After a very dismal start, I'm finally putting on the mileage I want at the pace I was last year pre heel-spur. Funny, for the heel spur I picked up these "Heal that Pain" heel inserts and they actually worked for me. The logo looks like it's from the 1950's, and without the money back guarantee I would not have tried them. Anyway, carrying 26 lbs in a crappy pack, I'm doing 6 to 8 miles a day again (6 days a week)in under 2hrs. Looks like things are finally going to come together for me here.

Balzaccom, how's the biking coming?

I used the "Heel That Pain" inserts for my plantar fasciitis (basically the same thing) and they helped me too. I doubt I'd have tried except that my eldest son used them successfully (he developed PF in both feet while in Tadjikistan) and recommended them to me. I'm sure they don't work for everyone, but here are three of us. The other thing that really helped, in addition to icing and stretching, was a night splint.

Glad to hear you're back out on the trail. One suggestion would be to consider lightening your pack, or at least not train with that much every day.

Another thing I've found important is to continue to stretch the achilles tendon and plantar fascia several times daily. The third is to avoid strenuous exercise on paved surfaces--far better to get off on a trail!

Very nice! I've been jogging lately to keep my legs conditioned and lung power up. My leg finally feels strong enough to handle 2 miles of trail running.