My Achilles Heel

If there is one injury that would most likely prevent me from properly training for the Victoria Marathon it is tendonitis in my Achilles. This injury has plagued me since I first started training for longer distances. Achilles tendonitis is an inflammation of the tendon that attaches the calf muscle to the heel bone. It is a common injury among runners caused by overuse or by running hills, resulting in pain and stiffness of the tendon. As a result, whenever my Achilles starts to ache, I have to give it some rest and cut down on the mileage. Since my longest races have only been half marathons, I could afford to take some time off, and still be able to compete. Only once did it become so sore during a race that I had to drop out.

My Achilles had not given me any problems this year until a few weeks ago when I ran some hills. This is a problem because my longest run this year has only been 10 kilometers, and to train for a marathon, my longest run needs to be over 30 kilometers. I don’t want a repeat of the New York City marathon, where my longest training run was only 20 kilometers, so it is important that I get it treated now so that I don’t have to take time off next year.

Michelle encouraged me to make an appointment with her physiotherapist because his treatments are based on the latest scientific research rather than some questionable treatments like IMS. As a retired science teacher, this appealed to me, so I booked an appointment.

At the first appointment, Noman assessed my injury and talked about my goals. The treatment has included massaging the tendon and using ultrasound to help remove the calcification in the tendon. He has also been giving me some exercises to treat the tendonitis. The first exercise is designed to strengthen and stretch the calf muscle. I place my toes on the edge of the stairs and quickly raise my heel, then slowly lower my heel as far down as my calf can stretch. Lowering the heel slowly is the most important part of the exercise because tendonitis is caused by the calf muscle and tendon working together to lessen the impact of your foot hitting the ground. Tendonitis is not, as I thought, caused by pushing off the ground with your foot as you run.

The next exercise is a band exercise to strengthen the muscles in my hip. I lie on my side with a band around my ankles and lift one leg as high as I can, stretching the elastic band. Runners typically have weak hip muscles and is important to strengthen all the leg muscles to help reduce the impact of running.

The last exercise involves hopping on my toes; first from side to side, and then back and forth. This will help grow new arteries and increase the blood flow to the Achilles tendon.

The exercises have been going well and I am glad I was proactive and went to physiotherapy right away. This gives me plenty of time to rehabilitate my Achilles in order to properly train for the Victoria Marathon. Noman says that according to research my injury is treatable and that I should be able to run without getting tendonitis. I am keeping my fingers crossed because that would be a first for me.