TODAY = DOCTOR DAY!! Appointment Time: 3:00pm - So I nervously parked the car about quarter to in the parking lot and made my way inside. Filled out some paperwork, and sat there looking through the adventure and skiing magazines until they called my name. The guy that called my name was pretty cool and laid back and brought me to a room and went "So you think you have achilles tendinitis?" And I gave my whole shpeel about January 21st running on the treadmill, soreness afterwards, red, puffy, iced 20 on, 20 off for a couple hours, then four to five times a day after that. Practice R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) for a few weeks, then after reading a couple of articles and books about the matter, decided on implementing a heel lift, and experimented with slight stretching and eccentric exercises, then thought better of the latter once it seemed to be doing more harm than good. Meanwhile I forgot to pause and when I finally did the guy looks at me dumbfounded and goes "Right, the doctor will be in to see you in a minute". Oops! So then the doc comes in, a nice guy tall, late 30s or so; Turns out he is a runner as well, a pronator like me, and has successfully completed 15 marathons. So I lapsed into my story again, explaining how I came up with a heel lift and everything, step by step how I've been monitoring my progress, and trying to take it easy. He agrees with everything I've been doing. He checked out the achilles and since I was pretty pain free, he explained that if I had come to the office earlier he probably would not have done much differently. Achilles tendinitis is different for each runner, he said and, that I show a lot of dedication and self control being able to stay away from running. At this point I couldn't hold back and explained that actually I'm a member of a really cool running blog, and thankfully there are a lot of friends here who have offered insight, suggestions, and some of the best motivation and encouragement that I've ever received. To make a long story short, it felt good to hear from him when talking to the nurse, "You know, it is nice to have a patient that treats himself the correct way; this is a sharp young man. Wish we had more people like him." I also told him how I managed 20 pain free minutes of walking yesterday, and he told me to start back slowly, progressing to 3 miles of painfree walking and then slowly incorporating say a half mile of light (10-12 minute pace) jogging when I felt ready, using walking as a warm up and cool down. While at work on my break, I was perusing Noake's Lore of Running, and looking at his suggestion for beginner marathoners. He had a table of using minutes, rather than miles to record progress, much like Gordon Bloch in his book How to Train for and Run Your Best Marathon; Now I'm not even considering a marathon at all and am promptly sending a cancellation for my entry for the 6/1 race (I feel it's the right thing to do; rather than risk reinjury) - But I think I can tailor their plans my needs. Noakes' suggests 5 days of 25-30 minutes of walking/running for the first 3 weeks of the beginner plan, I will modify this slightly, go by feel, and hopefully by the end of march progress to light runs. Perhaps uplifting, was reading about the early 1900s runners that used walking for recovery and actual training, advocating this activity for its easing of the pressure and impact on the joints. So, in short slow and steady is the suggestion and my decision. I am going to go check out some new shoes tomorrow, as per the doctor's suggestion, he recommended Brooks' Addictions (aptly named, don't you think?) and gave me a running store about an hour away that is great for helping you try out new running stuff. I might go there tomorrow after I finish my work.
Another thing I took away from Noakes' that resonates in all the blogs here at FRB is that a run (or walk) is what you make of it. There is a positive to every day, and something to learn from every run. Every step is helping us to become more aware of our bodies and our place in the world. I think that it will be important to continue to draw on the support of others that have gone through such problems and continue to blog. Finding something positive, or something learned about each and every day will aid the healing progress. The doc said I'm well on my way to healing and getting back out on the roads.
Thanks for all of your concerns, suggestions, and unwavering support. You guys and gals make each and every day a great one. As Jody would say, "Happy Running!", and thanks a million. You truly are amazing people, and have changed my outlook on not only training, but my life and my impact on others'.
>>Benn<< | 