3 Weeks from Achilles injury...on the mend

Yesterday marked three weeks since I "tweaked" my right Achilles tendon.  Still not completely sure what I did to my Achilles, just recall the sharp pain when it happened and the continued pain over the next several miles.  That and the pain and discomfort over the next few days after that.  Anyway from all reports, Achilles tendon injuries, as far as those where the tendon does not rupture, take a fair amount of time to heal.  The pain is gone now but the right calf muscles and the tendon feel tight after a run.  This last week I ran on Tuesday and Thursday.  Two and half miles each time.  Thursday I ran it pretty fast, about 16:36.  Fast for me anyway.  I was going to run Saturday morning but ended up sleeping in.  Had to mow the lawn Saturday evening, so I decided to run the Aids Walk 5K in Bricktown on Sunday morning.  The weather was ideal.  Temperature in the mid to upper 50s with a nice breeze.  A bit cloudy at the start, though the sun came out just a little later.  I had it in mind to run a 21:45.  Figured out my kilometer splits and jotted them down on the back of my hand.  Course was out and back.  From the Bricktown Ballpark, east on Reno then a long uphill trek to the Presbyterian Research Park.  Needless to say with the long uphill I was a bit behind my splits at 1K and 2K and at the halfway point.  Almost caught up by the 3K point and a couple seconds ahead or maybe behind at 4K.  Not sure exactly.  Anyway I picked up the pace a bit on the downhill and kept it going at the bottom and around the turn on to Reno.  With the finish in sight, I saw that I could catch another runner so I sprinted in and passed him just before the line.   Beat my goal by three seconds and won my age group!  Very satisfying.  Got to church before the singing started.  Great sermon by Brother Ben. 

So with three weeks and a day since the injury and no noticeable pain I think I need to get back on schedule.  Well not the Pfitz 18/70.  That's pretty much out for now.  But this week I think I should be good for a Tuesday, Thursday and  Saturday run.  With 5M, 5M and a 10K for Saturday.  16 miles is about a third of what I was running the week that ended with the injury.  Then maybe the next week I can run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.  I spoke after the run today with a gentleman who finished ten seconds ahead of me.  This man is 11 years older.  Originally from Zambia.  He lives in Edmond and is an excellent runner.  He has run a number of marathons and has qualified for Boston at least once.  He told me that he runs 3 to 4 times a week.   He advised me not to focus on the number of days I run.  So I think I will take his advice and focus on quality over quantity.  No six day weeks for me.  And at least at this point no five day weeks either.  A good long run on Saturday and good quality runs on two or three weekdays should work.   I should still be up to about 40 miles a week once I get going.   I don't think I will be able to break 3:15 in the marathon this January, but I'll just have to see where I am two weeks from now and make a new schedule.  Who knows?

Well hope everyone is enjoying the change of seasons.  A lovely Autumn day today. 

Peace

Time and the Tendon, Achilles

Well, come tomorrow morning it will be two weeks since I injured my Achilles tendon (right leg).  Over the last 13 days I have gone running just once.  Last Saturday I went to Erick, Oklahoma for the Do-Wacka-Do Trail Run.  The weather was beautiful.  Mid 60s at the start.  The run was held in the Sandy Sanders Wildlife Management Area.  I originally signed up to do the 25 K but decided it would be best not to stress my Achilles too much, so I switched to the 5 mile run.  About 20 people were there to run the 5 mile run.  The 50 K and the 25 K runs started 30 minutes earlier so I didn't see how many people participated in those.  The terrain was rugged but not too rough.  The trails were ranch roads.   Lots of short scrub mesquite bushes, with a few scattered wild flowers.  A bit hilly but not too extreme.  A few hundred feet from bottom to the mesa tops.  After the first half mile I found myself in the lead.  Just cruising along at a comfortable pace.  My Achilles was bothering me but not nearly as bad as the week before.  I reached the half way point in good time and got a cup of water from the volunteers.  One fellow asked me where everyone else was.  I told them they were about a quarter mile back.  Well after a few more miles I began to doubt I was going the right way.  Eventually I backtracked before meeting another runner.  Turned out about six runners missed a turn and got off course.  So each of us ended up running between 8 and 9 miles.  I was rather disappointed to be in the lead the whole way and not even place.   I  received no apologies from the race officials.  So took my banana, my shirt, and a bottle of water and made the long drive home. Don't think I will run this race again. 

Well in each of the discussions about Achilles tendon injuries that I read over the past couple of weeks,  the runners all stated that the recovery is a long slow process.  So, this week again no running.  But tomorrow morning I will head to Seminole for the Seminole Nation Days 5K.  http://sno-nsn.gov/index.php/culture/seminole-nation-days  Test out my legs.  Hopefully next week I can ease back into my marathon training.  A BQ time may still be a possibility for Houston. 

Achilles Tendon

Had a couple of weeks of good running since my last post.  Missed a couple of days here and there however.  Sunday night the day after Saturday's orientation had to pick up my son at the airport just before midnight.  That the day after getting up at 4:55 AM was pretty tough.  Really tired.  So the next morning I slept in till 7:30 and skipped my morning run.  Rest of the week was pretty much to schedule.  43 total miles with 14.5 coming on my Saturday long run. (Was going to do a little more but had to take my son to the airport for his morning flight to Pittsburgh.)  I was looking forward to this week as I was scheduled to run over 50 miles.  ( I would have last week except I didn't run my 7.5 mile run on Monday.)  So 7.5 Monday and 10 on Tuesday.  First mile is always about 8:30 pace with succeeding miles under 8:00 and usually under 7:00 toward the end.  Feeling a bit stiff I decided to take Wednesday as a rest day and not to the 5 "recovery" miles.  Thursday another 10 miles and Friday an easy 5.  This morning headed out for my long run hoping to do about 17.5 miles.  As I started out felt a little faint discomfort in my right ankle but no big deal.  I often have these minor discomforts.  But about 1.5 miles or so in, I had a sharp pain in my right Achilles tendon.  So sudden and painful that I hopped on my other leg for a step.  The pain lessened considerably but was still there as I continued running.  Kept hoping that it would go away or fade to something barely noticeable but it remained.  Didn't get noticeably worse so I kept going.  Made it home for my half way point pit stop in my driveway.  Had a glass of water and some Accel gel.  Back on the road all was well.  But the pain was still there.  After a few miles it seemed to be just a little more noticeable.  Not a good sign.  Kept going for another mile then decided to shorten my route.  Cut a few miles off and ran home.  So just a little over 14 miles total.  But wish I had done less.  Seems the pain is some sort of Achilles Tendonitis.  Resting a little but had a few chores to do.  Took a couple of ibuprofen earlier today.  Did a fair amount of reading online about Achilles injuries.  Seems I am going to need to rest and not just a couple of days this time.  Darn.  Right now I am hopeful that I can give it a try next Saturday as that day is the Do Wacka Do Trail Run near Erick, Oklahoma http://www.dowackadotrailrun.com/  I signed up a few weeks back to do the 25K.  Sure hope I can go.  But if I'm still feeling discomfort then I will have to cancel.  Better a little temporary disappointment, than multiple weeks of injury and recovery.   The ibuprofen is not recommended as it can slow healing of injuries.  http://myrunningdoc.blogspot.com/2010/05/nsaids-why-runners-should-think-twice.html  So guess the two I had this morning will be all for the day.  In hindsight I should have taken Friday as a rest day.  I was feeling pretty stiff and achy the evening before, having run 10 miles with an increasing pace that morning.  I'm starting to think that at my age perhaps the recovery miles are not really helping and that I would be better off just resting on those days.  That would have me running about 4 to 5 days a week.  A lot closer to what the FIRST training program teaches.  http://www2.furman.edu/sites/first/Pages/default.aspx
Their program is 3 intensive runs per week.  Maybe 4 per week would work best for me.  We'll see if I can adapt my Pfitzinger 18/70 schedule to a 4 run per week plan.  ( I was planning to start that a week from now.) 
Happy Trails y'all!