Part of Plantar fasciitis
Running with plantar fasciitis: the rule that decides it
Warning signs, and when to get help
Can you run with plantar fasciitis?
For most people, yes, at a smaller amount. Running with plantar fasciitis is rarely an all-or-nothing decision, and the useful question is not whether you are allowed but how much your heel will take this week without being worse tomorrow.
Two facts shape the answer. Running is one of the risk factors the US physical therapy guideline asks clinicians to assess for the development of this condition (Koc and colleagues, 2023), and the best practice guide asks clinicians to teach load management, which for a more active patient means reducing the dynamic load from activities such as running and breaking up long spells of standing still (Morrissey and colleagues, 2021). Your training is part of the picture, not an innocent bystander. And the NHS self-care advice suggests trying exercise that does not put pressure on your feet, giving swimming as the example, instead of stopping moving. Less, not none, is the shape of the advice.
What nobody can give you is a published return-to-running protocol for this condition, because one does not exist. Neither the US physical therapy guideline nor the best practice guide sets out criteria for getting back to running: the guideline is a list of treatments, and the guide stops at load management (Koc and colleagues, 2023; Morrissey and colleagues, 2021). The nearest thing to a published method is in the guide, whose experts strongly recommended pain monitoring as part of what patients are taught (Morrissey and colleagues, 2021), and that is the approach the rest of this page uses. The particular thresholds below, the next morning and the second morning, are how the decision is commonly made in clinic. Nobody has published them, and we would sooner say so.
What tells you whether a run was too much?
Not the run. Heel pain during a run is a poor guide, because the band under your foot often warms up and goes quiet after the first mile, which is exactly why people get into trouble with this one.
Use the 24 hours instead, in three parts:
- The first steps of the next morning, compared with the morning before. Same or better means the dose was tolerable. Clearly worse means it was not.
- How quickly the heel settles. Soreness that is gone by the afternoon is a different message from soreness that lasts all day.
- The second morning. If morning two is still worse than your baseline, treat the run as too much even if morning one looked acceptable.
Keep a one-line note of the first-steps pain each morning, out of ten, for a fortnight. It takes seconds and it turns an argument with yourself into a pattern you can read. The pain monitoring approach sets out how that kind of rule is used across other injuries.
One caution about the morning test. It tells you about load tolerance. It does not tell you whether the problem is plantar fasciitis in the first place, and the warning list below sets out the presentations that need checking, not monitoring.
What to cut first: distance, speed or hills?
Hills and speed, before distance. Both ask the foot to push off harder and load the arch more, and both are the easiest things to remove without losing the habit of running.
A workable order to come down through, stopping at the first level your mornings tolerate:
- Drop hill repeats, hill routes and anything fast. Keep easy running.
- Cut the length of each run instead of the number of runs, since several short runs are usually gentler on a heel than one long one.
- Cut the number of runs a week, and put swimming, cycling or a rowing machine in the gaps.
- Run and walk in intervals, which lets you keep the total time while dropping the load.
Then hold whatever level works for two to three weeks before you add anything back. Testing the ceiling every other day is the commonest reason people spend six months at the same level, and it is the pattern a physio sees most often with this one.
When should you stop running completely?
There are a few situations where the answer is a clean stop and not a smaller dose. If you are limping during a run, or altering how your foot lands to protect the heel, you are training the compensation and not the running. If the heel is worse every morning for a week regardless of what you cut, the floor is below your smallest run. And if normal walking has started to hurt, running is not the problem to be solving this month.
Then there is the one that matters more than the rest of this page. Pain across the whole heel that hurts when you squeeze it from both sides, especially after a sudden increase in running or walking, or in someone with thin bones, can be a stress fracture of the heel bone rather than plantar fasciitis. That needs you off running and jumping and seen within a few days, and a normal X-ray in the first 2 to 3 weeks does not rule it out. The full wording is the first line of the warning list below, and it is the one to read twice.
If the sore spot is at the back of the heel or in the cord of tendon above it instead of underneath, you may be dealing with something else, and running with Achilles pain is the page for that.
What to do instead while the heel settles
Keep the fitness and lose the impact. The NHS suggests swimming as an example of exercise that does not press on the feet, and cycling, aqua jogging, a rowing machine or an elliptical trainer all do a similar job. Use them to hold the aerobic work you would lose, and be honest that none of them keeps your running-specific fitness intact, which is why you are not stopping running completely if you do not have to.
Use the time on the thing running will not fix. The loading program is the part that changes what the heel can take: calf raises on both feet, then the eccentric calf raise, then the single leg heel raise, and the heel raise with a towel under the toes that the strength trial used. In that trial of 48 people, heavy heel raises every second day produced better foot function at 3 months than daily stretching, with the two groups level by 12 months, and both groups also wore shoe inserts (Rathleff and colleagues, 2015). Heavier raises are usually done every second day rather than daily, and your physio will set the sets and the load.
One point about the strength work for runners: the calf is what you are rebuilding, and it is also what you lose fastest when you cut mileage. Keep it going after the heel stops hurting. The staged program sets out the order, and beginner running injuries covers the training patterns that produce heel pain in the first place.
What has to be true before you build the mileage back up?
Three things, and they are the checks clinicians commonly use. No published standard sets them, which is worth saying plainly.
Easy running has stopped provoking it, judged by the morning test over two or three weeks and not by one good run. Your calf and foot strength is back on the sore side, which means a physio testing single leg heel raises instead of you guessing. And brisk walking, the sort of pace you would use to catch a train, no longer leaves the heel sore the next day.
Some clinicians add a hopping test before a return to faster work. That is a reasonable check and it is not one to try unsupervised on a sore heel, so ask your physio instead of deciding for yourself, and ask first if you have thin bones, have had a fall in the past year, or have had a hip or knee replacement.
When you do rebuild, add one thing at a time and keep the increases small. The return to running plan sets out how to structure that, and the running hub has the strength work that keeps it from coming back.
Shoes and surfaces for running with heel pain
Shoes do not fix this. They do change the load, which makes them worth getting right. The NHS asks for cushioned heels and good arch support, and lists wearing shoes with poor cushioning or support among the things that make this condition more likely. The pair most people overlook is not their running shoes at all but what they wear for the rest of the day, and shoes for plantar fasciitis goes through that.
Surfaces have no trial behind them for this condition. Softer, even ground asks less of the heel than pavement, a camber loads one foot differently from the other, and a treadmill is predictable but monotonous. Experiment, and judge each change by the next morning, not by how the run felt.
Do taping or insoles let you keep running?
They help a little, within the limits of what each one does. The guideline recommends foot taping, rigid or elastic, alongside other physical therapy on strong evidence for short-term pain and function, and says on moderate evidence that orthoses should not be used as an isolated treatment for short-term pain relief though they may be used combined with other treatment (Koc and colleagues, 2023). In the orthosis trial, prefabricated and customized devices gave small short-term gains in function over a sham insole and nothing at 12 months (Landorf and colleagues, 2006).
Read that as making a smaller run more comfortable, not as buying back the mileage. Taping and insoles for plantar fasciitis goes into both, including the skin and circulation checks that matter if you tape your own foot.
When to see a physio or doctor
See someone if the pain is severe or stopping you doing normal activities, if it is getting worse or keeps coming back, or if 2 weeks of self-care has not helped, which is the NHS threshold. For a runner there is a second reason: one appointment usually settles what your current ceiling is and what to load, which saves months of testing it on yourself.
Go sooner, and stop running meanwhile, for anything on the warning list below. The heel bone stress fracture line, the line for pain that followed a fall or a landing, and the line for a sudden pop or tearing under the foot all carry their own timings. Heel pain that is there at night and at rest and getting worse has its own lines too. If what you want is the timeframe instead of the decision, how long plantar fasciitis lasts has it, and heel pain in the morning covers the other things that produce that first-step pattern.
This page is education rather than advice about your own heel. A physio or physical therapist who can examine the foot is the person to set your amount.
Related exercise programs
Warning signs
Get emergency help now
- Part of your foot or a toe turns cold, pale, blue or black. Call emergency services or go to an emergency department straight away, and do not drive yourself, as the blood supply to the foot may be blocked.
Get help today
- The heel pain started with a fall or a landing from height, or you cannot put weight on the foot. Keep your weight off that foot as much as you can, leave the exercises out, and get it checked the same day, even if you can still walk on it.
- You felt a sudden pop or tearing under the foot, followed by bruising and difficulty walking. Stop the exercises, keep your weight off that foot as much as you can, and get it checked the same day.
- Same day: you have diabetes or numb feet and find a new blister, cut or sore on your foot, especially one you did not feel, a wound that smells or is leaking, or new pain in your foot that you cannot explain. Get it seen by your doctor or foot team the same day. If you also have a fever or feel very unwell, redness is spreading up your foot or leg, or part of your foot or a toe turns black, go to an emergency department.
- Same day: you have diabetes or numb feet, and one foot becomes hot, swollen or red, or changes color or shape, with or without pain. Take your weight off that foot straight away and get advice the same day from your doctor or your diabetes foot team. This can be Charcot foot, where the bones and joints of the foot are damaged and the foot can collapse. Do not exercise that foot until it has been checked. If you also have a fever or feel very unwell, or redness is spreading up your foot or leg, go to an emergency department.
- A calf or thigh that is newly swollen or getting more swollen, warm, tender, red or darker than usual, has swollen veins that are sore to touch, or has a throbbing or cramping pain that does not fit your injury or condition, or that feels different from normal muscle soreness after exercise. This can be a sign of a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis), especially after surgery, an injury, time in a cast or boot, a long trip or a spell of being much less mobile than usual. Get medical advice the same day. If you are also short of breath or have chest pain, call emergency services.
- The heel or foot is hot, red and swollen, or you have a fever or feel unwell. Get medical help the same day, and go to an emergency department if you feel very unwell. If you have a very high or very low temperature, shivering you cannot control, you are breathing very fast or finding it hard to breathe, you are confused or your speech is slurred, your skin, lips or tongue look blue, gray, pale or blotchy (on brown or black skin this can be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet), or you have a rash that does not fade when you press it, call emergency services, as this can be sepsis.
- The pain is there at night or at rest as well as when you stand and walk, and it is getting worse. If you are being treated for cancer now, contact your cancer team the same day.
Book an appointment
- The whole heel hurts when you squeeze it from both sides, especially after a sudden increase in running or walking, or if you have thin bones (osteoporosis). Stop running and jumping, cut down on walking and standing, and see a doctor within a few days, as this can be a stress fracture of the heel bone rather than plantar fasciitis. An X-ray can look normal for the first 2 to 3 weeks, so a normal early X-ray does not rule it out.
- You have numbness, tingling, burning or loss of feeling in the foot. Book an assessment with a doctor or physio in the next week or two. If it came on over hours or days, started after an injury, is spreading, or comes with weakness in the foot, get medical advice the same day.
- The pain is there at night or at rest as well as when you stand and walk, and it is getting worse. If you have had cancer, now or in the past, or are losing weight without trying, see your doctor sooner, within a day or two, and mention it. This applies even if the pain is not getting worse.
- The pain is there at night or at rest as well as when you stand and walk, and it is getting worse. See your doctor within a few days.
- Both heels hurt and you also have swelling or morning stiffness in other joints or your lower back. This is not an emergency, but see your doctor in the next week or two, as it can be a sign of an inflammatory arthritis.
Common questions
Can I run with plantar fasciitis?
Often yes, at a reduced amount, and the reduction is the part that does the work. No guideline sets out a rule for this, so what follows is how it is commonly judged in clinic rather than a published protocol. Keep the runs short enough that the next morning's first steps are no worse than the morning before, drop the sessions that load the heel hardest, which are usually hills and speed, and hold that for a few weeks instead of testing it every other day. If the heel is painful enough that you limp during a run, or if it is worse on the second morning as well as the first, you are past the amount it will tolerate. A physio can set your own ceiling after watching you walk and testing the calf.
What happens if I keep running through plantar fasciitis?
Nobody has run a trial that would answer that honestly, so the fair answer is that the risk is a longer recovery rather than a specific injury. What is known is that running sits among the risk factors the US physical therapy guideline asks clinicians to assess for the development of this condition (Koc and colleagues, 2023), and that bringing the running load down is part of the load management the best practice guide puts in the core of care (Morrissey and colleagues, 2021). The mileage is part of what you can change, in other words. The thing worth being specific about is what you should not run through. Pain across the whole heel that hurts when you squeeze it from both sides, especially after a jump in your training, can be a stress fracture of the heel bone rather than plantar fasciitis, and that one needs you off running and seen within a few days. The warning list on this page gives it in full.
How long do I have to stop running for?
Most people do not have to stop completely, which makes the question less frightening than it sounds. Where a full break is needed, think in weeks and bring running back in small pieces instead of waiting for a pain-free heel, because the morning pain is often the last thing to go. In the trial of heavy heel raises, people improved clearly over the first 3 months and the strength and stretching groups were level by 12 (Rathleff and colleagues, 2015), which is the timescale to think in. Our page on how long plantar fasciitis lasts sets out the longer picture.
Is a treadmill better for plantar fasciitis?
There is no trial comparing surfaces for this condition, so treat it as a variable to experiment with, not a rule. The argument for a treadmill is that it is even, predictable, has no camber and lets you control the pace precisely, and the belt is softer than pavement. The argument against is that it is monotonous, so the same tissue takes the same load thousands of times with none of the variety a trail gives you. Mixing surfaces is the sensible compromise, and if a treadmill is the only way you can keep a run short and controlled, that is a decent reason to use it.
Do insoles let me keep running with plantar fasciitis?
They may help a little, and they are not permission for the mileage you were doing. The US physical therapy guideline says on moderate evidence that orthoses should not be used as an isolated treatment for short-term pain relief, and may be used combined with other treatment (Koc and colleagues, 2023). In the trial of 135 people, prefabricated and customized orthoses gave small gains in function over a sham at 3 months and nothing by 12 (Landorf and colleagues, 2006). So if an insole makes a short run comfortable, use it and keep the run short.
When can I go back to full training?
When easy running has stopped provoking the heel, your calf and foot strength is back on that side, and you have built the weekly amount up gradually instead of returning to your old schedule in one week. Those checks are what clinicians commonly use. No published standard sets them, and we would sooner say so than dress them up. Hills and speed work go last, because they load the heel and the calf hardest. A physio or physical therapist can test the calf properly and tell you whether the strength side is actually there.
References
- Koc TA Jr, Bise CG, Neville C, et al. Heel Pain - Plantar Fasciitis: Revision 2023. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy. 2023;53(12):CPG1-CPG39. https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2023.0303
- Morrissey D, Cotchett M, Said J'Bari A, et al. Management of plantar heel pain: a best practice guide informed by a systematic review, expert clinical reasoning and patient values. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2021;55(19):1106-1118. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-101970
- Rathleff MS, Molgaard CM, Fredberg U, et al. High-load strength training improves outcome in patients with plantar fasciitis: a randomized controlled trial with 12-month follow-up. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. 2015;25(3):e292-e300. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12313
- Landorf KB, Keenan AM, Herbert RD. Effectiveness of foot orthoses to treat plantar fasciitis: a randomized trial. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2006;166(12):1305-1310. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.166.12.1305
- NHS. Plantar fasciitis. Page last reviewed 14 February 2025. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/plantar-fasciitis/
Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-10-24.
This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. See a physiotherapist or doctor for advice about your own situation.