Lessons of the Week

Sunday, February 10:

North St Paul Community Center overhead track, walking, five miles in 1:09:00, pace 13:48. This was a test, to see if walking would hurt the Achilles as the elliptical machine did. It’s my perception that the calf muscles driving the Achilles actually extend and contract over a longer stroke while walking than while running, so I expected that the tendon would begin to hurt after two or three miles. Surprised again: It wasn’t so. I could barely feel it after the full five miles, and even then I need to use some imagination.

But it’s a good lesson. For what it’s worth, I can walk very briskly without annoying the Achilles, and for at least as much distance as I can run without annoying it. That could turn out to be useful information.

Heart rate was measured several times on this walk, and varied between 94 and 98. I actually started to feel it in the quads toward the end, but I think that after a little training I could sustain a 14-minute walking pace for an entire marathon, finishing in 6:08 or so. Might be useful information some day. Next: Jog four miles on Tuesday, bring the heart monitor.

Friday, February 8:

North St Paul Community Center elliptical machine, 300 calories in 21:45. Today’s lesson: The elliptical machine is at least as tough on the Achilles tendon as running. I think more so. My last run was Monday, today is Friday, and the Achilles began to hurt in just 21 minutes. Hurts going down stairs, too, which is my personal acid test. I had somehow expected that the elliptical would not re-injure the tendon, perhaps because it didn’t bother the plantar fascia at all. I learned an important lesson.

And now I know why Monday’s 5-mile run was more painful than the identical 5-mile run two days earlier. I used the elliptical machine on the day between! Duh! Took me long enough to catch on.

Monday, February 4:

Plans go awry. Since I had such a pleasant and pain-free run on Saturday, I had hoped and even assumed that Monday’s run, after a two-day respite, would go even better. In fact I planned to run six miles, expecting no pain. But the Achilles tendon was stiff for at least the first full mile, and then began to hurt at the very end of the fifth mile. I ran one extra lap (120 meters) just to be sure, and it was indeed time to stop. No sixth mile, and the tendon hurt going down the stairs, which is the most sensitive indicator of this injury. Nuts.

The pace was deliberately a little slower than the “natural” pace that muscles wanted to run, five miles in 44:51 (exactly the same as Saturday’s time), pace 8:58. Splits 8:57, 8:57, 8:58, 8:59, 9:01.

So now what? Take a week off? Two weeks? I’m getting close to that decision. With plantar fasciitis and some other pains it’s OK to run without fear of compounding the injury. But this is different; a ruptured Achilles tendon trumps all running and most other leg exercises. I’m not going there.

The trouble is that it doesn’t hurt AT ALL until I run, and even then not until I’ve run some distance. It seems that the only way to determine whether it is healing is to re-injure it! I need to be able to run 26 miles on it, and so far have only managed five.



Today's breakfast: Organic oatmeal, organic reduced-fat milk, dried banana, organic blueberries, organic walnuts, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic medjool date, dragon fruit.


Yesterday's lunch: Organic swiss chard with organic red cabbage, cranberries, and pistachios, organic apricot jam, clementine, organic roasted cashews.


Friday's dinner: Organic corn with rice pasta and tomotoes, organic blue-corn chips, guacamole by Sunshine, organic refried beans, asiago cheese. Seconds, thank you!