Only two weeks ago I was thinking to myself, "Wow, this training period has gone exceptionally well, the smoothest race build up I've ever had." Then the Sunday before last I came gown with some sort of bug, I slept poorly and had a slight temperature so I decided to skip my planned LSDR. The bug seemed to pass, but I wasn't willing to risk it so I didn't return to training for another two days just to make sure I was fit enough to do so.
The training week went well, a total of 38 miles including a steady 11 miler at just under my race pace and followed by a 22 mile LSDR on the Sunday. I finished my long run feeling very tired but slightly stiffer than usual, nether the less, I managed to run it comfortably at 9:30/mile. It was the following day when things started to go wrong.
I finished work early deciding to walk to the hospital where I was attending a course. As I walked along I felt a tightness in my left Achilles tendon. As I continued to walk the tightness tuned increasingly painful. I got through the afternoon and as soon as I got home I packed it in ice and took some ibruprofen. The most worrying thing about the pain is that in the area affected there was a horrible creaking sensation everytime I moved my foot. The next day the pain grew worse, to the point where I was having to apply an ice pack every couple of hours just to get through the day. A quick bit of online research led me to suspect that I had developed tendinitis. I booked an appointment with my doctor who confirmed my fears, it was acute Achilles tendinitis. I was was prescribed rest, ice, compression and elevation as well as some diclofenac ointment.
Picking up an injury at this stage in my training is every runners worst nightmare. An injury like this sustained towards the beginning of a training program, if treated correctly, shouldn't affect your condition on race day. However, losing two weeks of training with only five weeks to go is horrible. My problem is that I have never really suffered an injury. For me this is completely new territory.
The first thing I've done is made sure the injury is completely rested. This was my doctors advice and so I've taken two days off of work. The second thing I've done is for the first two days, applied an ice pack to the affected area for 20 minutes every two hours, this combined with the anti-inflammatory drugs has already had a dramatic impact, rapidly reducing the swelling around the tendon. My doctor has also put me touch with a physiotherapist at the National Athletics centre at Crystal Palace. I have made an appointment but I suspect that by the time I get seen, I will already have recovered sufficiently enough (or otherwise) to know whether I will be able to run the race.
Achilles Tendinitis is basically caused by too much exercise, what is termed as an overuse injury. There can be a number of different causes ranging from a sudden increase in either the volume or speed of training, through to weak calf muscles. One of the reasons I'm so disappointed with being injured is that I thought my build up was going smoothly. You might think the 22 mile run was the cause of the injury but I'm not so sure, I have been building up to that distance for four months without any problems. I suspect that the virus I came down with the previous weekend might have had some influence on the condition of my muscles. Anyway, I shan't really find out until I speak to my physio.
For the time being I'm concentrating on rest coupled with some gentle stretching and light walking. Running is, at the moment, completely out of the question.
