Help me to stop getting hurt

[Spencer Woolston]

I was a high school and college athlete and I never got injured.  Now that I am a runner and have started to do decent mileage (I only average about 40-45 a week) I can’t go a month without getting hurt badly enough that I miss runs.  I’ve missed up to 2 weeks at a time.  Most of my injuries are in the area of my lower leg.  I have had calf trouble, achilles trouble, arch pain and pain in tendons that are near the achilles but are definitely not the achilles.  These tendons seem to be next to either side of my achilles. 
Possible contributing factors to my trouble
1.   I am new to running and my body may not be ready for the level of training I am putting it through.  I have been doing 40-45 miles a week for about ten months.  Despite being new to this amount of mileage I have always been active and for a few years leading up to starting my current mileage I ran between 12-20 miles a week.
2.   I have hobbit feet.  I have flat feet that are also unusually large for my height.  I am 6 ft with size 14 shoes.   I wonder if the large flat feet might contribute to problems with the tendons that connect to the foot.   I have two pairs of custom made orthotics from two different doctors that help a lot.  I have used orthotics for over 10 years.
3.   I weigh 200 pounds.  The extra weight probably stresses the ligaments more than the average sized runner.  However I feel like my body should be used to the weight, because 200 lbs is very light compared to my weight throughout my previous adult life since my mission.
I am infected with the desire to run and to run faster.  I would love to be able to do 80 miles a week but based on my injury history and my weight I don’t think that is realistic.  My goal is to build up to around 60 miles per week.  I am open to any advice on how to build up my mileage to 60 a week without continuing to injure myself.  I love life when I am able to run and I feel a big void when I am unable to run due to injury so I would be very thankful for some help.

[Jeff Linger]

Not necessarily a solution, but, maybe you might take a look at your shoes? You're a big guy. What kind of shoes are you running in? How old are they (how many miles on them?). I used to run in Nike Vomero's, but as I lost the weight, I found that they were too flat in the arch for my feet. They're an excessively cushoned shoe, maybe something that would be good for you. Its a place to start.

[Benn Griffin]

Yeah I agree that you are a rather big runner. I am 6'2 and about 170 right now and I'm considered pretty big for a runner too. I run in Asics but I have orthodics for my flat feet. If you don't already, should probably consider getting a pair of orthodics; either that or a motion control shoe, almost every brand has them. I found the Brooks Addiction is a great shoe with a wide base for the foot. As for running, you shouldn't be trying to do 30-40 miles right now. That would be why you are getting injured and taking time off.. I would start with maybe 16 miles (4 x 4 mile runs), and then the next week change 2 or those runs to 5 milers, then add another 4 miler. You have to build really slowly. I had a 9 month layoff because of achilles issues this year, and started running the first weekend in September and I am just now getting to the mid 20s to upper 20s for mileage for teh week! IT's a long, slow process but you'll appreciate starting slow because you'll decrease your chance for future injuries.

[Eric Day]

Spencer, hear you. I'm just coming back from an Aquilles tendon injury. Tendons are very slow healers, very. I'll throw my penny's worth:
Lower a little the mileage, use ice packs after the run on the sore tendons. If you jog in the morning, use the ice packs at night too (or in the morning if you run at night).
But very importantly, warm up and stretch properly, a lot. This really helps.

And of course be patient, very patient.

[Dale]

Consider finding some exercises to focus on your trouble-spots.  Things like calf-raises to strengthen calves, sessions on a BOSU to work on strengthening the ankle area muscles, picking up weighted socks with your toes to strengthen your feet.  Your body is used to carrying your 200 lbs but not necessarily used to the carrying 600 lbs due to the increased impact force of running (and 600lbs is a WAG....I've seen figures ranging from 3-6 times your body weight, depending on pace). 
So get over your current injuries by following the normal advice (reduce/eliminate running to heal, RICE, etc).  Then start back slowly (pace, mileage).  Add some extra work to strengthen your weak areas.  Consider shedding some weight (base building is the time to do it, not during high intensity work when you need the fuel) to reduce the impact forces.  Then as you strengthen yourself, slowly build your mileage, which will help strengthen your tendons, ligaments, muscles, bones.....

[Jeff Linger]

Ice baths are great for healing muscles and other stuff too. I find them to be much more healing effective and time effective than icing all the various areas. Fill the tub up about 12+ inches with cold water after a run. Have a bucket of ice nearby. Sit in the tub with your legs stretched out and adjust to the cold water. Then dump the ice in and sit for about 12 minutes, no more than 15. Follow that up with a warm shower so you're not shivering for an hour.

[Sasha Pachev]

Spencer:

First, make sure you are familiar with principles outlined in

http://fastrunningblog.com/forum/index.php/topic,465.0.html

If you are applying all of them already and it still does not help, then run 30 miles a week and cross-train for  the balance of time/energy.

[Spencer Woolston]

I appreciate all of you taking the time to respond. 
I think that I will likely start to run 4 or 5 times a week and cross train for one or two days.  I think the dreaded spinning bike will have to become my friend.