What the Doctor Told Me

Well...

...it looks like I won't be running in the VFF's again for a long time.

A week after the Half Marathon that destroyed my VFF Sprints, I did a two hour back to back series of workouts at the Krav Maga school. The burpees, mountain climber tabatas, and kettle bell workout, afterwards my left achilles was killing me.

Three weeks later, after dealing with a nagging pain in my left achilles that didn't go away after laying off long miles in the VFF, I went to the Orthopedist. His shtick;

- I had an inflammation of the sheath that wraps around the lowest point of the achilles, right where it connects to the heel bone.

- The causes of my injury (in his order of precedence) where forefoot/midfoot striking, using the VFF's, and excessive mileage.

- I'm a dyed in the wool heel striker who went from one extreme (bulletproof motion control shoes) to the other extreme (virtual barefoot running) in a very short time.

- My goal, a half marathon, was excessive given the context.

- I have a Haglunds Deformity AKA bone spur on my heel, which means anytime my achilles gets activated (like when I run forefoot/midfoot), it will rub abrasively against my achilles tendon.

His recommendation -- lay off running for another month, do easy spinning on a bike, or swim. When I get start running again, ease off on the VFF's. Use a mixture of running shoes, and a mixture of running styles (both forefoot & heel strike?).

I don't plan on giving up forefoot running. But my VFF saga is pretty much over now. At this point I need to find a light show that I can forefoot/midfoot in without destroying my achilles.

Should I just swallow my pride and buy a pair of Nike Free's?

The horror....