Minor (I hope) Setback

Achilles Tendinitis. Motherfucker.

I started out yesterday morning a little differently. I ate breakfast before my run - egg whites and oatmeal. I thought the slow digesting carbs in the oatmeal would help my energy level. I usually just get up, have a sip of Accelerade and get out as soon as I can, but I decided to experiment.

I also popped 200mg of caffeine, an Ephedrine Hcl 25mg (to prevent possible asthma attack) and an aspirin, 325mg. This usually gives me almost instant energy and just more "get up and go". It's easy to burn out on this stack, so most people do cycles of two weeks on, one week off. I've been using this in some combination for about 6 years.

I drove to the race course and felt a little anxiety. I don't know why. This was just a training run. It was a nice cool morning. I started out too fast. I kept up the pace, wanting to improve my 5k time. By mile 2, I felt an unusual dull pain above my heel. I thought I was still just warming up, and I had just finished a downhill, so I expected it would diminish. It got a little worse, so I stopped and walked back to my car. :-(

Thank God for the internet. I came home and did a search, quickly found what I needed, and after some self-care, it feels better today. These days I listen to my body and stop when it needs me to. Apparently people still try to run with Achilles Tendinitis, then it ruptures, it requires surgery and you may not be able to walk for up to 6 months. That won't be me. I'll take a few weeks off if I have to (groan).



Achilles Tendinitis is caused by many factors, most of all increasing distance or speed too quickly, and running hills too much too soon. Also, women who wear heels during the day and switch to running shoes for fitness, since the tendon doesn't have time to stretch and be normal. And um, overuse.

I already paid for my race registration, and if the next time I run is the day of the race, so be it. I'm not going to be sidelined for longer than is necessary again. But it does make me wonder. Is my body ever going to become fit and
ready to take on anything? I guess professional athletes get this condition, too, but it really makes me feel like an out of shape slug to have to rest for a week just because I ran a few hills too fast. Ah well.