Achilles Is Back?

North St Paul Community Center indoor track, 67.5 laps, five miles in 43:34, average pace 8:43. I’ve been trying to build mileage carefully to get past a problem with an Achilles tendon. Unfortunately, though, I did feel the tendon today a few laps from the end of the run. I started out shooting for a pace of 9:00, but my legs wanted to go a bit faster today, so I gave up and let my legs set the pace. In the last mile I pushed just a little harder, and probably shouldn’t have.

It’s not bad though - the pain is entirely gone already. I’ll try five miles again on Saturday, and be ready to quit early if necessary. I had dreams of 20 miles next week, but maybe not, we’ll see. Meanwhile I’m using cold and heat as I write this, and don’t exactly know what to do about the Strassburg sock “night splint.” In theory, that should stretch the Achilles and hopefully avoid injury caused by tension in the Achilles. But I’ve been using the Strassburg Sock almost every day for months now, to avoid another round of plantar fasciitis in that same foot, and I’m not sure that the Achilles is failing in tension. It might be failing in compression, because when it hurts, I notice more pain going DOWN stairs than up. Furthermore, it might be easier for the tendon to heal WITHOUT tension applied. Perhaps I’ll skip the Strassburg for a few weeks and see if it seems to make a difference one way or another.

Only 12 miles this week and only 101 for the month. Splits: 8:58, 8:44, 8:40, 8:42, 8:29.



Post-run breakfast: Organic oatmeal, organic fat-free milk, kiwi, organic medjool dates, organic walnuts,m organic blueberries, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, banana, Hershey extra-dark chocolate. Yummm.


Salad: Organic romaine, organic medjool dates, stuffed olives, organic pecans, organic blue-corn chips, Sunshine's homemade guacamole, dried organic strawberries, raspberry vinegar.