November 15th , Tuesday
Let’s catch up.
Today I am recapping two and a half months of trying to train through an injury in order to put my current fitness level in perspective.
Today I jogged very slowly on the cinders for one and a quarter miles and did non-weight-bearing leg drills in addition. My Achilles tendon exhibited no signs of soreness or tenderness. It was a very good sign of progress.
I just reviewed all of my posts since September 1st. On that day, 10 days before my scheduled competition at the New Jersey Senior Games, I ran a very strong workout of fast pickups at the Jackson Liberty track. It was a beautiful afternoon, and I was very excited about my condition level and my upcoming race. It is also pretty obvious to me that I injured my Achilles tendon that afternoon. I limped my way through the competition and qualified for the National Senior Games in the 800m and 1500m races. Confident that I had plenty of time to prepare for the Nationals in June, I planned to allow my Achilles tendon to heal for a few weeks while I did some base training and strength and core work in exercise room. Throughout the next 10 weeks I have engaged in fits and starts of various types non of which have allowed my Achilles tendon to heal properly. I have been jogging, biking, swimming, water running, treadmilling, ellipticaling, weight lifting and core exercising during this period. All that work has kept me pretty fit and perhaps made me a little stronger. I even attempted a regimen of eccentric exercises which, to my dismay, caused increased pain in my tendon. So my Achilles tendon was still sore. Well, today I ran a mile and quarter, I should say a jogged very slowly, without Achilles discomfort. There are two variables that could have influenced this positive result. First, is the fact that I have virtually eliminated all foot-stress activities for the past 7 days with only a couple of weight sessions this week. (One thing that I’ve noticed is that days without a workout seem longer and a little bit empty and provide me with nothing to write about on my daily blog . So my recent posts have been rather intermittent.) Second, I have worn my foot splint to sleep for the last two nights. I purchased this splint a few months back when I was having trouble with my plantar fascia. While searching the internet a few days back looking for some advice about persistent Achilles tendon issues, I found a running discussion site where someone asked that question. Someone responded that after a few years of consistent Achilles tendon problems, he began using this foot splint each night and the result was a total cure for the problem. Since I already have the device on hand, I decided to try it; and the first morning I had almost no Achilles pain when I awoke. On the second morning, which was also day 7 of my for resting plan, I felt as though my Achilles tendon was cured. So today I ventured to the cinder track and had a positive experience. I plan to continue this splint experiment indefinitely, or at least as long as my Achilles tendon does not hurt.
So where do I stand right now with six and a half months left to train for Nationals? Healthy but definitely not race fit. I will have to remember to stay slow for at least another month. The quote below was recently chosen in an on line contest by the National Senior Games Association in which they requested submissions to give advice to seniors who are beginning a training program for any sport. I submitted the following;
“Start slowly to avoid injury. Self-inflicted injury is the enemy of progress.”
Rich Refi constantly tells me to follow my own advice. I will!
