i have some running questions....

[pastawine]

hi

i have just begun running again having been grounded due to an ongoing problem with my right achilles tendon, it seems i am stuck with it as a chronic problem and its not going away. I am having physio, and am considering cortisone injections. first question is does anyone else have any experience of this? my physio says i am not doing it any more harm by running and i rested it for a good few months to no real gain. its not bad at all when i am running, its when i rest it it seems to stiffen up until i get moving again. I have the correct shoes etc. and have been running again taking it very slowly for the last few weeks, its no worse than when i wasnt running at all. Has anyone else had an achilles problem and run through/ with it? i really enjoy running and dont want to give it up.

second question is weight based really (vain!). i am at the very top of my BMI, how far and how often would i need to run to see a bit of weight loss? i am currently only doing about 2.5 - 3 miles 3 or 4 times a week. i want to up that distance but obviously need to do this slowly, i stare in awe at the serious runners thread! i eat fairly healthily most of the time, but i am not "dieting" as such, i try to pick healthy options but dont deny myself something if i fancy it. i enjoy a glass or two of wine most days, i dont eat much sweet stuff but i do eat plenty of stuff avocados, i cook with olive oil, all "good" fats but fats none the less.... Would i need to run much more often and much further to shed a few pounds?

thanks to anyone who can help.

Hi pastawine - I can't give much assistance with the achilles problem, if I were you I'd go with what your physio suggests and keep up with the exercises. Have you had your gait analysed and bough appropriate shoes? And are your shoes the right size? They'd be two things to consider before the cortisone injections (which don't treat the problem, they just mask it).

WRT weight loss - it is normal to burn around 100 calories a mile when you run. If you're running 3 miles 4 times per week you'd burn around 1200 calories, which is enough to burn around 1/3 of a pound of body fat. If you want to lose weight just by running you would need to seriously increase your mileage - though at a maximum of 10% per week to avoid injury. The best thing to do for weightloss is look properly at what you're eating. You say you eat healthily, but are you eating the right size portions? Large portions of healthy food will not cause weightloss, but working out what is a sensible portion and upping your mileage a bit should lead to some weightloss.

Hope that helps.

I lost 2.5 stone around this time last year, doing the distances you suggest. I did also diet, but I found the running made it a lot easier to stick to the diet.

When I upped the mileage to around 20-25k a week, I could eat and drink pretty much anything and not gain weight.

Unfortunately I have barely been able to run for the last four months after breaking my toe(s), and when I tried to go back, I tore my calf muscle - probably related.

I had achilles problems a couple of years ago, and it took about 6 months for them to resolve. So far they've not recurred though. So don't give up hope yet.

thanks - so i really need to review how i am eating to get a weight loss, i wondered why i wasnt shifting some poundage. my eating habits can be erratic, some days i am so busy i hardly eat, or live on cereal at work and others i tend to over compensate or eat at the wrong times. i know that i need to look at how i eat but its very hard as i work some really odd hours.

i have had my gait assessed and i have the correct shoes, but the achilles problem seems to be ongoing. I will have to address what i eat to loose some weight then, or up my mileage to what i think may be unmanageable distances - that answers that one! thankyou.

onehandflapping - sorry to hear about your injuries - hope you manage to get sorted soon, What did you do for the achilles problem you had? did you rest or continue to run? i rested for about 3 months but saw no improvement.

youve both been really helpful. thank you.

I wasn't runnning at the time. I was - and still am, doing karate three times a week, and it was jumping up and down in bare feet during the warm up that caused the flare up. I carried on with the karate, but did pathetic jumps/walked intead of ran round the dojo etc. I tried to avoid anything that hurt it too much.

The physio gave me some heel lifts for my shoes to help rest it, and also the eccentric muscle loading exercise you are probably doing - stand on the edge of a step and slowly lower yourself down. I had to do three lots of 10, twice a day, initially on both legs together, then as the muscles strengthened, each leg individually. Am doing them again for the calf injury in fact.

I've also just got a foam roller for my calf - very cheap from Amazon. Apparently people do use these for Achilles tendonitis, as a sort of self massage.Might be worth a try.