Comments on: 18 miles! And now I need some advice

By: vj

vj — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 16:15:16 +0000

I am super familiar with heel spurs and achilles tendon. The treatment I follow, with good results, is ice, of course; rest, of course; doing your achilles tendons stretches religiously several times a day; and take a tennis ball and roll it around with the affected foot. That last thing seems silly, but it really does help.

By: jeff

jeff — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:51:26 +0000

ice, stretching and copious amounts of fluids will help most injuries. treat yourself to a couple weeks of massages, too. maybe one a week until the week before the race.

it may very well be tendonitis, but it also sounds like a bone spur. either way, you should still be able to race if you pamper your body.

don’t underestimate the hydration item, though. that helps TONS.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:32:16 +0000

My Achilles tendon problems hit a little further up the back of my leg, so I always had the impression it was a little bit higher, but around the same time as yours prior to my marathon. I’d see if it’s maybe your shoes, and take a few days off if you can.. Mine went away once I switched back to an old model of shoes and did some stretching exercises from that same website you have linked for IT band stuff. Now if I could only get the IT band issue licked…

By: Deene

Deene — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:23:57 +0000

Wow, that’s a long run. I don’t have any advice for heel pain, maybe heat and ice rotation.

By: aprilanne

aprilanne — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 00:20:24 +0000

Hooray for 18 miles!! I?m sorry I don?t have any advice, just listen to the other RBF members. :)

By: Dawn (aka Pink Lady)

Dawn (aka Pink Lady) — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 20:25:10 +0000

I’m with everyone on the Chocolate in any form and lots of it. :-)

Good job on getting the run done despite the pain. Speaking of which, a sports medicine doctor or Sports Chriropactor (spelling) who can check your gait, shoes or whatever may not be working to its best performance. I went to one once and some little stretches he gave me made all the difference in the world.

Good luck Jon!!!

By: Pamalamadingdong

Pamalamadingdong — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 19:05:07 +0000

chocolate cures everything doesn’t it? Good for you and the 18 miles…I am green with envy.
I hope the heel feels better!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 18:04:08 +0000

Not familiar with the heel pain, but I am familiar with dead legs! For me, after about 3 hours of running, I need some sort of food in my stomach (gummi worms), and some electrolyte tablets as well. I think that is when my breakfast and powerbar and gels are all burned out and I don’t have enough fuel anymore and I need more than a gel. Don’t know if that helps…

By: Colleen

Colleen — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 14:21:35 +0000

Congrats on the run!! Way to put the mileage in and at a faster pace. Have you had someone take a look at your kicks? Maybe they can just put in an insert to relieve some of the pain you are experiencing. With those long distances you’re just going to experience and something you can’t forsee or predict. Make sure you are stretching that area before and after you run, and ice! You might have a sports trainer look at it and he/she would be able to give you some stretches, moreso than I could describe over this thing. Don’t freak out, just take it easy and don’t run on it until you’re able to relieve some of the pain. The worse thing you’d could do is continue to train on it…otherwise chocolate is a good option. FINISH STRONG!

By: Beansprout

Beansprout — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 13:44:11 +0000

Oh Jon!

Take the advice not to freak out. Go see a sports doctor and frind out exactly what is going on. I have to admit that I’d be with you on the hysterical thing after all the training time you’ve put in. Try not to go there! And you should be proud of having your longest run to date. Congratulations on that!