Injured A/R/T Boardsies Support Thread

pgmcpq

seanynova wrote: »

hey all,

just to give some of you some hope, being out injured isint the end of the world and although you my miss a race, there will be others.

this year i was injured for 4months, but when recovered and after missing various goal races, i started back with runs of 4x 30 sec walk/runs & 6x 1min walk/runs etc....

well i pregressed from there and finish a marathon yeaterday....sometimes the road to recovery is long(or short) but dont stress about it, and dont rush back.

... and what a marathon - congrats ! I wish I could have your off days !

Thanks for the encouragement. That's an amazing result off four months (?) work after four months out. I'm off to read your log from start to finish, but how did you feel when you first started the comeback ? At what stage did it start to feel 'normal' again ?

pgmcpq

Well ... comeback #4 ended much as #1, #2 and #3 did - except this time my patience really did snap. So back to the drawing board. The medical industry that now follows my progress (GP/PT/chiro) have come up with a new theory - in short that the glute strain led to a hip displacement which has effected my gait. This explains why a) I am struggling to run at any pace b) why I am seem to limp after even a short walk and c) why I am having different muscle strains despite stretching religiously.
So I am now on some heavy duty anti-inflamatories (the sort of stuff that would get me kicked out of athletic meets :eek:), just had my hip, back and knee xrayed and am back to start PT again tomorrow. Fingers cross that at least we may understand what is going on.

5 months, 29 days to Boston .....

Nanazolie

Seanynova, thank you so much for your encouragments and congratulations on your marathon

pgmcpq, sorry to hear you are back again among us. I hope your insurance covers the cost of your Xrays, etc, because they add up fast. Good luck!

hot to trot

dahat wrote: »

Physio did try to get me too use her practise but at 300 for basically a plaster paris mould i did not think that to be enough,Mike Davis is supposed to more hands on and does them himself

What happens with the plaster of Paris is that a "slipper" is made by wrapping your foot in plaster. Just before it hardens it is removed. This cast is then sent to the lab where it is filled with plaster powder. When it hardens there is an exact replica of your foot with hard skin , twists etc ...warts and all. the prescription that the physio has ordered for your biomechanics is then applied to the new plaster version of your foot and the thermoplastic is then applied to make the finshed orthotic.
The beauty of this is it takes into account all the personal differences in your foot and not just an impression. Also it should be an ideal fit as it is an exact match. They keep the mould for 6 months in case you need other insoles made for different things. EG sport insoles would be different from regular ones etc.

dahat

hot to trot wrote: »

What happens with the plaster of Paris is that a "slipper" is made by wrapping your foot in plaster. Just before it hardens it is removed. This cast is then sent to the lab where it is filled with plaster powder. When it hardens there is an exact replica of your foot with hard skin , twists etc ...warts and all. the prescription that the physio has ordered for your biomechanics is then applied to the new plaster version of your foot and the thermoplastic is then applied to make the finshed orthotic.
The beauty of this is it takes into account all the personal differences in your foot and not just an impression. Also it should be an ideal fit as it is an exact match. They keep the mould for 6 months in case you need other insoles made for different things. EG sport insoles would be different from regular ones etc.

Thanks for the expo,seems alot better than what i thought but she did seem to be lacking about the whole process as she did not explain any of what you have....
I will be getting them one way or another,Mike Davis seems well regarded and at 200 all is cheaper plus i am dealing with source rather than a sales person..

hot to trot

seanynova...... What injury did you have that kept you off for 4 months?
I am allowed start with run 30secs/1 minute from next month but need some reassurance of when I might be able to get to decent mileage again. I have a partial rupture of achilles.

dahat

Still getting alot of trouble with ITB and other upper leg problems.
Been using a pipe to roll them but seems to be getting nowhere fast.Having had 5 physio sessions i feel no better.
Getting fitted for motion control shoes sat,hopefully these will help control biomechanical issues...

Will these help with ITB issues and other myofacial muscle problems?

kennyb3

dahat wrote: »

Still getting alot of trouble with ITB and other upper leg problems.
Been using a pipe to roll them but seems to be getting nowhere fast.Having had 5 physio sessions i feel no better.
Getting fitted for motion control shoes sat,hopefully these will help control biomechanical issues...

Will these help with ITB issues and other myofacial muscle problems?

Do you feel the physio went deep enough? 5 sessions seems like a lot for no improvement.

pgmcpq

So back to physio:

Physio: "We work on this for five or six weeks and see if there is any progress".
Me: <gagging noises>

5 or 6 six more weeks .... for "progress" :eek::(:mad::(:eek.

And yes ... my insurance coverage is exhausted !

And finally Mrs P had mishap with her car (tire left in the middle of the highway at night) and needs a car for work ... so I now have to walk everywhere on my dodgy hip ....!! Not feeling very lucky today.

Sometime you have to laugh.

DULLAHAN2

So i have been avoiding writing this in the hope that it would go away. But Alas it is not to be. I have a serious pain in my heel anytime i run. I got this sorted in jul well i taught i did then i was running up the stairs to bed woke up and bang could barley walk. That was 2nd week in september

I tried dooing alot of stretching and massaging like the physio told me the last time but it does not seem to be working. What's really annoying me is that this is the fourth time this has happened and every time it does it is alot worse than before.

I have to go to the physio soon to try and get to the bottom of it.

Bally8

pgmcpq wrote: »

So back to physio:

Physio: "We work on this for five or six weeks and see if there is any progress".
Me: <gagging noises>

5 or 6 six more weeks .... for "progress" :eek::(:mad::(:eek.

And yes ... my insurance coverage is exhausted !

And finally Mrs P had mishap with her car (tire left in the middle of the highway at night) and needs a car for work ... so I now have to walk everywhere on my dodgy hip ....!! Not feeling very lucky today.

Sometime you have to laugh.

God your not having a good time of it right now pgmcpq. I know how you feel about 5 or 6 more weeks but try not to panic. 5 or 6 weeks could make a big difference and when your back out running regularly those weeks will feel like nothing.

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

So i have been avoiding writing this in the hope that it would go away. But Alas it is not to be. I have a serious pain in my heel anytime i run. I got this sorted in jul well i taught i did then i was running up the stairs to bed woke up and bang could barley walk. That was 2nd week in september

I tried dooing alot of stretching and massaging like the physio told me the last time but it does not seem to be working. What's really annoying me is that this is the fourth time this has happened and every time it does it is alot worse than before.

I have to go to the physio soon to try and get to the bottom of it.

So sorry to hear your on the bench with everyone here. You really should get yourself to the physio asap or maybe seeing a different one for a second opinion especially as its a recurring injury.

dahat

kennyb3 wrote: »

Do you feel the physio went deep enough? 5 sessions seems like a lot for no improvement.

As this was my first time getting sports physio i wasn't sure how deep she should be going....
I suppose now it would be correct to assume she wasn't getting in far enough,looks like i am going to have to go to another physio though cost of it is a worry....me and my pipe for another while anyway!

seanynova

pgmcpq wrote: »

... and what a marathon - congrats ! I wish I could have your off days !

Thanks for the encouragement. That's an amazing result off four months (?) work after four months out. I'm off to read your log from start to finish, but how did you feel when you first started the comeback ? At what stage did it start to feel 'normal' again ?

more than 4months of training, i was in a post injury phase for 6weeks, then did a 4week mileage build up phase, then into a 'low' milage marathon phase(phase 2 of daniels, with Q sessions), so in total 26weeks but the early weeks werent much really.
though i was going well early on in the training but never really got back to pre0injury form, nothing to do with training time, just conditions and training paces i guess.

pgmcpq wrote: »

Well ... comeback #4 ended much as #1, #2 and #3 did - except this time my patience really did snap. So back to the drawing board. The medical industry that now follows my progress (GP/PT/chiro) have come up with a new theory - in short that the glute strain led to a hip displacement which has effected my gait. This explains why a) I am struggling to run at any pace b) why I am seem to limp after even a short walk and c) why I am having different muscle strains despite stretching religiously.
So I am now on some heavy duty anti-inflamatories (the sort of stuff that would get me kicked out of athletic meets :eek:), just had my hip, back and knee xrayed and am back to start PT again tomorrow. Fingers cross that at least we may understand what is going on.

5 months, 29 days to Boston .....

not sure what your injury is but i stopped stretching and everything to heal, if a muscle is torn or pulled from a bone, then stretching will make it worse(pull it off even further)...also depending on your injury, time will heal just as well as the physio....you dont need to be in peak shape for boston, just in enough shape to enjoy the experience....you can be in peak shape for other event down the line. so if you rested for another month or so, you could still run boston and enjoy it.

hot to trot wrote: »

seanynova...... What injury did you have that kept you off for 4 months?
I am allowed start with run 30secs/1 minute from next month but need some reassurance of when I might be able to get to decent mileage again. I have a partial rupture of achilles.

i was left undiagnosed, but my injury was in my glute/hamstring...had been to 3 physios, the GP, got an MRI etc. possibilities were stress fracture of the femeral neck, and general muscle strains but none were confirmed.
the injury didnt keep me out for 4months but my attempts to return to running, the general jist of the injury/training is as follows:
rested for 2weeks, tried to run but the pain returned.
rested for 3weeks, tried to run but the pain returned.
rested for 9 weeks, some of them on crutches, didnt do much but after maybe 5weeks i started to do some light aqua running.
maths dont add up there but totalled 15weeks.

my injury was never really 'sore' also so it was difficult to know when to return training again, but everytime i did the pain would return. on all my failed attepmts to return i had been given the all clear but stopped and just rested myself until i thought i was ready.
i did the short walk/runs for a week of so and built it up slowely as i had been coming off crutches so it would have been a bad idea to put in mileage then.

while injured, i was looking into pelvic and femeral neck stress fracture injuries and those bad boys can take years to heal....interesting blogs, puts things in perspective.

Jacky08

DCM on Monday
Went for a 8mile run last night - woke up this morning and my right knee has all the symptoms of ITB injury / runners knee, had it on my left last year and managed the injury well, though it wasn't as close to the race as it is now
Would be gutted if I couldn't take part of have to pull out
Managed the 20mile with no issue - so angry now

Would anyone suggest Acupuncture at this stage or loads of rest, ice and stretching

rainbow kirby

Finally starting to not feel so crapulent this week, yay progress! Got blood tests back a couple of days ago, they have improved a good bit from what they were at a few weeks ago. Hopefully the cycle won't continue now and I won't be crocked again this side of Christmas...

G-Money

Just mentioned also on my training log thread. I'm probably going to saunter out this weekend for an easy 2 or 3 miles on grass to see how the left knee is. It's feeling better and to be honest, despite the procrastination and the bad weather and not really wanting to go out running, I can't shut up the voice in my head that's saying "you need to go for a run".

That's a good thing right?

hot to trot

Jacky08 wrote: »

DCM on Monday
Went for a 8mile run last night - woke up this morning and my right knee has all the symptoms of ITB injury / runners knee, had it on my left last year and managed the injury well, though it wasn't as close to the race as it is now
Would be gutted if I couldn't take part of have to pull out
Managed the 20mile with no issue - so angry now

Would anyone suggest Acupuncture at this stage or loads of rest, ice and stretching

I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THIS but ... i had a touch of ITB/side of knee issues for a number of weeks a couple of years ago. Was sore to run and sometimes I had to stop and walk which was worse and then I couldnt run again. I was down for the Belfast marathon and was determined to do it . It hurt about 4/10 and at one stage on the steep downhill about 6/10. Next day everything was achey but the day after everyything was fine. EVERYTHING. I havent had it back since. This has happened with a few minor niggles that I have had and I think sometimes if a race is important its worth doing it anyway. Im not sure if it is that the additional mileage or work that the muscle has to do unlocks the knots or is it just part of the global healing that goes on post marathon.

As I say , you make the decision , but I have had friends who have run with niggles for them to disappear during the race or afterwards. You have to decide on the risk but I wouldnt outrule DUBLIN because of it .

Cartman78

Jacky08 wrote: »

DCM on Monday
Went for a 8mile run last night - woke up this morning and my right knee has all the symptoms of ITB injury / runners knee, had it on my left last year and managed the injury well, though it wasn't as close to the race as it is now
Would be gutted if I couldn't take part of have to pull out
Managed the 20mile with no issue - so angry now

Would anyone suggest Acupuncture at this stage or loads of rest, ice and stretching

Have you had acupuncture before? If not it's probably not the wisest thing to be trying out new treatments at this stage.

I would recommend a proper sports massage and then taking it easy for the next few days. I guess you should be in taper mode at this stage anyway so you're not going to miss out on anything by not running.

I generally always get niggles/phantom injuries/blind panic before a marathon.
You've done all the hard work, got the miles in your legs/brain so just relax and make sure you make it to the start line for the DCM

McCruiskeen

So bloody pissed off!!!

have been training for the last 9 months for my first ever Marathon in 4 weeks and did my last big big run on the weekend (32km in 2:25) and I have either damaged the ligament in my ankle or I think I have an ankle stress fracture. Either way, I am finding it hard to accept that this Marathon is probably over for me. I was gonna aim for 3:10 and was confident I could achieve this.

I really don't know if I will be psychologically able to start training again for another one next year, so this might be the end of this challenge for me.

All those evenings runnning in the pissing rain = wasted!

All those evenings where I lied to my mates saying that I had plans already and couldn't hang out with them, when I really had to go running = wasted!

The evenings where all I wanted to do was chill after work for a few hours, but had to go pavement pounding = wasted!

imknackered

McCruiskeen wrote: »

So bloody pissed off!!!

have been training for the last 9 months for my first ever Marathon in 4 weeks and did my last big big run on the weekend (32km in 2:25) and I have either damaged the ligament in my ankle or I think I have an ankle stress fracture. Either way, I am finding it hard to accept that this Marathon is probably over for me. I was gonna aim for 3:10 and was confident I could achieve this.

I really don't know if I will be psychologically able to start training again for another one next year, so this might be the end of this challenge for me.

All those evenings runnning in the pissing rain = wasted!

All those evenings where I lied to my mates saying that I had plans already and couldn't hang out with them, when I really had to go running = wasted!

The evenings where all I wanted to do was chill after work for a few hours, but had to go pavement pounding = wasted!

I know how you feel, had to pull out of the dublin marathon in '07 with a knee injury. It took me a couple of years to get back out running, but you will get the bug again and give it another go. Im all set to give the dublin marathon another go now in 11 days.

Try not to give in, recover from the injury and give it another go, IMHO it is always worth giving it a second go

Best of luck

kennyb3

McCruiskeen wrote: »

So bloody pissed off!!!

have been training for the last 9 months for my first ever Marathon in 4 weeks and did my last big big run on the weekend (32km in 2:25) and I have either damaged the ligament in my ankle or I think I have an ankle stress fracture. Either way, I am finding it hard to accept that this Marathon is probably over for me. I was gonna aim for 3:10 and was confident I could achieve this.

I really don't know if I will be psychologically able to start training again for another one next year, so this might be the end of this challenge for me.

All those evenings runnning in the pissing rain = wasted!

All those evenings where I lied to my mates saying that I had plans already and couldn't hang out with them, when I really had to go running = wasted!

The evenings where all I wanted to do was chill after work for a few hours, but had to go pavement pounding = wasted!

Go get diagnosed if you dont know what it is, thats the first step.

Jacky08

Cartman78 wrote: »

Have you had acupuncture before? If not it's probably not the wisest thing to be trying out new treatments at this stage.

I would recommend a proper sports massage and then taking it easy for the next few days. I guess you should be in taper mode at this stage anyway so you're not going to miss out on anything by not running.

I generally always get niggles/phantom injuries/blind panic before a marathon.
You've done all the hard work, got the miles in your legs/brain so just relax and make sure you make it to the start line for the DCM

Cheers for the replies - I've had acupuncture before, I think maybe rest and ice, I wanted to stretch my legs last night and just can't believe it's so bad this morning .. typical ... and I enjoyed the run last night was in flying form ....:(

Nanazolie

Jacky08 wrote: »

DCM on Monday
Went for a 8mile run last night - woke up this morning and my right knee has all the symptoms of ITB injury / runners knee, had it on my left last year and managed the injury well, though it wasn't as close to the race as it is now
Would be gutted if I couldn't take part of have to pull out
Managed the 20mile with no issue - so angry now

Would anyone suggest Acupuncture at this stage or loads of rest, ice and stretching

I had acupuncture, and the rest, ice and streches. All helped, but in fairness you are a bit too close to the big day to have a full rest and recovery. The risk is that you start the marathon only to have to pull out after a couple of miles, which is even more disappointing. Then again, you could feel grand in a week and complete it, it's down to so many factors we can't decide for you. My physio said 6 weeks, but after 3 weeks I feel so great I am starting to walk again properly

What I would do, but again only you can see how you feel after a couple of days, is: have acupuncture to relax and help with the stress associated to the big event and the frustration of the injury. Relaxing your body and mind will help the healing.
Do the RICE treatment and try not to walk at all for at least 48hours, then take it very easy and gradually go back to normal activity. If nothing snaps and it keeps healing, have a light jog and see how it feels, and so on. And set my mind so that if I have to pull out at the last minute, I won't feel too bad

Good luck!

pgmcpq

McCruiskeen wrote: »

So bloody pissed off!!!

have been training for the last 9 months for my first ever Marathon in 4 weeks and did my last big big run on the weekend (32km in 2:25) and I have either damaged the ligament in my ankle or I think I have an ankle stress fracture. Either way, I am finding it hard to accept that this Marathon is probably over for me. I was gonna aim for 3:10 and was confident I could achieve this.

I really don't know if I will be psychologically able to start training again for another one next year, so this might be the end of this challenge for me.

All those evenings runnning in the pissing rain = wasted!

All those evenings where I lied to my mates saying that I had plans already and couldn't hang out with them, when I really had to go running = wasted!

The evenings where all I wanted to do was chill after work for a few hours, but had to go pavement pounding = wasted!

Get to a physio and make sure you are right about this. It's easy to assume the worst case outcome. But even if it does turn out to be a serious injury - the training is not wasted. It still is a base for the next attempt. Good luck.

McCruiskeen

pgmcpq wrote: »

Get to a physio and make sure you are right about this. It's easy to assume the worst case outcome. But even if it does turn out to be a serious injury - the training is not wasted. It still is a base for the next attempt. Good luck.

Thanks, I plan to go to call a sports clinic tomorrow. I was just waiting to see how it would react but getting worse so indicating a stress fracture.

Yes, you a are right, the training is not wasted. The bug will not go away, just very frustating timing as was so well prepared and psyched up for it. It will just be hard to run in winter with the cold so I expect to lose a lot of my fitness. Do legs keep mileage for long, does anyone know?

dahat

Have taken a new approach to my ITB injuries,some reading on google has suggested Hip muscles may be part of the problem,Article for reading on topic,been doing this program/workout as stated for 3 days,hopefully this will help in the long run.
Going to start doing planks too for core work,all these methods are new to me but hopefully the combination will help........

Combination of these......
Continued weight loss though it has slowed
Hip work out as above
Motion control shoes
Possible orthotics in time
Planks
Foam rolling.........

Fingers crossed it helps..

dahat

Off to Buckleys of Cork tomorrow to get a new pair of runners,hopefully these will sort me out some bit.Planning on getting back running with these as i have done a good bit of work myself to help with my injuries...

pgmcpq

dahat wrote: »

Off to Buckleys of Cork tomorrow to get a new pair of runners,hopefully these will sort me out some bit.Planning on getting back running with these as i have done a good bit of work myself to help with my injuries...

Good luck. If you don't mind my asking how have you chosen the new shoes ? Did you ever get the MRI done ?

dahat

pgmcpq wrote: »

Good luck. If you don't mind my asking how have you chosen the new shoes ? Did you ever get the MRI done ?

Just back and was recoomended Brooks Beast,terrible feet,severe over pronation.
MRI i am still waiting as it is a public appointment,private is far too costly for me..
I have started doing hip exercises which i feel have helped me so hopefully i can get back running some bit soon....pins and needles etc may still come back but will deal if they do....

rainbow kirby

I think I'm finally off the bench - have been able to run twice and cycle twice so far this week without any problems.

*cheer*

dahat

Went out this morning,new runners,new belief as i felt pretty good.......

Did 5 laps of a local running track,250m per lap,felt good,new runners felt real good..........walked out a lap and strectched loads there..
I came home and jumped into a large drum of cold water up to just over quad level,gave 4 mins in there..this may or may not help anything but as i have no bath in my house only a shower this is my version of an ice bath!

dahat

Went out last night to a locally organised 4k winter series,ran it without any major bother,little stiff and that this morning but generally ok.
Brooks Beast felt good and hopefully this is 1 part of my problems fixed..

Also bear in mind i have never gone beyond 5k so to do a 4k last night was a marathon to me,delighted i tell ya

Nanazolie

Congratulations Dahat. Hopefully, you'll sign off this post for good

I'm almost back to normal, don't feel any pain when I walk, feet are ok when I put them on the ground first in the morning (with plantar fasciitis, the first few steps out of bed are agonising, a bit like if you had lead feet coupled with thousands of crawling ants). I even ran for the bus for about 4 minutes yesterday, no bother. That's not to say that I'll be back to my old training routine tomorrow, I've learned my lesson. I have a last session with the physio next week, will ask him about a training regime to avoid future injury

And I need new trainers. Mine were Asics Gel 1120, does anyone know which model replaced them? (women shoes)

rainbow kirby

Nanazolie wrote: »

And I need new trainers. Mine were Asics Gel 1120, does anyone know which model replaced them? (women shoes)

1160 is the current one - 1170 should be out soon.

Nanazolie

rainbow kirby wrote: »

1160 is the current one - 1170 should be out soon.

Thanks a lot!

Bally8

So how is everyone doing? Has anyone else gotten off the bench?

Im kind of half on half of it. Im back running but only 2 to 3 times a week very slowly and short distances. I have my last session with my physio tomorrow so hopefully he will give me the all clear to start pushing the distance up a bit. Still having niggly pains in my arch though :mad:

hot to trot

whoopee , I am off the bench.

Have been running now for about 10 days.
Am up to walk 3 minutes : run 2 minutes -6 times. I started at 4 mins walk and 30 seconds run.

Seems such a long way off where I was initially and where I would like to be , but at the same time , two months ago I still couldnt walk without a limp. So happy that at least I can get to put runners on .

dahat

Much the same here,nursing it through,niggly pains as you but getting there...
Just back from a 4k run,warm down and my home made ice bath...felt good running,tried to run with a shorter stride tonight...

Bally8

hot to trot wrote: »

two months ago I still couldnt walk without a limp. So happy that at least I can get to put runners on .

That's what we all must focus on I think hot to trot- how much we can do now in comparison to when we got injured. If we keep thinking of how much we could run before the injury and how far away that seems now, it gets depressing. Focus on the positive:)

tHE vAGGABOND

My August knee injury came back during Marathon. Finished martathon but made a mess of leg in process!

Being honest, [and very much in hindsight], the august injury was never 100% sorted, but I was running at 80%-90% - most of my log posts talk about aches in knees but it being ok and not a big deal.

Now taking entire month of November off any running or activity which puts stress on knees. The name of the game is to get 100% again. I may have to shorten training plan for Paris to 14 weeks or something, but that's no huge drama, since I'm doing that to enjoy it and experience it, not to run a fast time.

I have a rehab plan, but its one of those times of year when I can take a clean break for a while, and properly and correctly give things time to heal!

Murta

dahat wrote: »

.

Combination of these......
Continued weight loss though it has slowed
Hip work out as above
Motion control shoes
Possible orthotics in time
Planks
Foam rolling.........

Fingers crossed it helps..

Have you tried off the shelf insoles. I used some while waiting for my custom made orthotics and find they helped a bit.

pgmcpq

Bally8 wrote: »

So how is everyone doing? Has anyone else gotten off the bench?

Im kind of half on half of it. Im back running but only 2 to 3 times a week very slowly and short distances. I have my last session with my physio tomorrow so hopefully he will give me the all clear to start pushing the distance up a bit. Still having niggly pains in my arch though :mad:

Still you've made great progress on the riding and the swimming ( you've made me seriously think about swimming lessons ). Congrats on the transition over to the tri world.

As for me - well ...**stops, rises, fluffs pillow, sits down again** ... the jury is still out on my running future. I'm actually feeling ok at this point but they are still figuring out if there is damage to the my hip. And the insurance company will only authorized part of the MRI images required *So much for Obama's health care reform!*. If necessary I will have to pay myself for the remainder depending on what they see in the first set.

The "good news" is that since the initial look at the xrays when I was floored with some drastic scenarios (hip replacement/degenerative arthritis) no one else I've seen has painted anything as drastic ... lots of non specific references to "stress on the hip" and "at your age". Should know more next week post the MRI (of the bits the insurance company will allow:rolleyes:).

Hoping the stationary bike and my daily "swimming" (feeble breast stoke) will preserve some level of fitness.

Bally8 wrote: »

That's what we all must focus on I think hot to trot- how much we can do now in comparison to when we got injured. If we keep thinking of how much we could run before the injury and how far away that seems now, it gets depressing. Focus on the positive

You're right but I cannot quite get to that mind set right now ...

gerard65

My achilles problem came back with vengance. I was ignoring it for too long, ignore it and it'll go away:o. So I've been 'on the bench' for three weeks and I've written off November, so hopefully it'll clear up and I can start planning for 2012.

papamike

gerard65 wrote: »

My achilles problem came back with vengance. I was ignoring it for too long, ignore it and it'll go away:o. So I've been 'on the bench' for three weeks and I've written off November, so hopefully it'll clear up and I can start planning for 2012.

Just getting back myself from achilles trouble. First raise its head after Kildare half last May. Have learnt a few things last few months:

1) Don't "over rest" it - in my case get lazy and blame the achilles injury for about 10 weeks. Get it seen to asap - point 2

2) Get it seen to by someone who knows what they are doing. Not getting into the 'therapist' debate but first person I saw, who came recommended by someone in work who has had injuries, basically gave it a rub, some ultrasound and gave me some stretches to do and felt should be ok to run in a few days - two easy runs later back to square one. Second person, only recently qualified, was very thorough on history, exam and treatment plan. Detected a minor twist in my achilles which they thought may be due to foot wear - see point 3. Have been prescribed eccentric heel drops, both straight leg and bent knee, increasing quantity and adding weight and need to keep these up for at least another 10-12 weeks. Progressive back to running plan also involving power walking intially up to 5 min run/walk upping to easy running when no stiffness/pain next morning. So far so good.

3) Footwear - Don't just order the newest model off the internet!!! Runners used in Kildare half had ~500 miles on them so the week after bought the new model off the web. Have been using Mizuno Wave Inspire the past three models but had them fitted and video'd each time. Not saying they were the cause of the Achilles injury as I felt at the time it may have been the Half but looking back I wasn't 100% happy with them and they may not offer as much support as I needed.

Just my two cents!! Hope you get it sorted and are back running soon

dahat

Anyone got any alternatives to "The Stick"?

It is quite pricey,finding calves and hamstrings hard to get at with my wavvin pipe....not getting enough bite from it...

JohnnyCrash

Tennis ball

dahat

JohnnyCrash wrote: »

Tennis ball

Sitting on one or using by hand?

Google led me to a metal rod with 5 golf balls on it.....hole drilled through the golf balls,sounds really painfull!

JohnnyCrash

Sitting/lying on one. Will get deep into the hips and glutes especially.

tHE vAGGABOND

The stick is great, a lifesaver for quick direct action, shop for a cheap price online..

dahat

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

The stick is great, a lifesaver for quick direct action, shop for a cheap price online..

35 quid from john buckleys of Cork....think i am going to get one