Tight calves = Hurting achillies

Patrick Yeung · 02-22-2009, 11:40 AM

I have a friend who is training for a marathon right now. Problem is, she is constantly overworking herself. She has had a very sore achilies while running for quite some time now, and she dosent know what to do about it.

I know shes tried foam rolling, stretching, and the general stuff. Anything else you guys can recomend?

I keep telling her to just lay off for awhile and reduce the volume, but she insists thats not the problem. Between running, riding, hiking and strength training.... Am I right to say its just a problem of too much, or could there be somethig else?

Steven Low · 02-22-2009, 01:12 PM

Soreness/overuse is generally always a product of too much volume (or new exercise... but she's not doing new exercises).

I mean other than the recovery options such as massage, stretching, more sleep, anti inflams like fish oil, more food, etc. (some of which she is/was doing) there's not much you can do for it besides resting especially if the volume is too high.

Basically, she's probably going to injure herself and then you get to say "I told you so".... that's obviously not optimal but if she's not willing to listen what can you do heh.

Patrick Yeung · 02-22-2009, 05:35 PM

Whats worse is she has weight/body issues as well. When I look at her food log, it dosent show volumne, but it looks like itd be around 1800 calories or so. And, thats on a regimne that includes running in the morning and strength training/riding in the evening.

Maybe if I just keep buggin her/teasing her enough, shell come around.

Steven Low · 02-22-2009, 06:08 PM

Seems like you need to have a serious talk with her. Not bugging/teasing.

Ben Fury · 02-22-2009, 06:30 PM

Send her this link to the page:
What is my ideal body weight?
on the First Ourselves site.

Or...

If you don't think she'll read it and take it seriously, read the article yourself and gently bring up some of the issues discussed.

Attempting to treat body dysmorphic disorder as an amateur is fraught with potential error. Be loving, be kind and be ready to take no for an answer. Pushing an agenda will just make her more defensive. Show that you care and listen. The listening may be hard, but it is more likely to help than fussing at her for hurting herself.

Craig Brown · 02-23-2009, 08:01 AM

She may be low on minerals, as well. I did very well running distance with a Hammer Nuitrition product- electrolytes, etc. Potassium & Magnesium could help as well.

Aaron Gainer · 02-23-2009, 09:16 PM

Do not underestimate the power of sleep. This was my issue and the constant little aches and pains didnt seem to go away. Well, I decided to stop training for a week or two to get dedicated sleep, focused on dynamic stretching, some kettlebell conditioning work along with one legged squats, and am feeling 100%.

Massage and nutrition are very important if your training hard, but having your nervous system relaxed and recharged after an uninterrupted deep sleep is the main missing element in most people's programs due to job, family, and mixing other in.

Patrick Yeung · 02-24-2009, 03:17 PM

Oh, I didnt mean like teasing/making fun of her in a mean way. We have that kind of relationship, just little pokes/jabs, like "man... I dont know how youre eating that cardboard, cause these eggs are GOOD!" Nothing more.

Sadly, shes got some marriage issues going on right now, so its all going on the back burner, but thanks for the advice.

Ill read through the article and send it to her. Shes been enjoying the articles/studies ive been sending her lately, so im sure shell look at it. Slowly been turning her into a higher fat diet, resulting in an overall increase in calories, and shes been liking the results.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Ben Fury · 02-25-2009, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Yeung

Shes been enjoying the articles/studies ive been sending her lately, so im sure shell look at it. Slowly been turning her into a higher fat diet, resulting in an overall increase in calories, and shes been liking the results.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Your welcome. Have you shown her THIS STUDY?

http://www.jissn.com/content/pdf/1550-2783-5-1.pdf
Fat intake and injury in female runners

Results: Injured runners had significantly lower intakes of total fat and percentage of kilocalories from fat compared with non-injured runners. A logistic regression analysis found that fat intake was the best dietary predictor, correctly identifying 64% of future injuries.