The 8x300m training on Tuesday had me hobbling down the stairs in pain the next morning, bracing myself against the wall to minimize the weight I’d have to put on the left foot. Needless to say, the left achilles tendon was giving me a lot …
Track training today. We started off with the usual 2km warmup on pavement (at a leisurely 6:15 min/km pace). The main training was 8x300m. The ground was covered in frost near the 100m, but given how the left achilles tendon was feeling I still opted …
Distance hiked: 12,75 km in 2:25:17; with an average pace of 11:24 min/km and 293 m elevation gain.
Distance ran: 9,63 km in 1:10:33; with an average pace of 7:20 min/km and 287 m elevation gain.
Ascent from valley floor (Neder) via Pinnistal, past Elferspitze on normal route. Scramble from Zwölfernieder to the secondary summit of Zwölferspitze (2562m) required some easy climbing (UIAA II). Return via panorama trail and cable car. 19km for the day, 1900m ascent, 1100m descent.
Ascend from valley floor (Neder) via Pinnistal. Climb via Nordwand Klettersteig (rated “difficult”, “C/D”). 22km for the day, 1650m elevation gain and loss.
Friday was uneventful. During my lunch break, I walked to the fitness center (1.5km) and back (1.5km). At the gym, I did a variation of my usual program, and was glad to see that a gluteus exercise that I hadn’t been able to do well …
Once again, I woke up with a painful left achilles tendon, mostly towards its base at the heel. Walking downstairs was painful in the morning, but after putting on my Asics running shoes (with a positive heel-to-toe drop) things improved – which is to be …
On Wednesday, I woke up feeling like I was back in the year 2000. Meaning, my left achilles tendon was acting up again, and I had trouble even just descending the stairs to the kitchen after getting out of bed. Memories of the surgery that I had on the tendon in late 2000 after a partial tear was diagnosed came back; but of course then and now are very different times.
With the car requiring another visit to the mechanic, I was looking at 4.5km of walking from the car dealer to work and back. The morning walk to work went OK, even if the first few meters were once again painful. During my lunch break, I walked to the fitness center and did my usual program; including eccentric calf muscle exercises I’ve been doing regularly for the past half year and that, prior to the latest achilles episode of the past few days, have worked in keeping any major pain at bay.
After work I walked back to the car dealer and drove home, once again without major pain. I had been toying with the idea of riding my stationary bike in the evening, but instead upon getting home I ate entirely too many comfort foods and called it a day.
My achilles tendon had not been happy on Monday and Tuesday morning. Quite why I ended up doing quite a large double program on Tuesday, I don’t really know. Stubbornness, I suppose. At lunch, I did a 10km loop around the Petrusse and Alzette valleys …