I didn’t do my morning run today because after my run yesterday I found my heel was painful to walk on and I also have minor shin splint in my right leg.
Plantar fasciitis, commonly called ‘heel spurs’, in most people (including me this morning), shows up as heel pain with the first few steps in the morning. I felt fine after my run yesterday but unfortunately, it can take 12 to 36 hours after activity before the plantar fasciitis pain increases.
These types of stress related injury are common when running shoes wear out and begin to lose their cushioning and support, as mine have done. Being overweight and/or a sudden increase in exercise can also aggravate them.
It is apt that I should get these pains this week, as I had planed to write a post this week about getting new running shoes, and these pains are ideal indicators that I need new shoes.
I got my current pair of shoes just before Christmas 2008, and looking back at my training log, I see that I have jogged 593km in them in the first six months of 2009. So, there is no doubt that I need new ones.
I find that running shoes generally last me between 500km to 600km. It all depends on the terrain that I’m running on. Mostly this year I’ve been on bitumen, which wears them out quicker than most other surfaces.