Recovery from Injury is HARD

It’s January 30th and I’ve only run 8 times for a total of 43 miles.  Why?  Because I’m injured.

On January 8th, I decided to do my fist long run of my Pittsburgh Marathon training plan on the treadmill because it was cold outside and I had been fighting a head cold.  At the end of my run I noticed my right Achilles was a bit tight, so I stretched my calf a little longer than normal and went about the day.  That evening at band practice I was limping.  I knew I had a problem and decided to take a few days off.  BUT, when I woke up on Tuesday, my Achilles felt fine, so I hit the treadmill for 5 miles; by the end, my Achillis was sore again–and as the day progressed it tightened up even more.

I took three days off and on Saturday I felt great.  My head cold developed into a sinus infection and the antibiotic I had been taking cleared it up quick; so, I decided to hit the Great Allegheny Passage (rail trail) for 5 easy miles and my first outdoor run of the year.  I started off REALLY easy.  The first mile at a 10:15 or so pace and I could feel my Achilles a little, but it eased up as I went.  I decided to keep the run in my Long Slow Distance pace, but I kept nudging a bit faster and faster.  I caught myself at one point and decided to just run on feel.  The cool weather was allowing me to run quicker with the same effort; I decided that was ok.

Mile 4 came and I thought my Achilles problem was over…. then I ran another quarter of a mile.  With a little more than three-quarters of a mile to go, my right Achillis started to hurt–burn is actually a better word.  And by the time I got back to my truck it was on fire.  I stretched every way I knew how and realized the second long run of my training program was out the window.  I needed at least a week off.

I spent that week stretching, doing eccentric heel drops, and rolling my calves with The Stick and a foam roller.  As hard as it was, I took the entire training week off.  Every. Single. Run.  I thought I’d ease back into running with a nice slow treadmill run the following week.

After my full week off, I didn’t seem to have a problem at all.  So I laced up my Altra Torin 2.5’s, set the treadmill at a 9:40 pace (my normal warm up pace,) raised the elevation to 1% and was delighted to start running.  I could feel a little discomfort in my Achilles, but I kind of expected a little discomfort.  At 2 miles it plain hurt–again a burning sensation.  I stopped running, stretched, rolled, and went to work unsure of what to do next.

Fortunately, I had an appointment with my chiropractor first thing that morning.  Geo is not only a great chiropractor, he’s also a sports guy.  He treats a lot of sports related injuries and suggested I take TWO COMPLETE weeks off of running.  He gave me a few exercises to do and told me to wait a few days for any inflammation to go down and start spinning on my indoor trainer.  Not what I wanted to hear, but it was from a professional who was trying to help me heal.  I expressed my concern for the 26.2 miles I have coming up the first Sunday of May and then 50K the first Saturday in July.  Geo helped me understand it’s only January and I have a good base built, so it will be ok.

I’ve been doing my heel lifts, eccentric heal drops and tomorrow I’ll start one leg hops.  Yesterday I put my bike on the trainer and pedaled for the first time in two years–my butt hurts today!!!  I’ll spin again for an hour tomorrow.

I hope this two weeks of no running allows my body to heal.  Physically, I’m going through taper pains.  Mentally, I’m being crushed.