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Ruptured plantar fascia

HELP!!!  Anyone ever have their plantar fascia rupture during a race....FYI, Not highly recommended.
A little background, I have had a bone spur in my right heel for over 7 years which has caused intermittent plantar fasciitis.  I've managed it with much better fitting shoes and great shoe inserts and, truthfully, haven't had any major issues with it in YEARS. 
Fast forward to IM Augusta 70.3 this year...I had had no pain to speak of throughout the entire training process for my first 70.3.  I would have occasional inflammation in the spur and plantar fascia, but treated it with ice and stretching when it got really bad.  Race morning, everything was perfect.  NO PAIN AT ALL.  Swim was great, a little cold to start, but acclimated quickly.  When I got out of the swim, everything went down hill quickly from there.  
I felt something in the bottom of my foot coming out of the water, but thought I had stepped on something.  The entire run to transition was a little painful on my foot but felt more like a muscle cramp than anything else.  I got to my bike and took some salt and a few big sips of Gatorade and was off on the bike.  First 15 miles were OK, but then we had the first long, slow climb and the pain in my foot really became noticeable.  It just progressively worsened to severe pain from that point on.
Long story, short...I wasn't able to even finish the bike.  I got to the aid station at mile 47 and could no longer put ANY weight on my right foot.  I was transported back to transition.  Had my pity party and went home.  
On Tuesday after the race, I was seen in urgent care and found out the the bone spur had broken.  Had an MRI and it appears that the the plantar fascia has ruptured.  I have been in a walking boot since then and it is getting somewhat better, but not as fast as I would like.
Has anyone every had this?  How long was recovery?  How did you prevent it from EVER happening again?
I start physical therapy next week and hoping that it moves the recovery along a little quicker....
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Comments

  • I have no experience with anything worse then just plain plantar fasciitis.  Your injury sounds way more severe.  Therefore, let me be the first to recommend patients.  Let this heal and do your PT.  That's your job now.  Get it stronger and bullet proof for next season.
  • Since the Plantar Fascia is part of what holds up your arch, I would suggest that you seek out the opinion of a foot and ankle Orthopedic Specialist (NOT a podiatrist) prior to returning to sport.  You want complete healing and it may take several months.  While surgery is unlikely to be needed, you still want a specialist supervising your treatment because this kind of injury can be difficult to manage.
  • Mia - I ruptured the plantar fascia in my left foot on 22 March 2013 during a training run.  I felt it and I HEARD it ... like the sound of a bone snapping; and it brought me to an immediate halt.  It happened in the middle of a thunderstorm when I was racing home...had to limp home in the pouring rain.  I started running again on 22 April (just 1 mile) with a slow ramp up.  I had a great sports doc who told me that casting it would have been the worst possible treatment because that would lead to scar tissue.  Using ultrasound imagery he showed me right were it snapped -- a very visible black gap showing about 2/3rds tear across the fascia along the foot. His philosophy was that aggressive rehabilitation would give the best result as long as I would back off if I felt pain. 

    I had a lot of PT including heat on the foot followed by Graston scraping to make sure any scar tissue lined up with the direction of the fascia.  They had me stand and stretch on a machine that vibrates very fast, and then a lot of exercises to rebuild strength.  They also taped my foot for support each time I was at PT.  I was able to get on a Cybex bike a week later due to the large foot platform for pedals but  it was about 3 weeks before I could get on my bike again using lock step pedals.  About the same time I started workout on an elliptical and an ARC trainer since both have large foot platforms.  I actually completed (not raced) St Anthony's triathlon on 28 April ... just 5 weeks later ... but I walked the transitions when I was barefoot, and jogged the 10K with no significant push off.   It was about 8 weeks before I was back to normal running volume and intensity.  This was an extremely aggressive recovery timeframe and I was definitely pushing it as fast as I could; but perhaps my injury was not as severe as other ruptures.   Nor did I have any broken heel spur so please exercise caution. 

    I've had plantar fasciitis before but it had been decades ago...and I do have bone spurs but they do not bother me.  My thought on the cause pf the rupture was that I had significantly increased running volume that winter and then ran the hilly Atlanta 1/2M just 5 days before this happened ... plus I'm not a spring chicken.  However, that's just a guess.  I really have no idea how to prevent it again.  But I would suggest to you that a full recovery is possible.  I qualified for and raced the IM70.3 WC in 2015 and qualified for the 2018 IM70.3 WC at, coincidentally, Augusta last month.  
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