An Ironman’s recovery from an Achilles Tendon Rupture

I’ve read about reaching a plateau in the healing process and I think I did so a few days ago. I’ve got plenty of soreness and swelling and no great improvements in flexibility.

On top of that, I had a bit of a slip 2 days ago while putting on my cycling shorts. I heard a bit of a click but suddenly the heel pain went any and so did a lot of the tightness. Very eerie! I was just hoping I didn’t re-rupture the darn thing. All foot movement was fine and the tendon felt intact when I poked around. But the middle section felt (site of the rupture) was softer and more pliable than the rest of Achilles so maybe I tore away some scar tissue? This could have been my mind playing tricks on me too since I couldn’t recall how it felt before. Since all felt good, I rode the bike for 30 minutes anyway but took it easy.

After a few days of kid glove treatment and icing, I feel tons better today. 

I had some physio today and he checked out the area and said all was OK. He also thinks I just jarred some scar tissue loose. At any rate we put off the start of my strengthening exercises for another day. This didn’t prevent him from doing the super deep and painful massage of the tendon of course. Man does that hurt so good.

Back on the bike tomorrow and I’ll resume my stretching routine. I will definitely say that the more active I am the more heel pain I feel. But cycling relieves that pain big time along with elevation and staying off it of course.

Thanks for reading

Hoss

PS: I almost forget to mention that while volunteering at a race 3 days ago, it completely slipped my mind that I was injured and I ran 6-10 steps. Once I realized what I did, it completely scared the crap out of me. I will not be trying that again anytime soon. My slip and potential re-rupture scare has set me straight. I’ll grab a seat when changing my clothes. You can’t be too careful.

Bike Workouts (for those into that sort of thing):

Monday August 11 - 35 minutes (8 minutes x 125, 150, 160, 150 watts)

Tuesday August 12 - 30 minutes @ 125 watts

Wednesday Aug. 13 - off