Ok, so I take the next day off and go for an easy trail run on Saturday. I'm tentative on the first long gradual climb but everything goes ok. The first downhill gets me to notice the achilles but nothing to worry about. Then I step in a little dip and bang; time to walk back to the car. This one was worse. I went to the chiro about it. It gradually got better day to day. So 3/29, I shuffled through 2 miles barefoot in the park. I was a little sore but not injured. So 4/2, I went for a easy little 4 mile run. Everything was going very smoothly until a little before 3 miles when I felt a little pop and started hopping on my left foot, then limped home. So 3 injuries in the same area in 2 weeks.
The first injury was some kind of bruising of my achilles tendon due to the top of the heel of my shoe hitting it. The second injury left the outside of the tendon and a spot up at the top sore. After the third injury, my achilles is not sore at all. The injury is up in the soleus. In fact, I've felt points of pain all along the full length of the right soleus along its centerline. The last two injuries are what I consider sympathetic injuries where compensation or tightness due to an initial injury results in a secondary injury in the same general location.
What to do...
Two days later, I think I can walk slowly without a limp but running on my right leg would really be stupid. Rest it? I did that yesterday so that's done. Rehab has started. I have been icing it in a bucket of ice water. I've decided to take the next 4 weeks to work it and the rest of my body hard but no running. Weak areas noted earlier include hip flexors and quads. I've been looking at the John Cook et al drills recently, so here was the work schedule for today
Note: ABC's means write the alphabet forwards and backwards with that part of the body
- AM on the floor
- supine ankle ABC's
- supine double leg ABC's - tough on the mid-section
- supine single leg ABC's
- supine leg toss
- prone single leg ABC's (alphabet is upside down on these)
- AM standing - 64 counts each (32 squats), repeated for 30 minutes
- double calf raise (not very high - trying to avoid pain)
- Single leg knee flex
- Prisoner squats
I got in 5 sets w/o squats, then 5 more sets w/ squats.
- AM - roads
- 1 hour/15 miles on the bike
- PM - Medicine Ball - I think 16 reps each
- 2 hand standing overhead throw
- Throw to the side
- Place/Pick from desk in back of me (soccer drill)
- 2 hand kneeling overhead throw
- Good mornings
- Pike throw (I think) - go from lying on your back in a pike position to seated with an overhead throw forward.
- Some twists
I think I'll alternate this with some routines that I saw on Flotrack (Pedestal, Waterloo) that work more on core and upper body strength.
So keep this up for 4 weeks and build up my strength. Maybe reacquaint myself with push-ups and certainly crunches.
Making the medicine ball:
I got an old soccer (rubber - really cheap) ball from the garage, worked the little receptacle for the air needle out of the ball (it is shaped like a cross in cross section), put about 8 pounds of uncooked rice in it and jammed the little air receptacle back in so the rice wouldn't fall out. I think similar medicine balls were on sale at Big 5 for about $10 but I like those little DIY projects because I learn something.
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