Another Achilles Question

<[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've been icing it everyday and trying to stay off of it as much as
possible. Does this just sound like a case of mild inflammation, or
could it be the beginning of a case of tendonitis? Since the pain is
gone should I start to run again or is it too soon?

Give it a test drive -- but only if you have no pain just walking around.

By a test drive I mean this: on a soft surface (tartan track or trail), jog
slowly. Stop at the first sign of pain and walk it in. Continue icing and
try again a few days later.

If you can *slowly* jog, do that for a couple of days, gradually increasing
to your normal pace. If pain, stop and regroup. If no pain, continue daily
stretching.

I'd advise mild stretching (again only when the pain has gone) every day for
30 seconds or so. Often Achilles problems are a secondary result of the
muscle being tight.

Quoted message said:

I'm just confused
because I haven't tweaked my training besides the one speed workout and
haven't added any hills or changed my course drastically.

Kyle, you answered your own question: the speedwork did it. Speed is
dangerous. You've got to gradually ramp up to it. And never go all out --
save that for the race. The force on your joints and tendons increases
exponentially as you increase speed.

True confession, and I should know better: I haven't done any speed for
months due to an injury. Then I got into one of those challenges where
someone passed me and I picked up the pace, then he picked it up more, etc.
(after a two-minute battle we ended up chatting and running together). But
in the process of running much faster than I had in months, I twinged a
hamstring. Fortunately, it's so minor that I didn't even notice it on a
recent 10k race.

-- Dan

I agree with Dan. Stretch and ice (try 10 mins on, 10 mins off, 10
mins on again to really get inflamation down...and don't run past the
point of discomfort. Avoid speedwork until you are sure it's gone.
Good luck!
Garry

Thanks guys...

I took your advice and did a nice easy jog this afternoon. I didn't
experience any pain and kept myself from speeding up. I'll continue
this for a few days and hopefully will be back to normal training in no
time. Thanks again

Kyle