If you haven't noticed recently, it's pretty toasty outside.

At least for half of the world.

And the one thing that shows up every summer that I conveniently forget: ouchy, sore feet and arches during and after long runs. Especially if you're marathon training.

I've been reminded of all this, rather abruptly, since I've been penguin-waddling around the house after my weekend runs with my husband laughing quietly at me.

But here's the thing...

I know it can be VERY tempting to google "why do my feet hurt after a long run?" or "what does my arches ache after 14 miles?"

Be VERY careful with what the internet tells you.

(and for the love of all things running, DO NO ask ChatGPT; I will come over there and remove your phone from your hand.)

Because what the "all-seeing" internet will tell you: OMG your foot is going to fall off because it's plantar fascia pain!!

*deep collective breath*

Do I occasionally get plantar heel pain (updated name for plantar fasciitis) niggles, especially when I'm upping my mileage? Oh hey. You can blame my flat-as-pancake-feet for that.

But I also know...and now you do, too...there's ANOTHER Reason. That's NOT pathological (ie: an injury).

Your feet have a total of 29 muscles in ONE foot. And that one foot has to withstand you slamming into the ground, absorb that force, and then propel you up and forward onto the OTHER foot...

and the cycles repeats for 10+ miles. (and maybe in the scorching summer heat).

Yo. Those feet are TIRED. And while I am a big fan of rolling out your feet, hitting trigger points for flexor hallicus brevis, using toe spacers, so many other tips and tricks I have...

Often, if this sore, persistent arch aching is happing EVERY long run, every week...your feet are probably begging for attention. They need to get stronger.

So that's why this week I wanted to put together a foot toolkit that's specifically designed to help you build feet that are strong enough to handle 40+ mile weeks and prepare you for your 20 miler.

Because it's not only the mileage. A big contributing factor is TIME on feet, as in 2-3+ hour long runs add up!

I also made you a mini, fast-action checklist too to determine is this foot pain plantar fascia or is it just fatigued foot muscles? And obviously foot exercises to help you crush your upcoming race:

Until next time,

Dare to Train Differently,

Marie Whitt, PT, DPT //@dr.whitt.fit

P.S. If you're asking why your arches are so niggle and achey after the 6+ mile mark of your long run, the blog post the reason has the WHY. And it's not plantar heel pain. Just trust me. go check it out.

Looking for MORE ways to work together?

• ​RUNNING RESCUE CALL: Save your run and your race. Work directly with me 1-on-1 at the first sign of an ache, niggle, or repeat running injury. We'll deep dive into the why behind your injury and create a personalized exercise program that gets you out of pain, keeps you running, and helps prepare you for race day!
• Grab my NEWEST FREE Strength resources for runners: The Calf & Achilles Cure Toolkit, made for marathoners sidelined by stiff, painful achilles and tight, injury-prone calves who want to protect their training cycle and show up to the starting line strong, pain-free, and ready to race.
• ​STRONGER FEET WORKSHOP: Losing the battle to plantar fasciitis, posterior tib pain, or reoccurring Achilles tendonitis? Not with this workshop ;)

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