Week Nine - Sore Achilles (first time poster)

[OneBetterDay]

I made it all the way through to finish week eight, then just before the Easter break I also did lots of walking (on the same days as my early morning runs) and now I have a sore achilles heel (tendonitis?). So the long and the short of it, is that I am missing my first run in eight weeks and I feel a bit deflated. I’m wondering if anyone has any recommendations for how long I should halt the running (I’ve rested for the last two days) and then whether I should take up where I left off or continue on with week nine (although, I will say I found 28 minutes of running fairly tough...I did it, but it was a challenge on all three runs). Any help would be greatly appreciated

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on your progress.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5... and includes a link to the NHS Sports injuries page.

You will not know where you have to start back on the programme until you are fully recovered and then you will have to go for a gentle exploratory run to discover how much condition you have lost.

Heeldrop exercises are excellent for Achilles tendonitis, but it can take time to recover.

Are you wearing proper running shoes fitted after a gait analysis done at a specialist running shop?

Take care and enjoy the journey.

[OneBetterDay in reply to IannodaTruffe]

I haven’t had a gait analysis, but it seemed to be the walking which caused the problem. Generally, after a run I go and sit in an office all day, (although I do ride a bike to work) and so far on my C25K journey, I’ve had no problems at all, but after my last two runs I did several KMs of gentle walking on the same day. During the second walk, I started to feel soreness in my heel and figured it was just an overuse issue. It’s not horrendously painful, but it is sore...so figured asking here might just give me some reassurance. I’m really wondering how long I should leave it before I attempt another run. (Or is that a “how long is a piece of string” question? Ha ha)

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to OneBetterDay]

Follow the link and follow the advice. When I had an Achilles issue I missed a months running. It is not worth running while it still uncomfortable. We are all different, so have to listen to our bodies.

[Cornus20]

Just finished wek 6 yesterday and I too now have a very sore achilles which I know will stop me running. I have decided to keep my stamina up by rowing machine for 25 minutes every other day and maybe try running again in 10 days time. Also going to get some proper running shoes!!

[OneBetterDay in reply to Cornus20]

That’s not a bad idea...I could replace my runs with a longer bike ride...to keep my cardio up. However, I think that any exercise which involves the calves may exacerbate the Achilles problem, so we need to be careful I guess. Stretching prior to exercise is the key I think. Thank you Cornus20 that’s definitely worth considering.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to OneBetterDay]

Stretching after every run as linked to in the guide is more important than pre run stretching.

[OneBetterDay in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Yep - I’m reading the guide now. Funnily enough I had started post-run stretching in week seven as the runs became more intense, but I have learned the hard way that the rest after the run is pretty important. Thank you for the advice.