8 months: Running’s a pain in the rear
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Not being a competitive athlete like some of you impressive people here, my "good-enough" goal for these middle months has been to resume normal activity (2-mile walks with some hills 4-5x/week; spin bike; walking up the 6 flights of stairs to my office at least once a day). It was encouraging how smoothly this all came back between months 5 and 7, with the soreness gradually going away (though I can still feel those stairs by the time I’m near the top). Flexion is normal in every direction, the healed tendon is no longer bumpy and lumpy, and I can do a few sets of 4-5 single-heel raises. Hoorah!
Come the new year, I decided it was time to start giving this process some more active head space again. So I started tracking what I was doing a little more carefully (hate counting reps!), and dusted off my kids’ old Wii Fit Plus with the balance board–don’t laugh–it’s actually been very helpful in giving a more precise picture of how, exactly, my strength and balance on the healing leg match up to the other. So Mama now spends time most evenings with her virtual Wii trainer, who’s too dumb to know he’s dealing with an ATR recovery case. He first compliments me on my excellent balance on the right leg, then says "Your leg is a little shaky!" in the same tsk-tsky digital voice every time my balance tracks out of the circle in, say, a one-legged pendulum exercise. I’ve come to kinda like the guy despite his limited vocabulary and one-track mind (plus, I’m already married).
And then I tried picking up the pace from brisk walk to a slow jog–first for a few yards, then 50, then 100. I’ve been alternating these little jogging bursts with walking, thinking that gradual is the way to go. I feel it only mildly in my calves. But what I feel much more strongly is a strain in the back of my upper thigh and, literally, in the rear. At first I ignored it, but after three weeks of trying to take it slow and stop when it hurts, the low-grade pain here is persisting. (But my tendon and calf feel fine!) A little google searching suggests maybe high hamstring tendonitis. Has anyone else experienced this when returning to running–or have any other advice?
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Kiki I have a guess at some very unexciting advice or a story to tell anyway. I’m not sure I could follow through with my own advice but maybe you can. Let me make a short story long.
I had a hamstring pop in my left leg maybe 5 years ago. Went to take away a soccer ball in a game and some old guy, calm, vastly superior skilled soccer player pulled the ball back. I kicked air like Charlie Brown and to add to the embarrassment went down in pain as my hamstring popped.
Grade 2 strain says Dr. Google. Rehabbed and recovered fully. For 5 years played lots of other sports, did weights intermittently and the problem never returned. Till now post 8 months nice rest with Achilles. At 8 months now I’m doing some hamstring curls and feel a tight knot at the very spot in the one leg. This is not my Achilles surgery leg, but the non surgical leg. I’m very surprised that it shows up now after ‘rest period’.
But it makes sense given my lack of stretching, my leg muscles not being the same, my core and glute muscles not having the activity to which they’ve been accustomed. Anyway I’m quite satisfied wrongly or rightly ascribing this to the need to get my entire body back in shape because how long the Achilles puts one out, including flexibility, muscles in legs, core, back, and upper body, kinesthetically (what did that mean again?) wheel alignment etc. As someone who was quite active, oddly I find the achilles made my body lack of exercise which scared away the tiny aliens that use to constantly repair my body.
Seriously there are studies on exercise promoting bone healing, wound healing etc. Lack of usual exercise for a long period and then getting back to usual activity might bring dormant ailments to the surface.
You may wish to google hamstring and glute, hamstring and pelvic tilt etc. But my advice, calf raises- do a million. Every other part of the body stretch, muscle build, mediate, half million. For me and my age, that has become part of Achilles rehab program.
Hey KiKi good to hear from you. It’s superjewgrl.
I’m 7 months post op (today actually) and can’t run outside to save my life. I’m become addicted to the AlterG, and running with gravity is just not my thing.
My friend who is an elite runner who is a member of our club, started slow and incrementally outside and she runs on a trail or softer surface.
Good luck with your leg and your recovery. Keep us posted and stay in touch.
If you had surgery and your AT was repaired short (like many), it may be causing other problems, either directly or indirectly (by subtly changing the way you move). My super-tight quads never caused knee problems until I had an ATR repaired short. Details on my blog.
I am 7 months post op and I have been able to run 1 or 2 miles outside. It generally feels good. I have done tons of work to keep my butt muscles strong and flexible at crossfit during recovery - lots and lots of squats. I am just guessing but I am wondering if that might help. My PT also had me do lots of work with weights etc. on my thighs but I am sure your PTs must be doing the same. I can send you more info if you want it. By the way I am EXTREMELY impressed with single heel raises I can do exactly 0.
I’ve been running outside on a dirt trail for a little over a month now, after achilles debridement and Haglund’s excision. Even though I have been running for 37 years, this seems to be new territory for my running parts. I see a chiropractor who specializes in ART treatment - and he’s working on something different every week. He says it’s like I’m completely new to running. Once I began moving faster and striding out, my hamstrings got really sore - on both legs! He was able to work it out, and then the next week it was the IT band, and so on. If you have access to someone who provides ART, it may be worth a try. The other thing you may want to try is a foam roller - I think it’s very helpful.