I’m injured. It has been almost ten years since I have experienced a running injury and I am not sure this one is serious, but I have to deal with it and not wait it out. The reason is what hurts is the achilles tendon. If I ignore it, I can tear it, That means surgery and a year of recovery. No thank you. Let us fix it.

I am a barefoot runner (sort of). I wear home-made running saddles or huaraches. I have been wearing them for almost a year and have run an ultra marathon in them. They are comfortable, safe and easy to make (in other words, cheap).

But they require running in a certain way. When I started running, I did what my coaches told me thirty years ago: run heal to toe. I was constantly injured. As the years passed, I learned the pit falls of this type of gait. And the injuries that it caused. Plantar fasciitis, knees pain, shin splints and back pain just to name a few. So I got rid of the shoes with the heel support and started running barefoot. Read all the books and started very slow.

It took about a year. My gait changed. I was feeling stronger, lighter. But more important was that I was not getting injured. The problem I had with barefoot running was it hurt. I could not run ten miles even though I could. I had to start as if I was a child. And the pain was not limited to sore feet. The soles of my feet encountered things they had never been through. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to go barefoot.

I bought shoes. Minimalist shoes. These shoes had no lift between toe and heel. They were good. But I still had issues. First, they still gave me blisters during my long runs and I just hated the restrictions on my feet shoes gave. I then went to Vibram Five Fingers. Those were a lot better. I loved the freedom but they still cause blisters.

I decided to investigate huaraches. That is when I found this video:

And I made them. And I ran in them. And I loved them. Will not lie: I get looked at funny sometimes but they felt so good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started out running short and increased my mileage. I felt the same pain I do now, but it went away. This time, it is not going away. But I love these shoes so much, I refuse to quit them. I need to find the root of the problem and deal with it. Good news is I have found the problem. Weak calves. A problem I have always had and a common issue when running in these types of shoes.

First, let us look at the positives. There is no swelling and the pain is not acute. No pain to the touch. And the pain goes away when I stretch and walk on it. It hurts when I sit and then walk. That means it is probably not partially torn or even strained. It is probably tendinitis. This will not go away but can be treated.

Next, how do I fix this? Time off is first. No running. The pain needs to go away. Pressure on the achilles tendon is usually cause by weak calves and too much running. So I need to treat the problem. This requires a lot of leg work. Especially with the calves. I am figuring out the workout routine as we speak.

Then I need to figure out how to keep my weight down and my aerobic conditioning up. This is easy. I will start a hard core anaerobic workout. Push ups, pull ups and core work. Combine that with a high protein diet and I should actually lose weight and look better. Biking and walking will handle the aerobic work. Tomorrow, I am going to put in twenty miles of biking. If I bike to work, that will be twenty miles a day.

I think this is a minor injury. But I have learned to listen to my body. A minor injury can become a major injury. But, even now, it is hard to change. But change I must.