Ok, was doing 5min intervals on the treadmill yesterday, wearing my race shoes (mizuno idatens) - have put plenty of runs in with them in the past.
For the quick portion of the interval, i tend to forefoot strike, for the recovery portion i tend to heelstrike - just the nature of the way i run - at 5K pace im a fore/midfoot striker, for long runs i tend to heelstrike.
On recovery before the last interval i felt like my left calf was cramping up, me being me i just ran through it - the actual fast bit felt fine. Warming down i felt a little tight, did my usual stretches, showered, did a quick icing of my legs then went home. 2 or so hours later my achilles felt a little uncomfortable when walking - instinctivley iced it and then went to bed. Today it feels really tender to walk on - have slapped some ibuprofen gel on it and will continue with the icing at home.
Is this achilles tendonitis? I have looked though all the posts giving advice on it - but im not 100% sure this is what i have. Am planning on taking a week off with just mild stratching to let it heal before my first big race this season (a HM 7 weeks away) is this a realistic target? Should a treat the HM as a long run rather than a race?
It seems that many people end up with achilles pain, myself included. You may want to compare the symptoms of achilles tendonitis with calf/soleus strain, although it seems the usual RICE regime is applicable to both injuries. It sounds like you are committed to resolving the injury as soon as possible which is important so this does not become a nagging injury. You need to find the right balance between rest, strengthening, and stretching, which is difficult. Massage or eccentric heel exercises may be helpful, but avoid overstretching. 7 weeks out sounds like enough time to me, but if you are still experiencing pain, it is probably best not to do the HM even as a long run.
I have had similar symptoms caused by similar running in the past. It turned out to be my calf knotted baddly. Check for knots in your calf/soleous. I use “The Stick” regulary as my calves tend to get tight and knotted easily.
disclaimer not a doctor here but someone who struggled with achillies tendonitis for 2 seasons, you are doing the right thing by addressing it early. If this is the first pain you have had in the achillies and that pain was not really acute during the exercise but more a result of the calf tightening up it sounds like you will be fine with RICE for a bit and whn your calf is feeling better, working on massage/stretching. When you go to start back to trying to run on it, you may want to stay away from speed work for a bit until you know it is 100% and depending on how bad the pain was (mild irritation or more severe) adjust accordingly. if it was moderate-severe, on the first few runs try a run 3 min, walk 2 min combo for a very short period of about 10-15 min and shut it down. from there you can build the time running and total duration slowly as it holds, from your description this may not be needed but this is a good way to come back from something. Also for the tight calves (which can lead to achillies tendonitis) the triggerpoint therapies footballer has worked the best for me, the actual motion is different than a roller or stick as you also go side to side and it has helped me a ton…good luck
Im fairly sure its not my calf, have massaged the hell out of it (both by hand and with the stick) not finding any knots and the pain is localized right above my heel.
It feels much better when resting or just after i wake up, but any walking - 2 hours wandering round the shops yesterday - and it starts to hurt a bit. More of the same i reckon and a trip to see the physio this week. Not looking like the best start to a season ever
At the first sign of achilles soreness, I slip in a pad under the heel to raise it slightly. I use one now in my training and racing shoes. You should try that and also slip one in for daily use as well. You might find you can still jog on level ground without pain.
While the pain might not be in your calf, there is a good chance the achilles pain is caused by your calf muscles being too tight and stressing your achilles.
