Heel hurts after long bouts of walking. Is this a stress fracture or something else?

I'm seventeen, not very active at all. A few months ago (April-ish, probably), we ran the mile in my gym class, which is practically the most physical exercise I get all year. The next day, my right foot hurt so bad, I could barely walk. I thought the pain would go away, but it didn't. It hurt in my heel, about halfway between my ankle and the bottom of my foot. It didn't feel like a cramp, more like a flare each time I stepped on the foot.

The next day, however, my foot was pretty much fine. Since then, the pain has been coming and going. After walking for a while, the pain comes back. It also comes back at random times. It isn't as painful as it was that first day, but it still hurts pretty bad, and is in the same place on my foot. My foot isn't discolored or anything, and it usually doesn't hurt when I press on the sides of my heel.

What do you think this could be? Can a stress fracture hurt some times, but not all the time? Or is it something else

It sounds like it may be plantar fasciitis also known as "a dog's heel" or "flip-flop" disease. I have had this problem as well as a friend of mine.
It is an inflammation of the band of tissue under the heel of the foot which extends to the toes. When it becomes inflamed it causes pain usually at the bottom of the heel which feels like a deep bruise. This bruised feeling is usually more intense with the first steps of the day or after sitting for a while. Weight can be a factor in this condition. The pain may disappear if the foot is worked a bit, even correcting itself with time or it may create create bone spurs etc...
My friend and I have had different results which have turned out good. My symptoms have gone away without help and my friend had two cortisone shots in the bottom of the heel and is doing excellent.

I found two websites which include a little about the condition as well as what the definition. Also try Wikipedia for the basics.

Bruised heel... I've had it before and it takes a long time to go away. There are also alot of tendons in that area, if you stretched one... that feeling could be from that. Fracture would be a different kinda pain altogether.

im a runner and i had the same probalem when i was 13...
mine was plantar fasciitis it has to do with the growth plates in your heels being not fully fused.
its just a growth thing and should go away as you get older!
in the meantime ice it and take advil!
:)
hope it feels better!

The shoes you are wearing are not good for your feet. You can try and put some Dr. Sholes inserts but your true solution is to go to a Foot Locker and have shoes specially fit to your arches.

More than likely you bruised a bone and it is sensitive. If the pain doesn't go away, you may want to see a doctor, perhaps you have a spur or chipped bone.

it is not a stress fracture. go buy some arch supports at your local grocery, and wear them in every par of shoes that you have, and never wear flip flops for more than 15 minutes.

um if you were in shape just maybe this wouldnt of happend! being lazy makes you vunerable to injuries

it is likely not a stress fracture because, as your age, running 1 mile is simply not enough stress to cause that. Plus, your heel would be the last place the stress fracture would occur. They are most common in the fibular...the tarsal bones if you want to exclude the leg.

It is probably plantar fasciitis or potentially a strained ligament (a common one that may present with pain there is that of tibialis anterior). I guess it could also be a deep bone bruise, but this is unlikely because it would have gone away by now.

Anyway best thing you can do is stretch your foot out, ice it (10mins on, 10mins off, 10mins on) when you feel uncomfortable, and do more regular exercise so that you are not straining yourself when you DO do something. If it gets worse go see a doctor!