Never assume an old injury is healed!
On the surface, this might not seem like a training article but I can assure you that it is. Why? If you don’t take heed of what I will state below, your training/race schedule will be adversely affected.
Having ruptured my Achilles tendon 7 weeks ago, I’ve had a lot of time to contemplate things. What could I have done differently? Should I have been playing tennis? Will I ever go back to playing tennis? Will I be able to run and ride as I once did? Etc…..
I also thought, what did I learn from this experience that I could pass on to you so that you never have to go through this type of debilitating injury.
It all comes down to this warning. Never assume that an old injury is healed.
I’ve suffered from Achilles tendonitis (both) on and off for about 11 years. Last year was probably the worst. I received treatment in the form of physiotherapy, massage, tons of icing, ultrasound, etc. After some rest following last summer’s racing season, everything felt awesome during the winter, training was coming along nicely and by spring I was in the best shape I’ve ever been in (confirmed by some fitness testing). Three days later, while playing tennis, I snapped my left Achilles after hitting a serve. Once I heard the loud “pop” I knew immediately what it was. Now isn’t that fitting that it would snap when everything is feeling great? Go figure.
The lesson here folks. If you suffer or have suffered from some sort of injury, always be careful and get treatment for it. Whether it be daily stretching, icing, massage or whatever. Better yet, if physiotherapy is covered in your health plan, maybe visit them at least once each week just for maintenance purposes. Seeing a massage therapist regularly definitely helps too and we have an excellent one that works right out of Running Free. Her name is Angela Lloyd and I highly recommend going to her for treatment. She is also a runner and knows her stuff.
Never believe that because your problem area feels great that you are 100% and have nothing to worry about. Great treatment and constantly keep an eye on it. Please follow this piece of advice because it will save you a whole lot of grief and maybe even prevent you from losing a season of racing.
Good luck to you all with your training and racing.
Remember to keep an eye on those nagging pains and injuries. You do not want to end up like me – drinking beer and playing Wii for exercise. Then again, maybe you do? 🙂
Roger, sorry to hear of your misfortune. Trust me I know how you feel. Afterall, I was a spectator at this year’s Boston even though I was easily trained for a sub-3.
Good luck with the recovery.
Mike
Thanks but sorry to hear about you.
That is some serious work that goes into running a sub 3.
All we can do is come back stronger next year.
I will be on the lookout for that sub 3.
Happy training.