Unfortunately, I know what it is because I struggled with this for some time. There is hope!
A runner suffering from PF will feel pain under the heel of the foot when they put their weight on it. Also, if you have this injury you will find that it hurts most when you first wake up in the morning or after a period of inactivity.
The root cause of the injury is from a lack of support to the arch during the push off phase of running. During this phase, the dropped arch causes the plantar tendons of the foot to do their job (i.e., connect your foot to your calf muscle so you can use your foot on the "push off" and run) in a stretched condition.
For some of us that position becomes "over stretched" and causes the less flexible surrounding fascia to tear.
Advanced PF may lead to bone spurs on the heel as the foot tries to shore up the area and prevent further damage by laying calcium deposits down to harden the continually damaged area.
Plantar Fasciitis is the tearing of the fascia that covers the tendons in the plantar (bottom) surface of the foot. Fascia are the thin layers of tissue that function as separators between organs in the body or separate and cover tendons.
PF is often misdiagnosed as "heel spurs" due to the symptoms. Surgery is the next suggested course of action. For a runner, this is not good news! What is worse, it is the wrong news!
What causes the injury in the first place? Here's a list. Improper warm up, worn-out shoes, loss of flexibility from aging, tight calf muscles, and, believe it or not, injury to the calf muscle due to a heavy handed vigorous massage. (Injured tight calf muscles for any reason can lead to the very unpleasant PF.)
Another of the most common causes of PF: shoes that are too flexible in the midsole or that flex before the point at which the toes join the foot result in forces that can both directly cause a stretch in the plantar fascia and contibute to excess pronation in the foot (subtalar joint).
The lack of stability that exists in a shoe with this characteristic occurs not just at the transverse plane of the shoe where the shoe actually flexes, but also in a longitudinal plane, reducing the effectiveness of the shoe in controlling
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