I hate running; I quit

maybe quiting biking would be a better solution at this point.

Tim, I don't know what future running holds for you but you've got the makin's for a Country/Western song.

As much as I despise the whole "give me sympathy" thing, I have to say shake it off and keep at it. Everyone has obstacles to conquer, some more than others. That's what you wanted to hear, right? You wouldn't have said anything if you didn't want encouragement, so here it is. Keep your head up, son. Your time will come. (musical theme to The A-Team)

-Mr. T

Tim,

Have you had a sports medicine doc check out your Achilles? I spent 4 years dealing with an Achilles problem on my own that took a doc and a physical therapist 3 weeks to fix. Orthotics and ultrasound can really make a difference. Insurance or your school should cover the injury. Other than that, keep the faith and good luck.

This ought to do it. First, quit training completely and start drinking heavily on a daily basis. Don't quit icing your achilles though. Sitting on the floor icing an injury while watching t.v. is great beer drinking time.

Start going out and nail as many drunk fat chicks as possible, go for consecutive streaks, don't be picky. After about a month or so go the website that was mentioned in an earlier thread that showed the 1964 Olympic 5000. Then drag your fat ass outside and go for a run. You'll be fine.

Take care of your heel & do the right thing. All of you guys are funny shit! I had a PF problem that took almost 3 years to heal, I think I tore it or broke some of my heel? If you love the sport you'll come back, HOPEFULLY all the way back & better. Good luck to you!

Tim, *every* runner goes through something like that at some point. I think we've all had injuries that we were sure would never heal (I'm in the midst of one right now), and days where it seems as though you're the outhouse and the entire world has diarrhea. Something that I try to keep in mind whenever I'm ready to throw in the towel is, "you can't control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond to it." It sounds as though you need some time to blow of steam and exorcise your frustration. Then focus on getting the achilles taken care of. You need to see a good sports podiatrist, someone who has worked with runners and specializes in running injuries. It may well be that you're looking at another 2-3 months off, but in the scheme of things, it's worth it if the payoff is years of healthy, pain-free running. And remember, through all of this, you have two choices: deal with it, or don't deal with it. Guess which is easier (on you and those around you).

I agree that you have the makings of a great country song. And sometimes you just have to mutter a few obscenities, grit your teeth, and keep going. Life has a tendency to throw this kind of stuff at you from time to time.

Advice given that has rarely failed:

Get someone to rub out the soleus of the afflicted leg very very very hard. It should hurt so bad you are in or near tears. After some gentle massage to warm the area up, the "inflictor" should start just above the achilles with an elbow and while putting their entire body weight into the soleus move SLOWLY all the up the calf. Go up the calf repeating the above process 4-5 times. After the first time when a knot is encountered, jiggle the elbow back and forth sideways several times while pushing down extremely hard then continue up the calf until the next knot is encountered. Additionally, a few "alternate plowings" may need to be added to get knots on the sides of the calf.

After your torture sension is done the calf will feel VERY sore. Ice it 30 minutes later and don't run on it the next day. However 48 hours later attempt to run. This process may need to be repeated 3-4 times. Often you can run after the first session but need some follow ups.

If bruises are visible after the first session that is OK. If it isn't the most painful experience you've had in quite some time, the person doing the massage didn't go near hard enough.

This has worked for me.

Quit then, if you can. Of course, that would be facing the more difficult of the many choices you have. Think it's easy? Ask someone who has had dependency problems how far they had to be prostrated before they got control. It appears that you too have some dependency issues.

Endorphins are powerful hormones often abused by the amature athlete, which ultimately leads to stagnation or regression in the sport . I suspect that the mild euphoria they produce are the central underlying cause of hammering a bit too hard when we had written on paper to take an easy/off day/week/month. You are sacrificing your body's integrity by forcing your will against what your body is so desperately crying for, the angel of Rest.

Channel your energy down a different line, or several, with the intention of bridging back to your current path with increased amplitude. There is some type of universal truth to anything you study, so it stands to reason that insight in one field can be applied to another. It matters not what you dive into, it could be the piano, ballet, metaphysics, anatomy, or even finishing Wardenclyffe, so long as you get lost like a little child in it you'll learn something. Make a vow to not run as a workout for a year, and if followed you'll be faster in two years because of it.

Then take 3 months off. Same thing happened to me after a month off it would come back in 20 minutes. Take as much time off as you need. I took 3 months off from achilles bursitis and came back to run a PR marathon of 2:33:58.

Do this:

1. Ice many times a day.

2. Take a lot of ibruprofen 4x800mg a day (that's 4 200mg pills 4 times a day) or half as much Aleve (naproxen sodium)

3. Don't bike. Walk instead. Long walks are great for keeping up the activity level without the stress on the AT. Walk for a good hour or two and make it brisk.

4. It you can stretch without pain then stretch a lot. Take hot baths, massage ur calf, stretch. Tight calves lead to ur problem AT.

5. Do bent knee calf raises as well as regular calf raises, if no pain.

6. Stand on one foot with knee bent and rotate left and right or do these:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0125.htm

7. Start back slowly. Only go 20 minutes, then 30, then more. Raise it slowly until u can go without pain. If you feel pain then stop and take a day off. You may have to start running every other day for 3-5 miles.

8. If you can do all of your training in either lightweight trainers or beefy racing flats (7-9oz variety, Triax TC, Pegasus Racer, Ghost Racer, etc). The lower heel height will let your calf stretch more during your stride so that it doesn't tighten up as much.

It may take you 6 months before you can run decent again after taking the 3 monthes off, but that's better than running with it. You also may have to always take ibruprofen or some sort of inflammation medicine for when it flares up on occasion. A runner should always have lots of ice and ibruprofen at home.

Alan

Nice to hear from others in the same boat as me. Last fall I was running 60 miles a week, healthy, fast. Now I'm struggling with a variety of lower leg/foot/Achilles problems that won't go away. Seven months off, constant ice and three months of physical therapy changed nothing. I've seen specialists. I'm now gutting out two miles a day three days a week and icing constantly (shin, Achilles, foot, shin, Achilles foot, etc.) and things aren't getting worse, but I feel like I'll never be able to log miles again. Depressing as shit.

you are a clown. dont you think people go through injuries all the time. i dont go posting them everytime i am hurt. you are a joke to running and i hope you quit bc i would ruin you if we ever raced.

I think the dude needs a hug or just get laid.

You should quit.....it will help cut back on the wussy runner population in the US