Injury has finally struck

Unfortunately, what has probably been coming for a while has finally struck - injury.

When I look back over my last few months of blog entries, I can see the signs are there. I had my calf and ankle issues in March and April and then had weird leg tiredness following the Inside-Out Sports Half Marathon in mid-May - all of which point to my body trying to tell me to take a break and strengthen my body. I didn't listen, and following my long run on Monday, my left Achilles Tendon has swollen up and become painful - the start of Achilles Tendinitis.

I had issues with my right Achilles Tendon last year when I slipped on a curb in Houston (known as the Houston Shuffle) and over stretched the tendon. The tendon's response was to swell up and contract in an attempt to heal from the strain. I tried running for a couple of days after the incident, but the pain got the better of me and I stopped running for a couple of weeks. Although I didn't slip on any curbs this time, I think the running on the hills in Umstead, not doing a cool down following the Half Marathon and instead moving tonnes of water and supplies in my flip-slops and then running a fast 5K on a hilly course the next weekend was too much for my already overworked body and my weakest point gave out - in this case my left Achilles Tendon.

The good news is that after 3 days without running (and wearing flip-flops which just make the situation worse) I am nearly pain free. I could barely walk on Tuesday, and now I only feel pain if I pinch the tendon between my fingers. The swelling has gone down and I can complete my stretches and strengthening exercises pain free. However, I know that I am far from recovered and plan to give myself another week of no running.

I have the Susan G. Komen 5K next Saturday and I will make a decision the day before on whether I am going to attempt to run the race or just give it a miss.

The good thing about this injury happening now is that I haven't really started increasing my mileage yet, so I won't be behind in my training for the Marathon and it will give my body some much deserved time to recover.

I am able to do other forms of exercise that don't involve impact in the tendon - so I am swimming instead of running. I did my first "kicking" session yesterday in which I swim using just my legs holding a kick-board in my hands. This is a hard workout for my legs as kicking typically provides only about 20% of the power used in swimming, with the rest of the power coming from the arms. I managed about 30 minutes of kicking up and down the community pool and plan to do this at least ever other day from now on - even when I am running.

I hope I won't lose too many weeks of training due to this injury, but I am fully aware that trying to run through it is a bad idea and will really effect my Marathon training - as my Achilles Tendon isn't going to heal if I continue running when it is swollen and/or painful.