Tendonitis - Gutted (Read 708 times)

Had great plans for this year, was due to run my second HM in March (same place as my first one last year) and was looking forward to my miles of training paying dividends by knocking a chunk off my first time. Was then hoping to do another in June, after which I would then decide whether I was capable of going for a full marathon. Back end of last year i managed to increase my mileage up to around the 25 mpw mark, and during the last couple of months i was running quite a bit on roads, and my shoes had plenty of miles on them. I started to get pains in my lower leg when starting to run and then after finishing running, the pain went off during running. So I got myself some new shoes, but the pain continued. So in the last month I have run just twice, and the pain afterwards was pretty intense. Last night i went to see a pysiotherapist who reckons i have tendonitis and should lay off the running for 2 more MONTHS, and then take it steady. So both my HM's are out, and it looks like any marathon attempt is out too. Funny until I started running in Jan 07 I had never run much at all - its funny how in such a relatively short space of time becomes important to you, and how having it taken away from you affects you. My plan now is to swim and cycle (need to do something otherwise will end up the size of a house!) for the next couple of months, then start introducing one run per week, and see how it goes. Maybe by the end of the year i might still be injury free and able to tackle one of the HM training plans for beginners. Am still going to log my workouts here, but will be dropping out of the distance groups.

I second Biketm. Tendonitis of what did he say??? The fact you only "ran twice" last month and yet the pain pursisted leads me to question if 2 more months of lay-off would do you much. To tell you the truth, it might have served you better if you lower the volume and intensity during that period but continue to run. Your tendons don't have blood vessels and tendonitis is a b!tch to treat because of that. But also because of that, quite often it reacts positively if you continue to exercise because that increases the blood flow to the injured area. Especially, you seem to have noticed that the pain sort of goes away during the exercise but more painful before and after??? There are of course various tendonitis; knee (right below your knee cap) and Achilles are probably the most common ones for runners. It's important to keep the area warm; if it's your knee, for example, cut off the sleeve of the old sweats and wrap your knee with it during the day to keep it warm and well-circulated (with blood, that is). Do some light stretching before going for a run. Keep it slow and cut back the duration by 1/4 or so (if you run for 20-minutes, do it for 15....however, it usually could take 15 minutes or so for body to warm up; so be reasonable). I would actually definitely continue exercising as long as pain is reasonable because, like I said, improved blood circulation actually helps. After the run, make sure you ice-massage the area. Fill a paper cup with water and freeze it. As the whole thing freezes, peel off about 1/2 inch from the top; this way, you can hold it with your hand and gently massage the sore area with a circular motioin. This is actually better than simply placing ice pack on the area--increases blood flow better. One of the first things a non-runner doctor would tell you is "Stop running". It's the easiest thing to tell you; of course, that's the last thing a runner wants to hear. If the doctor/PT tells you to stop running, I'd seek the second opinion from a runner who has had the similar experience and ask for a "solution". If it is in fact tendonitis, I would just keep it shorter and easy but continue to workout and see how that feels. Once again, be reasonable; if the pain is unbearable, don't continue! Use your common sense. But at this point, I wouldn't necessarily throw away the idea of running the half; for sure, the one in June.

There is no way it should take two months for tendonitis to heal. If it won't go away with rest and a course of anti-inflammatories then you should be offered steroids. The worst case I had was gone within a week with a Medrol Dose Pack. Tom

Second what Nobby said. I have been getting graston treatment for tendonties from chiropractor and it has been VERY effective. My first graston doc was not so good. She spent about 5 minutes on me, and put me in severe pain, chabbing into my leg. I switched doctors and he spends 20-30 minutes each visit gently breaking up the lesions in my lower legs. Has allowed me to keep running. and even add miles. Doc also recommended ice-massage once a week like Nobby suggested. The other runs you could put a wet towel in the freeze before your run, then wrap towel around our legs for 15 minutes after run.