The Achilles Tendon is the short piece of gristle attaching the heel to the lower part of the calf.
When attempting the World record from John O’Groats to Lands End I was unfortunate (silly) enough to pull it on the first day of running, so I only managed 80 miles that day. The day after it was still sore so my mileage dropped to the mid seventies. By the time I had reached 300 miles I was in considerable pain and the physio from Carlisle United FC put a splint on it and told me to stop running!
Well, as we all know, that is, the people who run distance, that where there’s no sense, there’s no feeling, but we all know that’s not true. It got so bad after another running another 250 miles I had to stop. So home I went, curled up onto a ball and sought justification – that didn’t work either!
What did work or had worked was a lesson learned – Do not go on long runs with a different brand i.e. I changed from Nike to New Balance – both good shoes – but I should have changed slowly. The second lesson was don’t do it in the first place – 550 miles in 8 days will increase our ego, but decrease our self esteem, that is until we find justification. Tears apart – the most important level was self awareness.
Ken Heathcote (Father of Fitness)