achilles tendonitis

so sometime last week my left ankle started to feel a little weird post run.  when i would get up in the morning my ankle would feel stiff and sort of odd, but since it only lasted a very short period of time upon waking i gave it very little thought.

that all changed on yesterday's run.  in the first 4 miles of the run my left calf felt really really tight.  uncomfortably so.  by the time dave and i got to the 4mi turn around i really needed to stretch that sucker out.  i stretched both my calves out against a sign post and that seemed to help, but it felt wonky and strained in the back of my left heel.  again... i didn't think much of it and we were on our way.

by miles 8 or 9 every down stride where i landed on my left heel was painful.  it got more and more painful as the run continued.  by the end of the 11 miles it was pretty painful.  i was glad to be done.  it was so painful that i was really concerned that i might have hurt something.

it was at this time that i remember that i stepped hard on some uneven roots on sunday's run and tweeked the front of my left ankle in a painful way, but since that pain faded almost immediately i didn't think much of it at the time or since.

by the time i got home my ankle was throbbing.  i showered and massaged it.  took some ibuprofen and that helped some.  then i got on the internets and did some research.  all the symptoms i have been experiencing point to achilles tendonitis.

*sigh*

this is not good.  it's only 6 weeks until ice age.  this marks my very first "injury" of the 2015 season.

i decided that i'll lay off the running for one week and see how i feel after that.  i have also been fighting a migraine since tuesday so that sucks.  i went into work this morning and talked to my friend megan who is also one of the medical assistants.  she told me i should get ultrasound therapy done and so she did that for me.  we'll see how that pans out.  didn't feel like much.  i'm willing to try anything to help tho'.  she also gave me a boot to stretch the tendon which i'm supposed to wear while watching tv and sleeping when i've worked up to that length of time.  the boot holds one's ankle in a flexed position thereby stretching the tendon.  i wore it for about 15 minutes and it felt like my toes were falling asleep so i took it off.  i'll do it again for awhile and so on and so on until my ankle stretches more.

in the meantime i'm hoping that the pain goes away and by this time next week i'm able to run again painfree.  if not i'm prepared to take another week off.  i've got a really good base for my race so i'm not too stressed out about it just yet.  i think it's more important that i rest the injury than make it worse for sure.

my running has been going really well otherwise.  this little set back is just that... a little set back.

my new altras

i want to elaborate on my last post so that's what i'm about to do.

 as i mentioned last time... on friday, february 27th i switched to altras from new balance.  if you know me you know i've been running in new balance 1400's since i began running in earnest.  i've tried a couple of different shoes over the couple of years that i've been running but none that i found that suited my needs or that i liked very much.  i have been in love with the new balance 1400's since my very first run in them.  they are light as a feather and fit like a glove.  unfortunately, they are also part of the reason i've had so many ankle issues, blisters, lost toenails, and developed a lovely little bunion on my left foot last year.

altra one2

so after running consistently with a group of friends who all run in altras i decided to give them a shot.  i bought a pair for trails and a pair for roads.  when i got them in the mail on the 27th i was so excited i took the one2 for a quick couple of miles before the sun went down.  they were pretty great. the zero drop changed my gait enough that i didn't kick myself AT ALL on the run.  i usually have an issue with kicking the inside of my calves when i run.  since switching over to these shoes i have not done that at all.  the next thing i noticed is that my toes had so much room!  SO MUCH ROOM!

altra superior 1.5

the next day (saturday) i ran a long trail run in the superior 1.5s.  what i noticed when i finished the trail run is that my toes were tired and sort of sore.  like they were working a lot harder than they ever did before.  that soreness faded pretty quickly with some stretching.   when i woke up sunday morning i noticed that my soleus muscles were quite sore.  the zero drop changes the way a person runs.  i went from running in a 10mm drop road shoe and a 6mm drop trail shoe to a zero drop all around. that's a pretty significant difference and my body noticed.  i ran a road/trail niner on sunday to shake things out and keep with my training plan.  not gonna lie... this was a serious challenge.  most of the run went fine but then i hit the biggest wall ever at about 6ish miles and ended up doing a run/walk reminiscent of the galloway method.  the difference is that i wasn't TRYING to use this method... my body was FORCING me to.  sometimes that's just the way it goes.

that sunday's run was the absolute SLOWEST i've ever run that route.  EVER!  it was tough.  i'm not sure if it was so challenging due to the shoes or if it is because i am just getting back into my training.  likely a little bit of both.

by monday morning i was having trouble walking normally.  my soleus muscles in both legs were so sore and tight!  the change in my stride was more noticeable than ever!  i was so happy to have monday as a rest day!  tuesday was on the treadmill, and while sore... it felt good to run.  by wednesday's run the soreness was almost completely gone.

that's when my right calf got all weird and decided to get all crampy-like.  when i got home from lapham on wednesday night and rolled my calf it was so painful.  i could feel that there were two very distinct knots.  after i took a shower i massaged the areas as best i could (hurt like hell!) and then i relaxed.  when i got up to go to bed i was limping.

thankfully i was seeing my PT on thursday.  he dry needled the bunched up muscles and released the knots.  that too hurt like hell, but worked like magic at the same time.

today there is no pain in my soleus muscles, my calf is sore but not at all painful, and i managed a pretty successful 14 mile trail run.  i am super happy with my new shoes and expect to be running in altras for years to come.  my feet are getting stronger each run and the bunion only bothers me when i run long in loose snow which produces really uneven/unstable conditions.

i've got another 8 on deck for tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.  hopefully not a repeat of last sunday.

training for iceage is pretty exhausting but fun and necessary to meet the goals i've set for myself.