Lets try this again. I posted before around a database crash so you see the 2 other threads with no content. If someone could delete those so that I don’t look like a tool I would appreciate it lol.
Background:
-31, 170lb
-got back into running 2 years ago after 11 years away from track and field.
My first season back I was by myself, trained lightly and competed in a few open meets in 200 and 400m events. No injuries but I was not taking it too seriously.
Last season I got hooked up with a trainer from Jamaica and kinda got “into the circle” here in central florida seeing damu cherry and dennis mitchell training on a regular basis and getting to hang out with dwight thomas. This also got me access to a lot of therapy which I used…
Last season being my first real season in a long time I was plagued with injuries. My first meet I strained my right hamstring. Took time off, eased back into training then strained my left hamstring. Again, more time off, ease back into it…strained my right hamstring again. I started the season training in october but it wasn’t until June that my hamstring issues were better and I could run in a second meet. I ran a 400, PB’d and thought things were looking up. I was beginning to prepare for the US masters championships.
My right achilles started getting sore. It didn’t hamper my training, and didn’t get any better or worse so I kept training. I would just take extra time warming up and ice after workouts and thought I would be ok. After one of my sessions it started hurting bad. The next day I could barely walk on it. So, I took a few days off and adjusted my training to take me off the track and do lot of bike work. This seemed to help after a week or so and I gradually got back on the track but the pain was still there and I noticed my left achilles starting to get sore too. Because of this I decided to not go to the championships and run in one more meet. I did this, ran a 200 and again PB’d. Following this, I ended my season.
That was July 31st. From then until October 10th I took complete rest. No gym, no running, nothing. I really wanted to heal my achilles so that I could run again. My left has gone away but my right which was the worse I still feel. It is still and sore when I wake up in the morning but gets better and feels fine by midday.
I have started doing a lot of achilles rehab exercises and stretches the past 2 weeks which has helped but there is still discomfort there. I have started back in the gym but I am afraid to start running again. I do a lot of calf stretches, heal drops and toe walks.
I have seen an orthopedist who took xrays and recommended the exercises I am doing now. I know the achilles takes a long time to heal but I would have thought the almost 3 months of rest would have been enough.
Could my hamstring issues have attributed to my achilles problems? After taking the time off, how concerned should I be with getting back out there? I plan to do most of my training in the beginning on grass. The tracks I run on are both mondo surface but I would occasionally run on an all weather rubber surface before.