my retro non injury

The first mile was pretty tough. But I like being a toughie, so I carried on believing it would get better. Sure enough, after about a mile and a half the roofing nail slid out of my heel, the pain subsided and I was able to pick up the pace and finish a quality six miles.

Thanks to Dr. Google, I knew exactly what my condition was and so was comfortable with running through the pain. It’s not so much an injury as a condition; a painful condition not likely to lead to anything except more pain. I had thought that I had Achilles Tendinitis. Actually I thought that I had a recurring case of AT since the fall of 2008. I would rest it and it would get better. I’d be fine for a while until I would over do it again and it would come back. It had seemed that switching from an extreme heel strike to a mid foot running style had helped; that and paying attention to the strength and flexibility of my calves. But here it was again after my Saturday Garmin guided 15 miler with hills on Saturday and a follow up four miler Monday. A sharp and nagging pain right at back of my heel bone had me hobbling around Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday.

Heel bursitis, also known as retrocalcaneal bursitis is a swelling of the bursa that is between the Achilles tendon and the heel bone right above where the tendon attaches. It mostly just hurts, but should I suppose be taken as a signal that some tendonitis could be right around the corner.

Treatment is, of course, rest. And ice and ibuprofen. I’ve taken the drugs and the ice and that worked well enough to allow the run this morning. I’ll try to split the baby and get just enough rest to slide by this flare up. Maybe someday I’ll venture up north and let one of those smart Canadian doctors look at it and he can tell me I shouldn’t be running.

This condition is also referred to as a pump bump. So some more manly foot wear might be in my future as well. I’ll snoop around and see what I can find at runningwarehouse.com. You know; the place where beads and roman sandals won’t be seen.