Give up my Goal or push through the pain

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jzs20
jzs20 Posts: 58 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been dealing with an inflammed achilles tendon over the last 2 months (xray came back ok but no MRI yet) I have a race coming up in May that i've been planning on running in for nearly 2 years now... ok to pop some pain meds and run one last race before settling down ?? or am I asking for more trouble ??
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Replies

  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
    edited February 2015
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    (1) You are going to do what you are going to do. (ETA: Which 99% chance is "going to run the race regardless of what anyone else says." This is fact, not judgment. I speak from experience.)

    (2) I have run my last two races with a lingering injury. Both times, the race has caused the injury to EXPLODE. In one case, *during* the race itself, which spoiled the accomplishment of finishing it, any pride I might have had in my time, and pretty much the memories of the race. And that's not to mention the resulting depression of not being able to run for awhile.

    On the other hand, you still have some time before May to work on strengthening your hips/core and stretching out the tendon.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    I'd take March off from running. Maybe use it as a time to cut weight. Then get back to training in April. I ca gut through with inadequate training, but an injury is much more likely to end my race.
  • SweatLikeDog
    SweatLikeDog Posts: 272 Member
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    This is not the pain that people refer to when talking about "no pain, no gain" or "pushing through pain". This is a sign of an injury that needs to heal.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Do you want to not be able to walk for six months? Maybe get a chronic injury that means never playing any of the sports you love again? Spend hundreds on physiotherapists? Spend hours and waste time looking for good physiotherapists? Do the race.

    Do you want to heal and stay active for life? Do it another time.

    Sorry - I have this T-shirt and it sucks.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    If you are ok with staying pretty much immobile for next half year, facing potential surgery and several weeks of physiotherapy, go on training for the race. If not, time to take a complete break from running, talk to a specialist and follow advice religiously. Unfortunately, speaking from experience :(
  • kellycasey5
    kellycasey5 Posts: 486 Member
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    What does your doctor say? Highly suspicious they did not say pop the pain pills and run one last race 2 months from now before settling down.... :)

    This sounds like injury, is a medical issue, and needs to be followed by professionals. Lots of great advice here, but you should have a doctor/Ortho/PT or similar following this injury. If they haven't given you activity instructions/ limitations, please ask them to do so. Let them know what you are doing on that foot and your plan to race in May. See what they say.

    Your plan is asking for trouble. The 2 months of pain and awaiting MRI sounds like you already passed the sign reading trouble ahead and kept on right on going. You are already having trouble with the tendon. Be smart about this, for your sake. Healing is always a better choice than damage control :smile:

    On a note designed to scare you (and reality for athletes I have had the pleasure of working with), even cadaver tendons can't fix everything. Please be careful. You likely plan on having the ability to walk on that foot for some time. You probably like being able to stand in the shower. This isn't something to mess with or push through.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    How long is the race? 5k, half, full?
  • punchgut
    punchgut Posts: 210 Member
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    Inflamed Achilles is an injury not a little boo boo. You need to stop!! Try and rehab for a month. Use this guide to help: http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/achilles-tendonitis-and-insertional-achilles-tendinopathy-in-runners/

    After a month, try a low intensity short run and then build from there. If you cannot get your distance and intensity back prior to April you have to bail, but only change one factor at a time (you either increase distance or intensity but not both at the same time). You would rather spend six months rehabbing an injury while still being active. Believe me, spending 18-24 months rehabbing while being inactive is no happy place. Also, do not turn the Achilles into a chronic issue.

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited February 2015
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    AllanMisner wrote: »
    I'd take March off from running. Maybe use it as a time to cut weight. Then get back to training in April. I ca gut through with inadequate training, but an injury is much more likely to end my race.

    Agreed. Taking a month off to recover is better than having to take a year off to heal.

    How long is the race?
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
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    I will not give you any advice, however I will give you an anecdote:

    At one of my half-ironman races last year I encountered a guy out on the run course who was laying down on the ground in horrific pain. His left tibia was obviously snapped in half as I could see it sticking out sideways under the skin. He didn't trip or fall or anything of the sort. His tibia literally just snapped in half at one point while he was running.

    He was already being tended to by some medics so I didn't need to stop to help him. Later on I accidentally encountered the man's wife in the hotel lobby who said he was complaining about what he thought was a stress fracture, but he was going to race anyway and then get it looked at the next week. Well... he ended up with a catastrophic failure resulting from what WAS a stress fracture. The guy is likely not going to walk right for a couple of years, because he didn't listen to his body.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    My physiotherapist pushed through an achilles injury to complete a race and he was disabled for two years, including surgery. He still can't run as well as he did before the injury. His mantra is, "Dial it back now and hurt for a couple weeks, or push through and recover for months."

    He's preparing me for my first 10K and he has already warned me I might not be able to run the whole thing. My pain gets to a 6 out of 10 (tendon/joint pain), and I slow to a walk.

    In the meantime, I follow his program of stretches religiously.
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
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    glevinso wrote: »
    I will not give you any advice, however I will give you an anecdote:

    At one of my half-ironman races last year I encountered a guy out on the run course who was laying down on the ground in horrific pain. His left tibia was obviously snapped in half as I could see it sticking out sideways under the skin. He didn't trip or fall or anything of the sort. His tibia literally just snapped in half at one point while he was running.

    He was already being tended to by some medics so I didn't need to stop to help him. Later on I accidentally encountered the man's wife in the hotel lobby who said he was complaining about what he thought was a stress fracture, but he was going to race anyway and then get it looked at the next week. Well... he ended up with a catastrophic failure resulting from what WAS a stress fracture. The guy is likely not going to walk right for a couple of years, because he didn't listen to his body.

    Wow. That's persuaded me to make an appointment for my pesky sore hip with the sports physio I've seen before for other injures, rather than train through it and grit my teeth. Certainly makes the 'better safe than sorry' argument very forcefully! Thanks for sharing this.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Seriously, let it heal!
  • amandarunning
    amandarunning Posts: 306 Member
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    I was once a committed runner who turned a tibial stress fracture into a full blown break during a marathon - not compound though! Crutches for 12 weeks, no driving, no weight bearing and then came back to running. First post-break marathon and it stressed the bone too much so eventually I stopped running as it was affecting normal life...

    It was a hard lesson to learn so don't make the same mistake. A ruptured achilles is a dreadful injury - not worth risking it.
  • 2snakeswoman
    2snakeswoman Posts: 655 Member
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    Ask your doctor.
  • alasin1derland
    alasin1derland Posts: 575 Member
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    If you snap it you are looking at a long painful recovery and you may never get a full tip top recovery. You've got some time before the race. Try to heal and reassess.
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
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    Pushing through the pain refers to pushing through the pain of lactate buildup in your muscles. Not pushing through the pain of actual injury. You can feel the difference. You know. Don't push through any actual injury (or even inflammation of a tendon or something)
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    Here's an idea. Run a full risk and impact assessment, then make your decision based off an unbiased review of these data.
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
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    See what your doctors say. Run a pro and con assessment. Is there a race you can do this fall instead? Etc. Never pop pain pills to mask an injury for a performance. The pain is there to keep your body in check. If you decide to run anyway, run without the pills so if things start to go bad you can stop and walk the rest of the race or DNF if you have to. Listen to your body. You should be able to tell if this is something you can or shouldn't push through.

    Our bodies are amazing, but they can break.....
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    AllanMisner wrote: »
    I'd take March off from running. Maybe use it as a time to cut weight. Then get back to training in April. I ca gut through with inadequate training, but an injury is much more likely to end my race.

    This is what I would do...I'd take a month off and then re-evaluate after some healing and rest. Unless you're a professional athlete who is getting paid to do so, pushing through and actual injury is pretty stupid.

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