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It was the first time in a long time that I went out for a a training run on consecutive nights tonight.
When I woke up this morning my achilles tendons felt OK, and my ankles felt strong all day, so I thought I would risk it.
I still can’t get used to running so slow and I’m finding it so hard to land midfoot. I may video my running at the weekend to see just how well (or not) that I’m doing.
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This was the first time I’d been out since my terrible cold of the last few weeks.
I had a tough night in the gym last Friday and I could still barely walk this morning - so didn’t hold out too much hope for a nice gentle run! I can’t remember a time my quads have been so tight.
It was also the first run I’ve had round King’s Hill - which is where my gym is. It was a nice gentle loop of just over 2.5 miles.
Still, it wasn’t too bad. The heart rate was pretty high and after about 1.5 miles both achilles started to feel quite tight. I tried as much as possible though to shorten my stride length and land midfoot. I will succeed at this!!!
There’s nothing quite as important when it comes to injury prevention for runners than stretching. Using a foam roller can supplement stretching by providing a deep massage to muscles and fascia. Aiding therefore recovery and injury prevention.
Foam rollers are inexpensive and easy to use at home. And the best thing is, it only takes a couple of minutes to really feel the benefits. Think of it as a cheap sports massage you can do yourself!
(View other Garmin Forerunner 305 articles)
The first part of this Garmin Forerunner 305 review looked at my reasons for buying the Garmin as well as what came in the box. In this part of the review we’ll look at how the unit is charged up to use.
I have to admit this week hasn’t been the best in my life… hence the lack of posts.
I’ve felt awful all week. It really started as just a slight cough last Sunday, and then developed in to a real bad cough before turning to blocked nose and sinuses until today. I seem to have had the same headache for about 3 days now too…which is just the icing on cake.
So, I haven’t been on a training run all week - which has helped my achilles tendons!
I did go for my pilates class on Thursday night but didn’t exactly feel up for it. It was kind of embarrassing as exercise rooms tend to echo even the smallest of coughs! I had a short 10 min run on the treadmill whilst at the gym too.
It’s Sunday today, and I couldn’t not go for my Sunday workout. I probably did about half of the normal amount of gym work but did run for 20 mins on the treadmill. I started off with the normal 5 mins walk up a steep incline and then did 10 mins at a slow run. I watched an old mpeg clip of my last race back in October earlier this week and couldn’t believe just how far I was over striding and landing heel first… so I made every effort today to land midfoot. There was a mirror in front of me so I could see if I was heeling it and it didn’t seem that I was.
My legs feel quite tight now but I think that’s more to do with the split lunges than the running. The achilles feel slightly tight, but hey, they always do!
This cold has really put me behind on writing some more posts for this site too. I was hoping to have had a few more parts to the Garmin Forerunner 305 review up by now… so will do my best to get better and get some uploaded this week.
I must admit, I didn’t have the best night’s sleep last night. My daughter was coughing most of night, and when she wasn’t, I was.
This cold has hit me real hard now. Today will definitely be a rest day (apart from work that is!).
My achilles tendons were probably as tight as they’ve been since Christmas this morning. It really feels like I’m recovering at a very slow rate. I guess it could be that the tweaks to my orthotics over the weekend along with the new heel risers have just placed a strain on a different part of the tendons.
I went to the gym yesterday and did my full workout - which included 5 mins walking on the treadmill with an incline of 11%, then 10 mins running at a slow pace with at a 2% incline, and then 5 mins cool down. Maybe this was too much?
Hopefully I’ll wake up a lot better in the morning - either minus the sniffing, minus the coughing, or minus the stiff achilles tendons!
EDIT:
Since writing this post I’ve been doing some achilles tendon stretches and a foam roller exercise for the calf and achilles tendon which have really helped my achilles pain.
Having written many posts about why I needed running orthotics, and also about what I’ve gone through since getting them fitted, I thought I should post an article that actually shows you what they look like. The main reason being that when I first heard of orthotics, I didn’t have a clue what they were. So, hopefully these pictures may help you…
I think today was about the 4 time I’ve gone back to see my podiatrist to tweak my running orthotics.
Each time has made a difference, so let’s hope this is the last time I have to see her. She probably hopes that that’s the case, as I paid her £120 up front - which included the initially consultation, the making of the orthotics, and then all the follow ups.
I’m going back to see my podiatrist tomorrow. I think my orthotics do need looking at again.
I’m kind of happy because my achilles tendons aren’t as stiff in the mornings now, but the are painful just where the tendon joins the heel, and also to each side of the tendon itself. Last time I saw here she said I may need the heels raising slightly so I guess that’s what will happen.
The pain I was getting in the back of the calf has gone now since I last saw her… so I do think she knows what she’s doing! She warned me up front that it could take a few small tweaks to get them just right.
I’ve carried on doing my anti shin splint exercises too, but my shins are still slightly sore if I rub them - so we’ll see what she says about that too.
Went out for a run after work tonight. It didn’t feel too bad.
My achilles tendons hurt every now again though, particularly in the back of my heels.
Breathing was tricky at times… I think I’m definitely coming down with the cough that the rest of the family has got!
It was 50/50 as to whether or not I was going to go out this morning.
I wore some big woolly socks to bed last night as I thought they may keep my achilles tendons nice and warm - and therefore reduce the stiffness in the morning.
I’m not sure if it was down to the socks but they did certainly feel better when I woke up. They were still a bit stiff, but the stiffness was mainly to the sides of the tendon’s themselves, so I decided to go out.
After plenty of warming up exercsis I started out really slow. I have to admit, it was one of the hardest runs I’ve had. I was just so breathless. I feel really fit at th moment, so I think I may be coming down with the cold that everyone else has got in my family!
Anyway, the achilles didn’t feel too bad during the run, and after my shower and some stretches they don’t feel bad at all.
Thank God that when I woke up this morning my achilles tendon pain wasn’t as bad as yesterday.
They still took a good 10 minutes to loosen up, but I decided to go to the gym anyway.
With 15 mins on the treadmill (10 mins walking just below jogging pace on an 11% incline, and 5 mins running very slowly on a gentle incline) and then my workout routine, I felt a lot better afterwards.
I’ve also just ordered a foam roller so that I can do some more exercises at home. Once it arrives I’ll post some examples of what I do… and what the benefits are.
Well, I hate to say it, but this morning was a first. I decided to turn back home after only about 400 yards in to my run.
I had a pretty good night’s sleep so felt quite good when I woke up this morning. As soon as I got out of bed though I thought that my achilles tendons felt worse than normal. I did a lot of stretches and exercises last night, so I think I may have just overdone it.
Anyway, I loosened up well, doing my normal ligament stretches and so felt OK to go for my normal 2 miler. As soon as I started to run though I had some strange pains in my achilles tendon area - in both feet. The pain really was quite intense so I stopped straight away and started to walk. After a few yards I jogged very, very slowly and the tightness started to subside. I then started to get a strange tight feeling to the left of my achilles tendon in my left leg, so this really did make me think I should turn round and come home.
By the time I got home I was feeling really gutted. I hated having to cut the run short… well to be fair, it never really got started.
As soon as I got i I got an ice pack to both achilles tendons and after a couple of minutes the pan went. I could even walk with no problems.
However, when I was out shopping later in the day it was really hurting to walk again. Each time I placed my heels down they had pain in them. They feel better now, but there’s no way I’m going to stretch tonight.
I’m due to go to the gym tomorrow, but I’ll wait to see what they’re like in the morning. If they’re still bad I’ll go for a swim instead.