Hello. I am a runner. I am a runner which means I deal with running injuries. These injuries could last days or sometimes years. For many of us runners it's just part of the game and adds to the challenges that come along with the pursuit. For a lucky few the worst they deal with are blisters, soreness, or over training syndrome. I am baffled but that last one. How could anyone's body hold up through so much training that their endocrine system is the thing that fails first?
Runners want to talk about their injuries and maybe sometimes obsess over them, but other people don't want to hear about them (especially non-runners). I know this from being on both sides of it and that's why I'm writing this blog. I want an outlet to vent about mine. I also want to chart my path to eventual complete recovery. I'm hoping to be able to write some race reports on here.
My injuries are in my Achilles' tendons, calves, and other flexors of the foot (mostly left but occasionally on the right). The common denominator is pain in the left Achilles tendon. I've tried stretching/strengthening, foam roller, Strasberg sock, resting for three months (thinking that should heal almost anything), supportive shoes, supportive shoe inserts, custom orthotics, physical therapy, chiropractic therapy, Graston technique, ART, podiatrist (w/ an MRI), and finally stride analysis. The most improvement has come with the stride analysis. I need to give credit to both Joe Uhan and Chris Leisz for helping me understand and improve my lower leg damaging gait. It turns out I have been sinking my own ship all along.
My running stride showcased a violent, lightning bolt-like stab at the ground led by my forefoot and then spring-boarding up and forward off my forefoot without letting my heal touch. All the while my inactive glutes and tight/weak hips remain in a sitting, deflated position. Also, oscillating my hunched, kyphotic 6'3" frame developed from years of poor ergonomics wasn't helping. It was a perfect recipe to wreak havoc on my lower posterior leg. Even when running slowly I did the same thing, only with a shortened stride. Did I do it my entire 25 years of distance running or did I slowly evolve into this self-destructive prance? Is it age that has caught up to me? Regardless, I couldn't run without pain and the first few steps out of bed in the mornings after running made me look around for gnomes that may have been sawing at my Achilles tendons while I slept. The springs that once made me a competitive high jumper in high school and college had worn out. I had to develop a new way to propel myself forward.
I've raced a few times in 2017. This included Spicer's Frozen 5K road race (19:26) in January, the Zumbro 17 mile trail race (2:18:41) in April, and a local 10K road race (39:01) in early May. I was training fairly consistently getting up to and over 30 miles per week with minimal/occasional discomfort. I felt like I had this injury under control. Then, thinking I should try to get faster for some more local 5K/10K racing, I tried a track interval session of 200s. I'm sure all my stride correcting advice was forgotten when I tried to run these fast (at 5:00/mile pace) 200s because my left Achilles tendon flared up badly and I had completely torched my right one. I was hobbling around in pain for three days after this, angry at my poor judgement. Since I was signed up for some races this summer that I really looked forward to I tried to get running again way too soon. The next two months contained a series of false starts in training where I quickly re-aggravated the injuries that had not yet healed. I spiraled into a state of frustration and despair, feeling jealous of those around me that can run without thought or injury. I withdrew from the mid-July Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon, reduced to only watching while my wife ran it. Finally, after about four weeks of no running and really not much for any exercise, I was able to start running again.
I started up running again around the beginning of August very, very carefully. I'm using a heart rate monitor to make sure my easy days are easy. I'm signed up for the Moose Mountain Marathon in Lutsen on September 9th. I'm not going to be as fit as I'd like and I'm prepared to walk as much as necessary but I will be on that starting line. I've been looking forward to trying this race for a couple years. The race is in two weeks and my long run to date has been 9 miles on trails. I've gotten up to 23 miles per week. This with be a new adventure in restraint.
