Fighting Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is not a £20 million Greek midfielder to propel West Ham back to the Premier League. It is a severe pain in the foot that can leave you limping around for months. Outside of the foot, heel, ankle, arch, mid-foot, it hurts everywhere and pulls at your calf muscle and pulverises your sanity. Pulling my big toe back, a spiky ball massage and rubbing the sole of my foot with a spoon have not cured it.

Plantar bastarditis has lasted for five months. If it lasts much longer my mission to run 10 marathons before I turn 50 is in jeopardy. It may have been caused by my seventh marathon in Seville earlier this year that did not go well. Although the warning signs were felt in my ankle in the Barcelona marathon the year before. My left foot crumbling under the pressure of over two decades of running, injuries and hypermobility.

I understand why jeopardy is essential to good storytelling but the risk of not running or hiking again is unbearable. I have been told I am not biomechanically designed for running. High arches, floppy feet, my ankles, calves, hamstrings and glutes are weak. I am a human jelly in carbon plated trainers with medals around my neck and a gym membership card tucked into my roll of flab.

This cannot be my destiny. I accepted my downwards shift from an average to slow runner. You can take my speed, stamina and personal bests but you cannot take my freedom that my feet bring. As a non-driver I depend on my feet. The NHS is great at giving online advice on this foot condition with its in-person treatment a live version of the do-it-yourself treatment guidance.

The NHS says it's more likely to be plantar fasciitis if:

the pain is much worse when you first start walking after sleeping or resting – Yes, it’s a condition where resting makes it worse, not better. I do not sleep in the office but getting up from my chair can be incredibly painful. I limp, limp, limp until I am walking. I am tempted to make a Keyser Söze joke but fear most people in the office will not get my Usual Suspects joke or report me for referencing Kevin Spacey in the workplace.

the pain gradually gets better when you start moving around, but gets worse if you stand, walk or run for a long time – Platoon flashback as Sergeant Barnes stops my screaming and orders me to “take the pain”. I think now, looking back, I did not fight the enemy; I fought my foot. And the enemy was in me. The war is almost over for me now, but it will always be there, the rest of my days.

it's painful to stretch the bottom of your foot, for example when you raise your toes off the floor or walk up stairs – I learned the pain of a prolonged heel drop which almost burst my calf muscle. I kidded myself I found the perfect foot stretch and hip rotation twist. I am now squatting and waddling around like a duck.

Copilot persuaded me my condition was not terminal and it would eventually heal. But it could take over a year to heal, may require surgery and it might come back. My custom-made orthotics have done bugger all. Although my rolled socks were effective heel cushions, I needed professional care, investing in shockwave treatment which uses high-energy sound waves to treat chronic tendon pain and plantar fasciitis. It works by increasing blood flow, reducing local pain signals and restarting the body's natural healing process.

Shockwave treatment has helped the healing process. I am supplementing gym workouts with resistance band exercises in my back garden. My neighbours must think I have Spandex knickers stuck round my ankles as I open and close my legs to build strength and return to running and hiking.

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