I’ve Seen the Nike and the Damage Done

Trigger Warning!  This was written from a place of pain – self inflicted – so I have no one else to blame.

“You’re into pain and suffering, aren’t you?” asked the physical therapist.  He was kneading my calf so hard, beads of sweat were running down my face, or were they tears.  “If it doesn’t hurt, it’s not worth it, right?” he added.  When I told him I’d signed up for a 50K running race, he asked “Why would you want to do that?” 

The issue was the acute pain in my right calf.  On Monday, April 13th, I set out for an easy six mile run after work.  I soon noticed a sharp twinge in my calf.  Even though I stopped at the first sign of pain, a half mile into the run, the damage was done. 

The reason I went for a run that fateful Monday was because I missed my morning swim workout.  Had I swum 5,000 yards as planned, I would not have been running.  I had run hills the previous two days, so my calves were tired.  The result was a tear in my Achilles tendon. 

The Achilles is a large and prominent tendon that connects the gastrocnomius and soleus muscles to the heel bone.  The Achilles is the thickest tendon in the human body and can handle a load stress 7.7 times the body’s weight when running.

Here’s a little back-story:

In Greek mythology, when Achilles was a baby, his mother Thetis dipped his body into the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invulnerability.  But as she held Achilles by the heel, his heel was not washed over by the water of the magical river.  Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles.  But one day, a poisonous arrow shot at him was lodged in his heel, killing him shortly thereafter.  Metaphorically, an Achilles heel is a weakness in spite of overall strength, which can potentially lead to downfall.  

My athletic success comes not from great innate skill nor flexibility nor a high anaerobic threshold.  It comes from my ability to withstand a great amount of discomfort, during both training and racing.  That is also my weakness. 

Here are the steps I took to try to heal the injury:

Dry Needling – It is what I imagine it would feel like sitting on the sofa in Keith Richards’ living room.  Yes, my calf felt better, but it is hard to say if it was due to dry-needling or just not running for a week.

Elastic therapeutic tape or kinesio-tape – is supposed to correct the alignment of weak muscles as well as facilitating joint motion.  I found no benefit from kinesio-taping.

Duct tape – did about as much good as the kinesio tape.

 

Trainer’s Tape – Tried and true.  I used the brute force method of trainer’s tape to immobilize my calf, to support the calf so it could withstand the pounding of running.  With this approach I was able to run, clubfoot-like. 

I changed my registration in the Greenland 50K race to the 8 mile event.  If there’d been a 1 mile fun run, I’d have switched to that.  I was extremely pleased to have finished – 3^rd place in my age group. 

The bigger issue is that I don’t know when to back off the training.  One mile is too many and 1,000 not enough.  We’ve heard the old saw “the older you get, the more rest you need.”  If you don’t heed that advice, you’ll end up having to take extended time off from running, like I will. 

I am fortunate that I have other physical activities that I enjoy, namely swimming and roller-skiing.  But since I identify as a runner and am not able to run, my psyche is taking a hit.  The fact that my athletic reach exceeds my grasp IS what motivates me.  It also leads to injuries that probably could be avoided.  My body is telling me to take a break.  This time I’m listening. 

Adieu.