Be Where Your Feet Are At...

On Easter Sunday last year, I was travelling down to Heathrow, to fly out to Japan for the Mount Fuji Ultra race.  I was fit, well-trained and ready to race, with my intention being not only to make the podium but recover quickly so I could explore the wonderful delights of Japan.  We had a packed itinerary and I wanted to make the most of the trip, having raced well in the Ultra.  And if you read my blog, you’ll know I achieved both those goals.

Fast-forward to Easter 2026.  I've managed to run for just under two hours today - and I am shattered - compared to 13 hours+ for the Mount Fuji Ultra last year (and out sightseeing after an hour's sleep).  But today is also a significant achievement...

In November last year, I sustained quite significant ankle injuries on one of my feet.  Split tears in two ankle/foot tendons, three torn ligaments, tenosynovitis (inflammation of the tendon sheath which is way more painful than it sounds), plantar fasciitis and a suspected stress fracture, requiring urgent surgery with at least four months non-weight bearing following the op, and then a long rehab journey. 

Not a good picture.  And no, there was no trauma involved but when you consider the contributing factors for just one of those injuries, it all added up in retrospect. 

If you want to read about long distance runners and walkers and their susceptibility to posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction, it’s HERE.  Add to those, I'm on my feet all day for work, I’m female and post-menopausal, I’ve been on steroid inhalers since the age of six, I’m hypothyroid and I have a peculiar foot shape which adds to the strain on the tendon.  All of which make me even more susceptible to this particular injury. 

The good news?  No foot fracture.  The bad news: a minimum of five months for the tendons to heal, as long as I was careful and patient with rehab, using pain as my guide and not expecting a nice linear healing rate.

This was a bit of a blow, as I had hoped to use the training and fitness gained earlier in the year to qualify for the Spartathlon, a 246-km (153 mile) non-stop race from Athens to Sparta, a race I’ve been wanting to do for years.  Well, that was out the window.  I could barely walk after a day’s work, so even a 15-minute hobble with the dogs had to be abandoned for a couple of months, due to pain and swelling.

I admit that by Christmas, I was fed up.  There appeared to be no change whatsoever with my injury.  We’d had to say goodbye to our older, 15-year old dog, Taff, just before Christmas and I missed him dreadfully.  Our other dog, Lily was pining and withdrawn, the weather was miserable and there appeared to be no light at the end of the tunnel.  I was still dragging myself to the gym twice a week, but hobbling in with a heavily bandaged ankle and exercises were limited to upper body or core, and non-weight-bearing.  My personal trainer, Lee, had a hard time keeping me vaguely interested, but he persevered, as did I…

And then in January, it was time to start some very basic foot rehab exercises, first some static or isometric exercises and then progressing to resistance band work.  My foot was still swollen and painful, but it was time. And that’s when things started to become more positive.  Get the right exercises, do them at the right time in the healing process, and at the right pace - and then you see that flicker of light.  I started to feel a small change.  Very small, but still a change after two months of nothing.  And after two weeks of foot exercises every other day, and building up to 30 minutes of walking, I was ready to start my 'active' run recovery, AKA a very slow jog for a very short time...

I had to laugh.  Here was I, an 'ultra-runner' used to running for hours non-stop, and I started with four and a half minutes of walking and 30 seconds of jogging, six times on flat, even terrain.  Very similar to a ‘Couch to 5k’ programme.  It was still painful but the pain didn’t increase after and the swelling remained the same.  I slowly progressed to adding 30 seconds of running whilst reducing my walking by the same amount of time, every other day for a total of half an hour.  Sometimes, I repeated the same distance when I felt the foot needed more time to adapt, or I had an extra day or two off between these sessions.  I remember smiling ruefully, when I was scheduled to do two runs of 14 minutes with a couple of short walks in between, and the 14 minutes seemed an eternity to jog non-stop! 

Oh, how the mighty have fallen!!   But we all have to start somewhere, each of us taking those first steps which enable us to get stronger and fitter.  And this pace was necessary in the plan to full recovery, hopefully with my tendons, ligaments and plantar fascia healed and fully resilient to withstand the repetitive foot-strike of the running I loved.

My gym work became weight-bearing and progressed to controlled ‘aggravation’ of the soft tissue, in order to encourage adaptation to a more resilient foot.  Exercises on one foot, then on a wobble cushion or Bosu ball, and then finally, more dynamic work of jumping on/off progressively higher boxes, first with both feet, then springing off my injured foot or landing on it and controlling the land, multi-direction hopping and landing on the Bosu before leaping off again.  All designed to gently ‘poke’ the injury, encouraging greater resilience but with enough rest and recovery to ensure no backward steps.

And today, I have run a circular route for just under two hours, on rough, hilly ground.  I haven’t had to do an out-and-back course, just in case my ankle hurt.  I’m now wearing my preferred running shoes, which are tighter, less supportive fell shoes and far more responsive to the ground than the wider, overly cushioned shoes which initially got me back to running.  Okay, I was slow; I still need to get my overall cardiovascular fitness back.  And my foot felt ‘tired’ towards the end of the run.  So, still a long way to go.  But another couple of very positive milestones in the long road to recovery. 

Will I get back to running non-stop, ultra distance races?  I don’t know.  At the moment, I’m just very pleased to be back running and generally in a lot less discomfort.  I can enjoy the freedom of running rather than being on alert for the pain. I don’t have to worry about whether I can walk across London to help support my father, when all the public transport fails due to strikes or engineering work.  I don’t have to put my foot up to rest at lunchtime due to the pain from standing at work.  I can walk the dogs for as long as I like (yes, we have re-homed another dog, Charlie, who’s as sweet as a button and a good companion to Lily).

I’m happy to take the rest of this year as it comes, with the intention of progressing my rehab and overall fitness, to be able to race again.  I like to use my running to explore new places, and yes, be as competitive as ever.   I hope to achieve it, but there are no guarantees.  But I’ll certainly try. 

There are many things which affect our health and fitness, but they’re not necessarily for ever.  As a patient of mine once said “be where your feet are at”.  Accept where you are now, not where you used to be - but keep a firm eye on where you intend to be. 

Amanda Heading, BSc (Hons), DipION

05/04/2026

Injury treatment, rehab and training plans, nutrition; sports performance nutrition, health maintenance.