Question:

Strike on the forefoot and risk plantar faciitis, or heel strike and risk injury via the plate?

In reality doc says the ankle plate is strong and that I am healed enough to run as I used to run. In my head, I'm still all wonky. All concerned that I am going to re-injure myself if I heel strike.

I didn't really share it, but my last Tampa run hurt me. I figure I had acute plantar faciitis following my run. It resolved itself in a week or so (lots of babying the foot, lots of limping). The cause? Best I can tell it was from my form. More accurately my bad form. Later in the run my calves started to tire; I'm simply not used to those distances on my forefoot. Late in the run, my form changed and I started not just striking on the forefoot, but also dropping to the heel after striking. This caused a lot of flex in my arch. Strike, flex until heel touches, flex again on the push up, then repeat. All that flexing probably stressed my plantar fascia. So, yeah it seems I caused my last injury because my head is not yet fully healed.

I have a therapy plan. You know, as a psychology major I am somewhat qualified to come up with a therapy plan ;-)

My therapy? I'm going to try running in my old heel strike form. Short distances first, then maybe I'll go longer; provided I feel right. After all, I started striking on the forefoot simply to avoid the heel strike, since it seemed to be placing a lot of stress on my ankle.

On a separate note, I started a new job last week and it is amazing. Nothing like having to learn two new software packages under the gun. I get to learn a programing language and a new OS, all kind of on the fly. But damn it, it's exciting!