How to fix a piriformis problem from a marathon runner

Well not everyday will I be blogging about finances and retirement but about things that are relavent in my life that I think other marathon runners might be experiencing. First let me give you a background of my problem. I started avidly running marathons in 2005 and ran four marathons between then and 2007. After running my fourth marathon in 2007 I started experiencing some stiffness in my right leg around my hip area. So I went and saw my chiropractor and massage therapist. They recommended some stretches and using a tennis ball to loosen up the piriformis and IT band. That worked for a while, but then after the first week of 2008 I started feeling increased pain and the stretches and tennis ball weren't helping. Over the course of last year I tried chiropractic, massage therapy, ART (Active Release Technique) Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, and again massage therapy. None really gave me lasting long term relief.

The last thing I've just tried was I went to a foot doctor and described my problems. He was able to do some tests with some sensors he inserted in my shoe that would show compression from my foot hitting the ground. It also showed the pace apart my feet were hitting the ground and whether my heal or toes were hitting the ground first. I even got to run about 25 yards with the sensors in my shoes! All in all I come to find out that one of my legs is about a 1/2 inch shorter then the other. So right now the foot doctor has me wearing a boot at night, because my foot and piriformis were experiencing some tenderness in the morning from my foot relaxing. In addition, and probably most importantly I will need to wear insoles in my shoes. The left one will be neutral, but the right one will 3/8 to 1/2 inch higher than the left. Hopefully this will reduce the tension in my piriformis and releave my siatic nerve. I'll keep everyone posted in the comings weeks