Following my long run on Sunday (11/13), I noticed my left Achilles was a bit tight that evening. I didn't think much of it until the next day when I noticed a small bump on the upper area of the tendon. I thought maybe it was just a bit over-worked, but nothing serious. On Wednesday (11/16), I went out for what was supposed to be a 10-mile run on the Mesa from Chautauqua, but by The North Shanahan junction (~3.3 miles into the run) my Achilles was fairly aggitated. So, I turned around just before the little climb up a series of wooden stairs as they would only exacerbate the problem. At work later that day I was in somewhat of a limp here and there and it struck me that this was probably something a bit more serious. So, I halted the running for most of the week.
On Saturday (11/19), I went out for another spin on the Mesa from Chautauqua to test out the condition of the Achilles. This turned out to be another ill-fated voyage as I only managed to make it to Woods Quarry (~1.6 miles) when my Achilles stopped me dead in my tracks. I realized I wouldn't be running back to the car because the discomfort was too much for even a slow jog. The funny thing was I didn't want to leave the Mesa just then, so I hiked up to Woods Quarry to explore and check out the view of the city before heading back to the car.
As it turns out, after a little investigating on the web, I have Noninsertional Achilles Tendinitis. This means I won't be running for a few weeks at best. Bummer. Though reflecting on what went wrong, I think it's easy to deduce that the three consecutive Green Mountain runs and the Mesa PR long run the week following the Moab marathon was probably the worst way to recover from a marathon. I'll bet the long climb up Scorched Earth Wall in Moab was the prime impetus. In any case, this was a blatant learning lesson to lay low in the week following any sort of long distance race.
Wednesday (11/16) - 6.6 miles (1:09, 2,000') Mesa from Chautauqua to North Shan - Tightness in the left Achilles
Saturday (11/19) - 1.8 miles (16 mins, 800') Mesa from Chautauqua to Woods Quarry - Ender. Achilles was too uncomfortable to run any further.
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