Coming back
I'm starting to run again, after four months of trying to run, racing, then taking time off because of the Achilles. Chances are if I had been smart and recognized (and listened to) the signals I was getting from my body, this wouldn't have happened. I knew back in August that there was something wrong after the long hike Nick and I did, but proceeded to ignore it and hope for the best. After all, I have never had a really significant running injury in all my years and all the marathons. But the best was far from what happened. Water under the bridge at this stage in the game. Time to look forward from here and get back on my feet and up to speed.
So far, things seem to be going okay with rebuilding frequency. It seems silly to get bundled up to run for 20 minutes, but that's what the plan is right now. I've gotten frequency up to four times a week with only a little stiffness and achiness at the start. There is hardly any pain when I get up in the morning, but it's better on the days I tape. Four times a week is good for now - but I would like to be at five times a week end of December and six times a week by the end of January. I'm keeping the volume really low - about 12 miles a week for the last two weeks. Adding in a day of running will increase the volume easily and so will gradually upping the distance each time. Most of the runs have been about 2.5 miles, with a few four mile runs. I'm going to build slowly and not worry about intensity until later. I have time to be smart and so I need to be smart!
The hardest part is the temptation to slack off on everything else. After all, things aren't hurting, I don't need to continue with the taping, manual therapy/massage and eccentric exercises, do I? Yes! Replies the PT - be a good girl and maintain the resting splint at night, taping for each run, icing after each run. Do the manual techniques and eccentric exercises that help break up scar tissue and adhesions in the tendon sheath. Now that I'm running again, it's even more important to maintain the non-running activities. If I don't the cycle might just start again. Since I want to be able to use my running background at the Xterras next year, I need to get healthy and get strong. And that means not getting lazy and not being my worst patient ever.
So far, things seem to be going okay with rebuilding frequency. It seems silly to get bundled up to run for 20 minutes, but that's what the plan is right now. I've gotten frequency up to four times a week with only a little stiffness and achiness at the start. There is hardly any pain when I get up in the morning, but it's better on the days I tape. Four times a week is good for now - but I would like to be at five times a week end of December and six times a week by the end of January. I'm keeping the volume really low - about 12 miles a week for the last two weeks. Adding in a day of running will increase the volume easily and so will gradually upping the distance each time. Most of the runs have been about 2.5 miles, with a few four mile runs. I'm going to build slowly and not worry about intensity until later. I have time to be smart and so I need to be smart!
The hardest part is the temptation to slack off on everything else. After all, things aren't hurting, I don't need to continue with the taping, manual therapy/massage and eccentric exercises, do I? Yes! Replies the PT - be a good girl and maintain the resting splint at night, taping for each run, icing after each run. Do the manual techniques and eccentric exercises that help break up scar tissue and adhesions in the tendon sheath. Now that I'm running again, it's even more important to maintain the non-running activities. If I don't the cycle might just start again. Since I want to be able to use my running background at the Xterras next year, I need to get healthy and get strong. And that means not getting lazy and not being my worst patient ever.
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