Plantar Fasciitis and Cross Training

Hi

 I'm due to run a 10K in approximately 7 weeks time but I seem to have developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot, I'm not too worried about being able to do the 10K as I've already run that and further during training.

 However, my question is that while I take a break from running to let this heal is it ok to cycle or will this aggrivate the injury?

 Secondly, I went to a physio's drop in session a while back with a knee injury and she told me that the reason I keep getting all these injuries in my right leg is due to the fact that my right hip is very tight and "locked in" but that she could fix it with a few session.  Has anyone else ever heard of this?

 Thanks

Matt

Let it heal, cycling or other non impact training should be ok.  I pushed on with a PF niggle that started in April and by June I was hobbling around most of the day and was taking co-codamol to get a run in. Had a steroid injection in June, have barely run since and I'm going out for a run for the second time time since the injection tonight.  I can't help but think that if I'd stopped sooner, then I'd have had a shorter lay off and be in with a chance of getting a good performance at the Birmingham half in October. Personally I'd forget the 10k and get over the injury and resolve the issue that caused the PF

Things that worked for me:

Cycling - good for keeping fit and stretching the PF.

Put a plastic botte of water, with the top off, in the freezer. The bottle of ice is then great to roll back and forth on your heel.

Ultrasound - I was referred by my GP to a good-old NHS physio who blasted the heel with U/S. It was a pleasant warm sensation. Then it felt a bit worse before feeling better. I had about 6 treatments.

There is a lot of hocus pocus about PF. So, I'm sceptical about your physio's claims. Generally, it is a degenerative disorder rather than an inflamitory one so that non-steroid anti-inflamatories are good for relieving the paid but don't get to the heart of the problem.

Agree with Ian. PF is very individual but is an overuse injury and generally won't clear up without the root cause being understood. You might want to get more than one opinion.

It takes a long time to heal and the more you push it, the longer it takes and higher the risk of it becoming chronic.

I did a lot of cycling to maintain conditioning when I had it, but I'd recommend clip on shoes because they minimise load on the arch. The cleats can also be adjusted to minimise load (general rule - slammed as far back as they can go), and Specialized do cycle shoe orthotics for med to high arched feet to give further support. A decent cycle shop would be able to advise on all of this.

Thanks for the responses

 I'm seeing the physio on Thursday evening, it's a different guy to the one who said the root cause was my hip so if he says the same thing it should be good to go.

 Hopefully if the hip gets sorted out that will fix things as since I started running again my left leg has been fine but it's been one injury after another with my right.

I have proper shoes and got my gait analysed at run 4 it where they told me my left leg is neutral but my right overpronates slightly.