One Step too Many

Indulge me for a moment, whilst I do some analysis with regards to my Achilles Tendonitis.

• During last week’s speedwork, somewhere around mile 8, I stepped off the track to get some water and gather myself for my final two 800s. I struggled mightily to get through them, but I did. That’s when this latest round of pain began. At the time, I didn’t connect the pain with the poor finishing-up performance.
• I ran Thursday and Friday, but only a little.
• For Saturday, I’d planned to run twelve miles on the Lester Rail Trail. I barely made it to ten. The run had actually gone fairly okay until about mile seven, when I stopped at the car for a quick break. The poor performance began as I started running again. At the moment, I didn’t connect the pain with the awful final miles - I thought it was just poor fitness. But this time, as I got into the car and drove home, I realized that I was indeed in a great deal of pain.
• Sunday’s run was short and relatively painless.
• Monday, I ran my file-mile loop around my neighborhood, and once again it went fairly well. Then I stopped to gather myself for more running, and I realized I could hardly stand up, much less walk or run. Luckily I was home and not miles away. I called it quits and hobbled into the house.
• Today I stopped for a quick break after seven and a half, and that was it. Poke me with a fork; I was done.

What patterns emerge? 1) the pain always begins during a run (duh), 2) the pain always seems to occur after I stop for some reason (so maybe I just shouldn’t stop?), and 3) My body doesn’t seem to want me to run in double-digits anymore.

I know. I really ought to do something. Stop running, maybe. Stop running hard, probably. Stop running ten miles, almost for sure. It seems like I've tried all other remedies, medical and otherwise. But maybe it's time to revisit those as well.