Achillies Tendon Niggle - Day 8

MTB today with Mr S. Good fun, bloody hard work in the mud and on hills but I would say a really solid workout.  Definitely felt like I had done something both cardio and strength afterwards.

Was bloody knackered afterwards so an hour 45 mins of solid x-training banked. 

Achillies felt better afterwards. Definitely on a knife edge at the minute. Achillies injuries need to be loaded - rest doesn't necessarily help.  However you will feel the aches and some pain as you load.  Key is managing that.

Immediate thing for me is to try and resume training - running 4-5 x per week without it falling off is a start. I will hammer strength work in the mean time to work on the root of the problem and hopefully this will lead to a full return to action.

In my head January is a month to build strength and ideally run pain free without leaking too much fitness. In race terms I would ideally be in sub 18 shape by the end of the month.

Right now I am at the bottom of the 'shit pit'. It's tender, running paces are crap and I feel ill because I have DOMS from the strength work. On top of that mentally I was running 6.15 pace feeling like jogging just 2-3 weeks ago and now I don't think I could run that in a race! If I can adapt to the DOMS and maintain through the next week or so I should start to climb out of the pit.

I give myself 2 weeks to run pain free (so by 21st) and then I should start to phase in a return to normal training towards start of Feb.  It's a big ask but as long as it continues to respond to work then I can see it happening.

If I am running pain free, stronger calf, hips & glutes from the rehab and in sub 18 shape then that's a solid place to push on from.

The DOMS is my immediate concern because I am unsure how long to rest from it. I'll probably run tomorrow and not do s&c and then run plus do s&c on Tuesday and take total rest Wednesday.  If I can get to that position without DOMS then maybe I'll have a shot at a decent week?

If I can run 2 days on, 1 day mtb, 2 days on, rest until the end of the month I may get there. All depends on the achillies and calf getting stronger. I'll also be doing 4-5x strength sets on the legs to build resistance.

One good thing about DOMS is it shows you are working muscles that aren't used to that work so it's improving the missing strength. I guess I'll consolidate myself with that fact lol

Next step will be to keep up S&C but add in some dynamic work on the achillies. I will def need that to run track this year but one step at a time. That's be at least February.