June 24th, 2011
It came on Monday, out of the blue, on a 9-mile recovery run: tightness in my achilles area. Having no experience with achilles problems (except knowing it can be a serious, tenacious injury like PF) I almost bagged my strides but after the first one, it felt fine so I did 6 more. Mistake #1. It might have ended on Monday had I not done the strides.
Later, sitting in my computer chair, the stiffness increased as the day wore on. I took ibuprofen and iced often. I also foam-rolled before bed but didn’t notice anything particularly painful to attack.
The next morning, I could feel it on my run and but it didn’t hurt, it was just “there”. The run was 12mi with 12x60sec. on/offs. I hadn’t researched much achilles stuff online yet, just the stretch, so I went ahead with the on/offs thinking “if it hurts, I’ll just run easy” but the fast running actually seemed to squelch it, so I finished the set. Mistake #2a) it’s classic that it abates during fast stuff and 2b) doing fast stuff is ridiculously stupid if your achilles is acting up.
As soon as the on/offs were done, it began to hurt. For the remaining uncomfortable 6-mile jog home, I berated myself and worried about what I’d done. When I got back, my wise forum friends suggested I take the following day off to which I stubbornly replied, “I’ll play it by ear in the morning”.
Meanwhile, I found some achilles cross-friction massage videos that seemed to help, took ibuprofen, iced a lot. Then I found an old LetsRun post where some guy mentioned that his achilles problems were always accompanied and caused by a knot in his calf. So I gave my calf a poke in the big fleshy part (the gastrocnemius) and yoweeee…incredible pain. It was one giant knot that neither running nor rolling had uncovered.
This was an excellent discovery! It meant it wasn’t purely a tendon issue but a tight muscle creating a tendon issue. The reason achilles tendons are so hard to treat is due to lack of blood-flow, but you can go to town on a tight calf muscle. So I pummeled that thing with my fingers, the Stick and a tennis ball and went to bed thinking maybe I could run the next day.
My last day off was May 1st, so I’m annoyed with myself for expecting to soldier on, this is what rest days are for! But sensibility reigned the next morning when my first few steps out of bed reminded me I had a problem. I declared it a day off.
Yesterday, I was sure I’d be able to run on it again, since I could prod and pinch the AT and found no tenderness. The calf was still very painful to the touch, though. Taking precautions before leaving for my run, I applied a heating pad to the whole lower leg to warm it up. I also stuck a couple round makeup sponges under the heels of my insoles for make-do heel lifts (thank you Coolrunning for that tip). But by the time I turned the corner of my block to where it starts going uphill the AT piped up. So I stopped and walked back to my front door. (Mistake #3, avoid uphills completely…though in retrospect, it was all for the better since I’d probably have continued running if not for that. Very glad that I took 2 days off.)
Oddly enough, I didn’t get freaked out about it. I wasn’t happy but was prepared to take a third day off if necessary because the thought of having a chronic achilles problem makes my stomach turn.
So I spent yesterday with more calf attacking, hamstring stretching (might as well work up the chain) and eccentric heel drops and was rewarded by feeling quite good today. I woke with no sign of it, did the heating pad thing, didn’t bother with the heel-lifts and took the flat route to the park, going 9 miles. For the first half of the run, I was aware of tightness, though no pain. I stopped a few times to stretch which helped though it was a bummer, having this remnant. But it got progressively better on the second half of the run to where I felt like my old self. Hallelujah!
The test will be how it feels as the day progresses – crossing fingers and toes that no stiffness returns. If everything’s A-OK, I’ll keep the mileage down for the rest of the week, no strides or tempo, and then next week start fresh. Just please Leg, let that be the end of it, ok? Thanks.
And with that, have a great weekend, friends! Happy, safe and healthy running to you all.
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Sucks to hear this happen, but sounds like you are being smart about dealing with things. It’s amazing what a few days rest with good self-care can do (but mentally are so hard to do, as the overly active individuals we are). Hope you feel better quickly!
ouch. i’ve had achilles stuff before and it totally sucks. i’ve made every single mistake you did. although you’re obviously smarter than me because you’re resting. i always expect to just soldier on!
Hope it all calms done with some rest. The days off are MUCH harder on the mind…body probably is welcoming them. I hear your achilles crying out to you “Thank you Flo – go easy on me!”
Rest days are wonderful! I hope this doesn’t turn into a bigger problem. It’s great you are keeping on top of it!
Ugh. No fun.
You are being really smart to avoid the hills and speed work! Keep up on the massage and ice…you’ll be back to 100% soon.
Hopefully you caught it in time. It might show itself a few more times before it goes. Sensible to avoid speed and hills. The heels lifts are a nice idea, since the Kinvaras have low heels. Good Luck!
Aaaah! This sucks. I had the exact same thing, but you are apparently smarter than I was because I took like one day off and then ran a half-marathon, which resulted in me barely being able to walk the next day and not running for a month. BRILLIANT.
Anyway – sounds like you’re doing the right thing. Lots of calf stretching and massage. I found that doing those eccentric calf lifts (??? Or something like that?) off the edge of a stair really helps. I really needed to work on my foot strength as well; that and general core stuff seem to have kept the problem at bay ever since.
GOOD LUCK!!
Not good, but you’re doing the right thing by treating it with care. Coincidentally, heard a tip from Martin Fryer (NY 6-day winner) today… he had achilles pain come on during the event. Said he wouldn’t have finished but for help from another runner who taped his achilles. Tape running horizontal to the ground stretched around the achilles and heel… although he didn’t know *exactly* how it was done. Said the pain stopped and it saved his race. Not sure if you need this now, but could help in the future.
Good luck with your AT! FYI, I’ve had very good luck self-treating that condition when I’d had it last two years ago via progressively weighted eccentric stretches of my injured Achilles. I roughly follow the recommendations noted at http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/eccentric_achilles, particularly the penultimate recommendation: “Perform a toe raise on a 4-6 inch box or step with both legs. Once on your toes, lift the uninvolved leg and lower yourself slowly into dorsiflexion.”
FWIW, I slightly modify this instruction by elevating solely on my non-injured leg, then at the height of my toe raise shifting all weight to my injured leg and descending into full dorsiflexion. I find this repeated action brings me immediate relief. The key, that’s unfortunately not emphasized in the above article link, is over succeeding weeks to *gradually* increase the resistance while descending on the injured Achilles (some use a backpack with more and more weights; personally I use a resistance-based calf strengthening machine at my fitness center since it’s more convenient, but works exactly on the same principle.) As implied in the article via its encouragement to wear a small heel pad in your running shoes, avoid shoes with a minimal heel-to-toe drop such as racing flats, and similarly avoid both speed work and hills, since both put extraordinary tension upon your sensitive Achilles and calf.