Advice on Achilles

[StephenBayliss]

Mr Smith.

Your bike position and new shoes and pedals may well be helping.

It is often the bike that causes the injuries.  The bike can tighten up the leg muscles and then you feel it on the run and so might you might think it is a run injury.

It is important to get the legs used to the biking and running. 

All the best with your training.

[doc]

now u got it amd come the full educational story
run gets blamed for nearly every injury but the bike can be bringing it and you dont know because of lack of gravity thus when you run it shows and thus
all the geniii   say r there it is a run injury now go home and stretch it till it beconmes a real problem then get back to me 3 times a week to fix
go figure

[krusty]

Update-from Pischamp (changed name to Krusty) on dodgy calves.
9 weeks into IMWA campaign, a tad under 3 weeks til race day
1-Newtons now live on power wires outside my house and I'm running in normal running shoes.
2-Lowered seat a little, a lot actually 1cm, much more stable through hips etc (feels like it to me anyway-not sure what i look like though)
3-little to no calf stretching for 9weeks, tiny bit of hammy stretching still.
4-1 or 2 massages a week-never too hard on legs though, just flushing more than anything.
result is basically no calf problems at all other than general fatigue, but that is whole legs not calf specific. Hard to know whether its the newtons or seat height, or a combination of both, i suspect the latter. Either way i am near the start line in 1 piece, have 1 big saturday to get through and i'm there. Ready to rip-in now.
As always, thanks for some great input. Let you know how i go in 3 weeks.

[gus.moratorio]

Hi Krusty,

I had the same thing when I tried Newtows... after a few weeks I was having really bad calves and knee pain. To be perfectly honest, I am not sure they were the cause of it, but trying to change one's way of running might have impact on the muscles when used differently that we are used to. I have been now in "normal" race flat shoes for a few months and it does feel a lot better...

Doc, Great educational moment there... I never thought of the non-gravity of cycling...

Gus

[Keith Watson]

It's not the newtons per say but it's how you try and run in them. They are actually a great shoe. Don't force yourself to run on your toes. Run normal. Heal strike, mid whatever. And you might find its not the shoe you blame.

I have been in newtons since 2007. Had some issues like you all speak of. Stopped solving for the forefoot bs and just ran normal and no more issues. Great shoe!

[DamienC]

Think of it this way: If you are 30years old, and have been running for 25 of those in a specific way, how do you expect your body to react when you suddenly try and force a new running technique on it?

[krusty]

hey guys i should point out i ran in the newtons for over a year trouble free. I'm not blaming the newtons but that was one thing i could change easily, so i did. i like running in them and might go back to them after this IM. i actually believe it comes from the bike not the run, and more so from the continuous stretching. I'll never really know.
11 days to go-still healthy.

[Mr Smith]

And my latest update for anyone interested...

Achilles problem is way reduced and running volume is almost back to "normal". I'm still cautious about hard hill work or fast flat running but overall running is going well. The things that seems to have worked for me (can't isolate any in particular as they have all been happening at the same time):

- new bike (and riding position) = using glutes much more when riding
- new/better bike shoes. Old ones were soft and stretched - new ones are stable and solid
- new pedals with new bike and shoes. Still Keo's which I had before but maybe old ones, or at least cleats, were worn
- regularly doing Alfredsen heel drop exercises to strengthen calves. Very gradually adding extra weight over time - up to 20kg extra now
- regularly rolling calves on the foam roller
- icing after every run. NOT wrapping in an ice blanket - rubbing ice cube up and down achilles and wiping off excess water - helps take the inflamation out
- and the big one: TIME - it was tendon injury and tendon's take time to regenerate (patella tendinosis took 6-9 months recovery for me). This Achilles problem started 12 months ago for me

So things are going really well for me now, and long may that continue. I'll keep doing all these things for as long as I feel there is benefit, but starting to move into more maintenance mode than rehab.

Good luck for any other sufferers out there - hope you find something useful from my experiences.

[Jurassic]

Hey Mr Smith,

The calf 'lowers' worked for me, too.
Things seemed to get a little better with each session (I did them every 48 hours, to fatigue), until the issue was resolved. I used straight leg and bent leg.
Currently I keep them going 3x a week, to help stay injury free.

[doc]

thanks for your info

[krusty]

wrap up for me, 9.39 at IMWA, an 18min pb, calves are great, i think bike position was key to getting calves right but will never know for sure.
Thanks for the feedback to all.