Beginning of the story

[Frog_Princess]

Hi, I’m new to both the Couch to 5K and this community. I’ve only just finished the 2nd week, I was thrilled with my progress and managed to enjoy running - who knew? However, now I’m disheartened with Achilles tendinitis; which means that I can currently barely walk, let alone run 😢 I really don’t want to lose momentum; but I also don’t want do myself serious injury. I’ve used ice and elevation. Any idea appreciated for speedy recovery.

[packersruns Graduate]

I think there’s such things as seated cardio that you can do to try and keep your stamina up but I would be very very careful - the best thing for recovery is rest. I don’t have much advice other than that but the admins and other community members on here are really knowledgable. I wish you a speedy recovery

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on getting started.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on dealing with injury, minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

When I tweaked an Achilles I found eccentric heel drops worked well.

Make sure that you stretch immediately after every run while muscles are still warm and supple, pulling out contractions, avoiding carrying tensions into the next run and also improving recovery by improving blood flow, as recommended in the guide to the plan.

Many people do not hold their stretches for long enough or put enough effort in. Hold post run stretches for 30 seconds and make sure the pull is strong enough to be on the verge of discomfort.

You will require patience.

Enjoy your journey.