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I went on a 13 mile run on Sunday (scheduled for my marathon training) and ran a lot of pretty steep hills. About 8 miles in my achilles tendon on my left leg started hurting. Today and yesterday I've been limping around...it hurts pretty bad if I try to walk, but feels fine when I'm sitting. I looked around online and what looks like happened is that running all those hills strained the tendon too much and caused an injury. It mentioned tight calf muscles as a possible cause, and my calves have been really tight lately. It is only lightly swollen.
Anyway, all the sites recommended taking it easy for a little bit, as running on it when its injured could make it a chronic condition. I'm going to give it a week, and then head to the doctor if it doesn't feel better. No running, of course.
Anyone ever run into this problem? How long did it last, and how long was it before you were back to your normal routine?
Ive strained it before and it was similar to how I healed from a sprained arm. First week was the worst and it just got better and better from there. But it depends on the amt of damage you did and your personal healing time.
You should look into flexabilty exercises when you are healed. In the mean time ice and advil. Or if you are a alterna medical type arnica 30CC instead of advil ( I think it works better than advil )
I actually used to get that very often... along with my pleuthera of other annoyances. I've had my lower calves/upper achillies area turn black and blue from it. My doc told me that because I wear heals a lot (I've since stopped doing that), that my achillies tendon actually shortened. I started a strickt stretching regimen for my upper and lower calves, including lots of Yoga's Downward Dog. I haven't had any trouble for about 8 months. If you're running uphill, you're making the back of your calves stretch more than usual. Try dilligent stretching, once your present pain resolves itself.
Thanks for the info. I've been having a lot of problems with my calves recently, probably due to running a lot of hills, which I've never really done before (I've been just training on flat ground for about a year, but the Austin Marathon is hilly so I want to be prepared). My actual mileage increases have been pretty reasonable, typically 10-15% a week. My calves have been getting really tight and stiff after my runs, and are usually pretty tight for the first 2-3 miles into a run until they loosen up. What calf stretches do you recommend?
I think you should cut back and let your body adjust to the new workout. You are overdoing it with the hills. Take it slow or you are going to be dealing with this forever. You cant make your body get in shape faster than its willing to let you.
Yeah, I'm definitely taking some time off. A good week off from running at the very least, and possibly more depending on how it heals up. I do need to find some good stretches for my calves though, as it could be part of the problem.
Lots of ice and stretching. Best stretch is with the toes elevated like on a phone book. Don't forget to do the stretches facing left and right as well as straight forward. You need to work all areas of the calf muscle.
I had the same problem when I ramped up my mileage during training for a marathon, acute onset of achilles tendonitis during a long run a couple of years ago.
Lots of ice and stretching got me through, I also took a couple of weeks off from running immediately.
The other things that helped...
I had changed my footwear. Have run in Asics for years, was in a running shoe store where Mizuno's were on sale and decided to try a pair. I was running in the Mizuno's when the tendonitis started and I immediately went out and got some new Asics.
I got off the roads for my long runs. For me I don't think it was so much the hills as the asphalt that got me. I now do all of my long runs on trails and even though they are much more hilly than the roads I was running on, no problem with my achilles.
I have the opposite problem with hills here. We have a great running trail which is all gravel, but it is totally flat for its 10-mile length. To run hills I have to run on sidewalks, asphalt, and concrete roads, which I really don't like doing. I much prefer to run on gravel. I've put a few hundred miles on my current pair of shoes so I don't think they could have caused the problem.
Did you end up completing your marathon after taking a couple weeks off? I'm worried about completing, or at least completing with a decent time if I take off a week. Its feeling better today so I may try to run on Tuesday...once again, depending on how it feels. The race isn't until mid-February. When I start back up I'm going to stick to the flat gravel trail for awhile until I feel up to doing some more mild hills again.
I have the opposite problem with hills here. We have a great running trail which is all gravel, but it is totally flat for its 10-mile length. To run hills I have to run on sidewalks, asphalt, and concrete roads, which I really don't like doing. I much prefer to run on gravel. I've put a few hundred miles on my current pair of shoes so I don't think they could have caused the problem.
Did you end up completing your marathon after taking a couple weeks off? I'm worried about completing, or at least completing with a decent time if I take off a week. Its feeling better today so I may try to run on Tuesday...once again, depending on how it feels. The race isn't until mid-February. When I start back up I'm going to stick to the flat gravel trail for awhile until I feel up to doing some more mild hills again.
I was able to do the marathon after taking some time off I gradually worked my mileage back up and used lots of ice, before and after every run as well as every night after work.
My injury was around the same time frame too, I injured it the first week of January with a mid-March marathon date.
Just be smart, chronic achilles tendonitis is no fun and achilles tendon ruptures are even less fun...
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