So day 2 of my treadmill jogging went fairly well, but it took a lot of self-restraint to stop myself from pushing too hard.
I set the timer to 15 minutes, and I started on a walk for about 5 minutes. I then steadily increased the speed until I was jogging at a slow pace. As I was working up a sweat, I steadily increased the speed until I was jogging at about 12 min per mile. I was feeling pretty good, and I didn’t feel any pain in my achilles, just a slight uncomfortable feeling that’s always there.
I then started thinking about the conversation on my previous post, and I recalled my conversation with daveleft where I mentioned that I didn’t have much pain just before the achilles rupture. There wasn’t much pain during and after the rupture either.. And then I started to wonder if I was pushing a bit much, as I am only supposed to start jogging at around 6 month mark. I also figured that my body won’t be giving me much warning if re-rupture happened.
Still, I felt great and my lungs/legs were begging me to push the “UP” arrow. As I was trying to decide if I should run faster, I had forgotten that I had set the timer to 15 minutes. A few minutes passed, and I heard the “cool down” beep, and it started to slow down.. I then decided that it was probably wise that I stop.
I got off of the treadmill, and I felt around my achilles area and it felt a bit odd. There was this numbness throughout the tendon, as if it was this foreign object inside my body. I also massaged around the tendon area and there was really no discernible pain. I don’t know what that means, but I decided that I should move onto other exercises. I did leg extensions, squat machine with no weights, upper body workout, etc.
After I monitor how my leg feels for the next few days, I’ll continue to experiment with jogging on the treadmill.
It really felt great to jog, and I am looking forward to the next one.
22 responses so far ↓
1 mlouie // May 28, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Dennis,
Glad to hear yet more progress being made! As I transition to the boot and PWB, I’ve got the same concerns about pushing too hard just because I feel good since I might be feeling better than I actually am. Slow, steady gains seems to be the order of the day, now.
Anyways, thanks for the update and I love the video! They had those guys on VH1 not too long ago talking about how the accessibility of the net is providing the quirky an outlet.
Mike
2 Jim // May 29, 2008 at 3:18 am
Dennis, I always love to hear your updates. When I found the site there were only a handful of people here, with you being the main character. You are about 3 weeks ahead of me post op and about the same protocol time line. I wasn’t thinking the other day and had to hustle a jay-walk. Man, my ATR leg felt like a shock absorber and nothing more. It would soak up the hit, but absolutely no rebound. I’m the opposite. My rupture was exquisitely painful. I turned many shades of gray and green right after, and considered vomiting but didn’t want to have to clean it up.
So can you stand on the ball of your foot, unassisted, on the ATR leg? This is my next obsession, standing on th ball of my ATR foot alone, but I’m about 80 pounds off according to my bathroom scale. What stops me is the pain in the surgery site, and I don’t want to push that too far.
I also have to thank you for setting up this site. It really helped and continues to help me, although it is more on a daily basis now than a minute by minute check for updates, as I did post op. And thanks to everyone else who has contributed to the site. It has been great to have a support group out there. For those not as far along, you will be soon.
Jim
PS I just watched that video, LOL!!!
3 dennis // May 29, 2008 at 11:04 am
Jim -
It’s been great reading about your progress also, and thanks for your comments on negotiating the cost of medical care on Tom’s page. I’ve created a link from the main site to Tom’s page: Medical Care for the Uninsured
Tom’s post and your comments on that page have been really helpful. I’ve already pointed a couple of people directly to your comments.
(By the way, if you have other tips or more details for the uninsured folks, I think it’ll really help them.)
Also, thanks for making purchases on Amazon through the search box on the main page.
Donations and commissions from Amazon links go towards running this site, so I appreciate that.
I just stood on one foot and attempted to do a toe raise, and I couldn’t do it. And my achilles is a little sore from last night’s treadmill jog so it starts to hurt when I try.
Not a sharp pain, but a dull pain.. which is okay.
I am going to ease off on leg exercises until I recover totally from the soreness.
4 eriedutchgirl // May 30, 2008 at 11:12 am
Dennis,
When I was in spyn class for the first time post-ATR, my lungs and endorphins were urging me to do the whole 55 min, but i stopped at 35, when i was feeling really good and getting that high. I figured that between the endorphins and the lack of cardio for the last two months, I wasn’t in a position to make a good decision about “how much is too much”. I had decided before I started that 30 minutes was a smart length of time. And I figured I was smarter before I started than I was in the middle of it. I, too, decided that ‘feeling good’ isn’t enough. This is one injury you just have balance between your body and your brain. Good post.
5 dennis // May 30, 2008 at 12:01 pm
eriedutchgirl -
I couldn’t have said it any better.
Great comment. Respect!
6 nancy // Jun 3, 2008 at 12:21 am
hi dennis
just wanted to keep you posted on my recovery like promised…
i’m in week 13
2 shoes for almost 2 weeks
walking with a little limp
my physio wants me to do similar stretches as everyone else
i’m only on the stationary bike for a max. of 15 min.
i would like to go longer but she says no…i’ll try again this wed. to change that, i want to sweat a little, common, this body needs it!!
when i talked about running to my surgeon, he told me to wait til i reached 6 months post op…
now, you tell me, what have you read through the posts on this site? common for others to run before 6 months? like you?
what i find the hardest is to reprogram my brain to do things with that left foot
i have trouble with my toe lifts, my weight seems to shift to my good leg all the time
i guess with practice it will come along
i’m pretty happy with my progress and yes, would like to do more, but i’ve learned to be patient in those last 3 months…
anyways, it’s nice to hear that you are doing great
i need to take more time reading all the posts
since i’m back to work, i haven’t had enough time to read by i do miss reading all this!
take care
nanc
7 Jim // Jun 3, 2008 at 4:19 am
Nancy, I am also at week 13 and the most frustrating thing for me is standing on the ball of my foot. If I put both feet together and try to stand on my toes, it never feels like the injured leg is doing a thing. It’s almost like I get a cramp in my ankle joint, it’s difficult to explain. Just wanted to let you know your story sounded familiar and I can relate. Oh well, better two stinky shoes than one!
8 dennis // Jun 3, 2008 at 7:02 pm
nancy,
Thanks for the update. Glad that you are walking in 2-shoes! I’ve updated your Achilles Profile with the info.
It’s hard to say as for what others are doing, since I am one of the early ATR’s so not too many people a head of me. Tom was running a bit at the 4-month mark as well.
I’ve been wearing dress shoes for the past few days, and it’s really been rubbing against my scar. I was limping noticeably as a result today. I need to either find better shoes, or find a way to pad my heel area.
Keep checking back every once in a while, and we are all looking forward to reading about your recovery progress.
9 Chad // Jun 6, 2008 at 11:07 am
Hi Dennis,
Funny, you an I are on the same path. If I had invested time when I had a little bit more free time I would have started the blog as well So, I like you tried jogging this week and was sweating bullets after about 2 minutes. I would stop and check my tendon, walk a little to make sure it didn’t hurt. I have jogged 3 times now and got a little bit past the limping/jogging but am still a little cautious. I was up to two miles last night.
Every doctor says six months for normal activity. I have been released from PT after 3.5 months and really had no more exercises to do. My calf did not atrophy much at all. My PT guy said that if I could get on a box and be able to raise on one leg without thinking about it, I could run and play volleyball.
Ok, so I can get a box, do it one legged, but the thinking about it stuff is going to be tough. I still have some soreness from the tendon that runs behind the achilles into the hearl
10 Francisco // Jul 2, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Hi All,
I am new to this blog and wanted to first say thank you for sharing your stories and recovery updates. I hope you are by now a “step” closer to full health..
I am 4 months out from my achilles surgery (total rapture left leg) I saw my specialist today and he suggested I should now be able to jog, but no running??? I ask you all is there a difference?
I am fearful of re-rapturing and have been experiencing some swelling lately and soreness of my heel..is this a sign to slow down?
Any replies would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Francisco
11 walshie // Jul 28, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Dennis wheres the spam filter??
I hope this site doesnt start having random authors hyperlinking to all sorts of crap..that would make it just like any other one.
For example see directly above.
12 dennis // Jul 29, 2008 at 12:51 am
walshie - spam can be really tough to weed out. I’ve deleted those comments, but it’s basically an arms race.
I keep a fairly close eye on the comments, but if I do miss some spam, please let me know, and I’ll delete them.
13 jv // Oct 22, 2008 at 11:26 am
Reading through your progress makes me think I really didn’t receive the proper care from my physical therapist. In hindsight, I don’ t think he treated me as aggressively as he should have.
For example, my therapist hardly ever massaged my achilles. I’ve read that they’re supposed to really get in there and break up the scar tissue and it’s supposed to be excruciating, but he hardly touched it. I’d get the stim & ice and the ultrasound but I think I still have a ton scar tissue there because of lack of massage.
How often are you guys massaging your own achilles? I wonder if it’s too late to start. I’m about 10 months post surgery and it’s still very thick. I don’t feel any pain down there, but like I said, it’s still very thick.
Also, what kind of excercises would you guys recommend to regain the ability to push off of it hard and get some explosion back? Sorry for the long post :/
14 dennis // Oct 23, 2008 at 12:05 am
jv - I think the recovering achilles is supposed to be a bit thicker. You’ll see that it’s typical in most of the pictures. I don’t normally massage my achilles, but I think I should have done more of that early on. I used to massage it every once in a while when it was sore, but it’s more and more infrequent now. I hope this helps.
15 jv // Oct 23, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Thanks Dennis. I’ll be thinking about you guys today…I’ll be playing basketball with real life people today for only the 2nd time since the rupture. I’ll wave my arms feverishly on defense in honor of all of you
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