[pyschosyd]

Has anyone dealt with achilles tendonitis before?

I agrivated mine while training my track athletes last spring. I took a month off of running at that point (which sucked) and worked on some strengthening excercises. It became a managable situation. I raced and trained all summer with it only really being noticable when I woke up in the morning, and when I first started to run. It goes away (usually) very quickly. However recently it is flaring up again. I'm going to take the next 2-3 weeks (after my x-country team is done) and focus on letting heal before training begins in November.

Has anyone had this and healed completely?
My sister is a phsyio and has given me strenghtening excercises. They help but it isn't going away.:mad:
Thanks
Syd

[Spike10]

Hi Syd, yes I had a very bad case of it a few years ago, it really got bad when I worked in a certain pair of work boots that held my heal in a cup and would not let it flex naturally. A friend that was a medic in the Army told me to get a pair of boots that would let my foot move more and use ice and Ibuprofin until the pain and swelling went away. As I said this was several years ago and it had not been a problem until just before my Olympic this year, I had several hours in the wrong footwear and made it flair up with a vengance. I did the run portion with a severe limp, since then I have not worn the wrong boots or shoes for more than is required and my tendon is about 95% and still getting better, daily stretching is also key.
I hope this helps you.
Spike.

[willchaf]

I developed Achilles Tendonitis last October and the doc put me in a boot, told me not to run, add ice, stretch, etc. The pain like you said was mainly when I woke up in the morning, so the boot was to help with that. I was out basically all of November and it never fully went away. Funny thing about my case was that when I ran the pain was not there, but after a run it would be sore. So I would take another week off, run on treadmill to see how it felt, take a week off to rest it and repeat the cycle. I was training for the Houston Half Marathon, so I really needed to get through this ordeal and get some miles in.

Finally, I just decided to go running to see how my AT felt and you know what? It was just fine. Yes it was sore afterwards, but I stretched it and just kept on running. I was able to do the 1/2 Marathon with no problems and now the pain is totally gone.

So, long story short, if I were you I'd listen to what your body is telling you. Run on it and if you feel like you can't go on without suffering further injury, stop. Otherwise, run through it and it may be just what you need to get over it.