50 mile ultra training & Achilles Progress

You can see the "bumps" along my Achilles, should
be pretty flat but I have lumps along it. Still
healing, but is so much better than it was!

Just a quick update. My Achilles is still a pain in my -you know what- but is (slowly) getting better and better. I am now running 15-18 miles for my long runs without any pain or soreness but with PT they are still recommending I not do any longer. I have been averaging 45 miles per week (mpw) reaching into the low 50's lately. I am hoping to get one 30 mile run in before my taper, but also trying to listen carefully to what the doctors and physical therapists are recommending for my best recovery. I may not be getting my super long runs in back to back each week but I am hitting my minimum weekly miles, PLUS 3-4 hours of strength training in at PT each week all geared towards strengthening my hips and perfecting my running form. I feel like that really counts for more than a few miles. I guess we will see. I can't believe my race is in 4 1/2 weeks! EEK! I have 2 1/2 more weeks of higher mileage than 2 weeks to taper. Oh. My. GAWD. Less than 5 weeks? Where does time go?

Icing down after PT. My ladder
fully extended still taunting
me after a really hard workout!

I am doing a lot of new things in PT now getting myself ready for my race. This week they have me running 1 minute and walking 1 minute in intervals. They said it is supposed to help with my basic biomechanics for running? So much work on my hips and calves, also with balance and core strength. They also have me doing ladder work with a resistance band - 5 reps back and forth then jump on to the treadmill at 6mph (10 min miles) for 2 minutes, then another 5 reps, then back to the treadmill. I did that for about an hour today! No pain or soreness.

On the ladder today I had a
resistance belt attached to
my back so I was pulling it
while running through my
ladder drills.

The physical therapists said I need to focus on leaning forward just a little while running to take some of the strain off my calves and ankles. Also to better incorporate my larger muscle groups (hips and thighs). My footwork has improved so much since the beginning of PT.

I have a 30 mile run I'm hoping to get in next week, then I'll begin to taper! I'm hoping everything works itself out. I am getting pretty nervous. I am grateful I have some amazing supportive running friends who will be at my race supporting me and even running portions of it with me.

Achilles Follow-up - 50 mile training!

My Dr said my Achilles has the teeniest tiniest tear in it. I mean we are talking a minuscule, teeny-tiny-little-almost-not-there tear. That said he told me to continue going to physical therapy for 12 weeks (continuing after my race), and I will see him regularly (every few weeks) to followup and get more scans to make sure everything is progressing toward healing. After talking with my physical therapists, they are limiting my weekly long runs to 10-12 miles (rather than 20-22)... this has mentally been the hardest part for me. I want to trust them because I know they know what they're doing, but it's going against my training plan and that terrifies me. I want to be as ready as possible!

My longest weekend runs are back to back 12 and 10 milers right now. They reassured me those numbers will likely grow quickly as long as I continue with PT and regular icing/Advil (swelling reduction). Praying this doesn't derail my training too much. That's a drastic drop in my overall weekly miles (looking at 42 miles instead of 54 for example). I have been penciling in my "actual" numbers for each day of the week.

So here is the plan I have been following:

I'm having to make some tweeks on those long runs, they want me to keep my weekly mileage down a little more than I am but I am really scared to drop it too much more than I already have to. I'm hoping after a week or two of lower miles, PT and regular icing there will be an Achilles Miracle and I can get those 20 mile runs in again with no issues! I just don't feel like myself with 10-12 being my long weekly runs.

We use these stepper machines to warm up and cool
down my legs before and after each PT session. 

So far in PT I have learned so much about myself and my running form. I learned I waste a lot of energy swinging my arms a little too much so I have been focusing on trying to keep them swinging a little less. Also that I spend a lot more time on my right foot than I do my left. My push off is hard on my right with a long stride, my left foot hits and just rotates forward with minimal push off. I also am slightly knock-kneed. I have been trying to push off harder on my left foot, and keep my knees and feet separate. I never guessed I'd get so much
feedback regarding my form and looking at how I run. They verified all the feedback they gave me using my worn out running shoes showing me every strike and basically walking me through the fatigue of my runs and how I carry myself.

This is so difficult and my runs are making me more sore than ever! Hopefully all these little things will pay off in the end. They said strengthening my hips will help everything else straighten out as well. My hips are always "feeling the burn" in PT. Haha. I am learning so much about running and form, about all the different muscles and tendons and how they all work. It's crazy that working my hips will help so many other aspects of my running from correcting my knees to strengthening my Achilles. Hopefully all the "fancy footwork" they have me doing using an agility ladder, and the "hip-killer" exercises that burn my hips so badly will all pay off and I will be faster and stronger than ever.