Achilles Problem - Need Advice

[nakedsoul]

Hi Guys,

Newbee here at the forum. Been doing the C25K program since late January. I'm now at week 6 and running up to 20-25mins. Really pleased with myself! I actually enjoy the runs (I never thought I'd say that!).

However, after my run 2 days ago, I woke up the next day with a pain in the back of my ankle, where my Achilles Tendon is. It's not a great pain (only when I move it around) and there's no swelling but I am limping around a little today. It's stiff. Stretching it only seems to make it worse.

I have to be honest and tell you that I was running in inappropriate footwear, just an old pair of hard Adidas trainers. I've since learned the value of footwear!

Couple of questions which I am hoping you Guys can help me with:

1. How long should I rest the foot? I have read horror stories of people running and tearing the tendon.
2. Should I be stretching it? Or doing some sort of exercise? I heard that's good for back pain, same here?
3. Should I revert back to say week 3 when my foot is better?
4. Do you Guys have recommendations on good but cheap footwear? I went JD sports here, I was recommended Asics Virage, Mild Cushion, £60.00.


Thanks in advance, Myles

[benjohn]

Well, first up – fantastic stuff getting to week six; well done!. I'm sure you'll be through to the end soon…

Next up – I can't give you any kind of medical advice because I'm absolutely not qualified to do so in any way at all Just to make that clear! With a bit of luck, someone who can will read this and do so, or at least, give you some good ideas from their experience.

Failing that, some things I'd suggest:

• Go and talk to your doctor (if you're in the UK, that's easily done, I don't know about the rest of the world) – they'll give you some good advice and will refer you on to an expert if needed.
  
  Ask them at your running shop. They're bound to have experience of this and be in a position to offer very useful advice. However, I'm not sure I'd go for JD sports or any of the big brands. You've probably got a good, small and independent running shop reasonably near by. I generally see runners recommending this kind of shop.
  
  If you're happily running 25 minutes now, you could find your local running club and go and talk to them about it. I think they'd be really happy to see you, and I've found running with a buddy is amazingly motivating.
  
  If you're a member of a gym, I would think that they'll have someone who can advise, but of course, you may not be – I'm not, and I'm happy to not be paying the fees and enjoying my exercise outside!
  
  Have a good look about on the internet. I would tend to pay less attention to anecdote: people talking about what happened to them; instead concentrate on the articles by someone who can offer authoritative advice.

Anyway – I would suggest that you _do_ look in to it somehow, and do pause with running until you're clear (from some source) that you're okay to resume on. Assuming you don't have to stop for months, I don't think you'll need to go back to week three, but see how your body feels when you start again. In the mean time, if you have access to a cross trainer, you could continue with the course on this instead, perhaps, if it doesn't seem to hurt your tendon.

On shoes: I would definitely suggest getting some running shoes, but (unless you've got some kind of highly specific requirement) I don't think they need to be hugely expensive. My current pair were £40 (not in a sale or anything).

Hope that helps, let us know how it goes!

All the best,
Ben

[benjohn]

I just found this running advice link that covers the pain that you are describing. Worth a look!