If the pain was intense, it would almost be easier.
I've experienced those kind of athletic injuries before. A strained back muscle that makes everything agonizing -- even climbing out of bed. Or a pulled calf that reduced even walking to a sad limp.
But the subdued hurt in my Achilles tendon is nothing like those. It's a mild ache that comes and goes. Sometimes, when the tendon is loose and warm, I can't even tell that anything is off. At other moments -- walking down stairs after walking up in the morning, or climbing out of a car after a road trip -- the Achilles cries out in pure protest.
My Achilles tendinosis has remained in a similar state for a good six months now. It began when I ran the Yakima Skyline Ridge 50K, a very steep, technical race in the dry hills of central Washington. While I loved the challenge and vistas afforded by the mountainous course, my poor Achilles did not. After a long car ride back to Seattle, it hurt to walk.
The pain subsided, though, by the next morning, and I figured it was no big deal. Indeed, it's never really kept me from running -- I completed a six-day stage race called the TransRockies Run in Colorado in August. Every morning when I crawled out of the tent, it seemed tight and a bit sore, but after walking around for 20 minutes, it would feel just fine.
But while the Achilles pain has never sidelined me completely, it's never really fully healed. As most endurance athletes know, it's tough to stop doing the training you love when putting on the breaks seems a matter of judgment. Over the past few months, I've continued to cross train regularly -- row, swim and bike -- but I've also continued to run several times a week. After all, I'm training for the New York Marathon right now, and giving up running all together did not seem appealing.
This week, I finally decided to change my strategy. Much as I'd love for the Achilles to mend itself while I continue running, it's just not going to happen. I'm tired of never feeling 100 percent. It's time to fix this thing.
A visit with my massage therapist this week clarified the TLC my Achilles really needs. He told me that while the tendons looked far better than some severe cases he'd seen, they needed attention.
His advice? Exercises targeting the Achilles, for one. Each day, I'm supposed to stand on a stair and lower my heels down and up. He also recommended daily self massage (working the kinks out of the tendon by running my fingers up and down it) and an ice/heat regiment. He suggested using a detachable shower head and first turning it as cold as it goes, and then as hot as it goes, and alternating back and forth on both Achilles tendons.
All of this care will require time and effort, but I'm committed to it. The hardest part? Not running. The mild dull ache is so easy to ignore -- especially once the Achilles is warm and I'm mid-workout. If it really, really hurt, it would be so much easier to stop.
But when I line up for the New York Marathon in a few weeks, I want to feel completely ready to race. For that to happen, I need to take care of that Achilles.
What about you? Do you struggle to rest when injuries are mild? How do you force yourself to rest and allow the healing process?