I have been dealing with this injury for about 2 years. I will describe details below, however a lesson I've learned and I imagine most other masters athletes will learn is we need to listen to our bodies more than when we were young and it takes FOREVER to heal.
Now for my Achilles injury, two years ago during the winter I was doing the Achilles stretches I did when I was young, i.e. keeping my heel on the ground and leaning forward to feel the stretch. This time I felt a little “something” not a pop, not pain, maybe a little “give”. I do not know how to describe it better. Anyway I went ahead and ran, 100s and during the workout I felt discomfort and eventually a little pain. The next day I could barely walk due to pain in the Achilles tendon. Clearly I had injured it during the stretch and ran on it making it much worse. The point is there was little to no pain during the workout, but the next day………!!
I think I stayed off of it for 2-3 months and competed fairly normally during the summer. I did get an Achilles strap which seemed to help [who really knows?].
Next season it was feeling ok and I was jumping rope to strengthen my calves. During a workout over hurdles on a slight incline I felt a pain in the same Achilles when I landed on it [it is on my lead leg], which surprised me because it seemed completely healed from the prior year. I iced it some and it felt better and I competed in the 400 IH a couple of weeks later, after which BOTH my Achilles were so sore I could hardly walk. I attribute this to my rope jumping [which I had not done for years, of course]. So the season was over, but clearly I had Achilles trouble. The one on my right foot was clearly injuried, i.e. tender, and swollen/thickened. I went to a specialist, who thought it was not torn and probably not serious. He gave me a “night splint” to keep it stretched during the night which I have not used much.
This year I promised myself I would give it complete rest to recover and I used lots of ice which the doctor also recommended. The ice seems to be the only therapy that has a real positive affect. I also learned to assess the Achilles injury state at the following site.
http://www.achillestendon.com/default.asp
So this summer it is feeling pretty well, seems to be really healed [soreness gone, thickening mostly gone]. I was doing some eccentric stretches on some stairs.
Eccentric stretches can be found at:
http://bjsm.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/38/1/8
I think I stretched it too much and have had soreness and swelling again that seems to resolve in about 1 week after a workout or competition.
Anyway, the struggle goes on. Again I am promising myself to heal completely, then slowly build up strength by doing the eccentric stretching. Wish me luck.
My lessons are: 1) listen to your body, 2) heal completely [it will take a long time], 3) Achilles injuries are nearly painless when they happen and 4) strengthen your body everywhere.