, and hips now. Looking at the pair I'm wearing right now, there isn't much difference in sole depth between the heel and the ball of the foot. http://www.chacousa.com/US/en-US/Pro.../Black/J100024 (the lateral counters create an optical illusion that the heel is thicker, but it actually isn't)

ETA: I just got out a tape measure: the sole at the heel is 1.5cm thick, and at the ball of the foot it is 1.75 cm thick, tapering out to 0.6 cm at the tip. (these measurements don't include the replaceable outsole/traction layer, so there is no distortion from wear) Looks like Chacos are built a little bit like Earth shoes, with the heel lower than the ball of the foot.