Down…But Not Out

Where have I been?
Ok. I know. It’s been a LONG while since I’ve updated here. Truth be told, I’m broken.

It started with the knee issue from my summer fishing trip and has now made its’ way to my Achilles/Heel area. What is it exactly, I don’t know. I’ve self-diagnosed it as a minor Achilles tendinitis but “minor” doesn’t equal “easy”. This thing hurts. It got so bad that on my last attempt to run at the quarter mile mark it felt like my heel was going to drop off on to the pavement.

So what have I done?
In short, nothing. I stopped running, jogging, etc and just let it rest. I spent a week icing it and now it’s been over a month without running on it. The good news is that it doesn’t hurt at all anymore from walking or throughout the day. The irritating news is that it is painful and stiff every morning for about 15 minutes until I can “walk it out”. I’m not running because of this morning pain. It’s enough of an alert to me that things are not “normal” down there yet.

What am I thinking?
I’m pretty certain that when I wrote this post in September and mentioned a “floaty” feeling in my knee, not only did I get a lot of shit from people reading this about my use of the word (or non-word) “floaty”, but also I was in the process of creating my current condition. My knee was only alarming me back then when I would extend it so I was purposefully running much more squated and, with my gait placing my foot directly below my ass for most of my running, I was increasing the stretch in my Achilles. Here’s a visual since my writing is usual misinterpreted:

You take that running form adjustment to pushing myself too early into a 6 mile REALLY hilly run and it was simply too much for the Achilles. Again, this is all hindsight. I was knowingly running different and pushing myself too much too soon and didn’t seem to care.

What’s the plan?
Keep waiting it out…for the running part. For me overall, I’ve incorporated a regular regimen of  stretching and Yoga. I’ve spent time researching my issues and am convinced I need some significant balance strength training in my lower extremities (really my lower back to my toes). I’ve been doing some exercises from great resources like Chris Johnson PT and other folks who I feel know what they are talking about and put information out there for us to digest and incorporate. I’m also walking. I’m doing several weekly walks of a 3+ miles. This can be annoying because walking sucks compared to running loose, but if I’m going to get strong and able again it all starts with a strong, pain free walk…

Speaking of Chris Johnson, his post here on the “wobbly runner” is basically describing me now that I’ve taken a hard look at myself. This is why I’m focusing on strengthening my lower body.