January 3rd I tore my left Achilles completely while running.
I had ran track in high school and college. I ran the 100, 200 & 800 in high school and also long & high jumpers. I was All-State multiple times. In college I ran my senior year (2000) 60 & 200 indoor and 200 & 400 outdoor.
I only ran my senior year bc I was on a Soccer Scholarship and had to be at spring season which conflicted with the track season.
After college I picked up cycling and then swimming, which led to competing in Triathlons. I completed the Ironman Triathlon (2002) and then represented amateur Team USA 3 times at the long-course World Championships (’2002 - 2004)
While I was racing I coached college Cross-Country and Track and high school soccer. During track season I would run with my athletes in meets that allowed open entries. Then I would run anywhere from the 1500 to 10k.
In 2005 real life snuck up and coaching & triathlon were not paying the bills. Ever since then I have been in & out of shape, with no specific competitive goals. I hiked a lot and got to hike the Grand Canyon twice.
This year I decided to make some calls to volunteer to coach high school track. I also decided I wanted to do something competitive and was interested in racing the local Master’s track series.
To prepare I had began running on the basketball court at the gym I go to. I started with 20-30 minutes of light warm-up and running / flexibility drills. Then would do various length accelerations to get the feel of going fast back.
The day of the tear I had walked on the treadmill 10 minutes and lifted weights for 45 minutes, focusing on back & triceps in super sets. I would work in core / abs in between exercises.
I did 20-30 minutes of warm up running drills, light plummet tics as then was running shot accelerations. My sprint start was really rusty, so I was trying to get that quick burst back. I did 10 cross-court accelerations and felt good.
I then ran laps where I would jog the short side and accelerate the long side of the basketball court. I was going to do 10 laps and made it to lap 8, where I turned left, accelerate and then felt like I tripped over something and then stepped into a hole.
I looked back in surprise to see what was on the court and then fell over. There was zero pain, which was really odd I thought and then probably really bad. I had my iPhone w me bc I was running w Pandora on. I googled Achilles Tendon tears and it read word-for-word to what happened.
It didn’t really set in until a few days later when I met with the Orthopedic Surgeon and he confirmed what I thought. Pre-surgery I was able to get around ok with a large heel lift in my left shoe. I debated for surgery or not for a few days. Then I saw and learned about Michael Crabtree from the 49ers and his surgery recovery.
January 13th I had the surgery and am now on Day 6 in a soft cast. As much as I have been bored, frustrated and annoyed; this really has not been as bad as my fears were.
Reading some of the other blogs and about professional athletes recoveries has been a great way to keep my spirit up and kill some of the large amount of downtime. Thanks to everyone on here and if you just tore your Achilles know you can and will make it through!
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