It's now mid June. A month since the hernia surgery and over 10 weeks since I developed the achilles tendonitis.
I've been seeing a new PT and he's provided me with some renewed hope. He's given me trigger point needle therapy in my calves to relax the muscle. This in turn lowers the constant tension on the achilles. He's also given me some additional stretches and is doing specific massages on the trouble area twice per week. All this isn't without cost, and my health insurance has a $50 deductible per visit, but at least things appear to be moving in the right direction. I've had 4 sessions the past two weeks.
This last week I was able to run 30 miles. A great sign, but I need to remember to be careful and not repeat the actions that got me in this mess in the first place.
Over the last 3 months I had been thinking about getting a running tattoo. I've been running again for over 18 months and it's become a big part of my life. I wanted to recognize that fact with some 'new ink'. I didn't feel right doing it while I wasn't running, but with the developments of the last few weeks I felt that the time was right.
I'd considered a '26.2' symbol, but then wondered what would happen if I ran an ultra. I know I wouldn't want a '13.1' symbol now having run a full, so would I feel the same way then ?
In the end I decided to go for hermes / mercury wings on the outer side of both ankles. With running shoes on, they appear to be an extension of the tongue of the shoe.
I've had 2 other tattoos before, but these - because of the positioning so close to the bones in the ankle - were by FAR the most painful. Absolute agony for over an hour. I certainly won't be rushing back to get any more, but I'm very happy with the results.
As one of my running friends said - now I need to 'back them up' with performance...
