My Achilles Heel

Courtesy of Wikipedia, a brief retelling of the legend associated with Achilles offers that, in Greek mythology, Achilles (Ancient Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς) was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.

Achilles also has the attributes of being the most handsome of the heroes assembled against Troy (not Troy, Alabama for purposes of this story).

Later legends (beginning with a poem by Statius in the first century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel. Since he died due to an arrow shot into his heel, the "Achilles' heel" has come to mean a person's principal weakness.

Leaving the story of Ancient Greece, in modern day life the risk of being felled by an arrow to the heel is minimal. The absence of an archer with an accurate shot does not mean modern medicine has eliminated the occurrence of heel pain.

Last November my Achilles started to ache. After a few weeks, the ache progressed to hurt. Eventually, the ache and hurt, became pretty much constant pain and stiffness in my heel. I had to just deal with the pain at the end of my "One a Month" effort, but it wasn't any fun. During marathons this January and February, I just dealt with it by hoping it would not hurt too much. A bit of rest in March did nothing to resolve the problem. Five weeks of rest from running after the Boston Marathon still has not solved the problem.

So, it's off to the orthopedist's office I go. I'm still trying to run, but at a reduced distance and intensity. Ice, stretching, new shoes, and The Stick have all failed to solve the problem.

The good news is I have started to search for a fall marathon event. If I wait until November for my next race, my training plan does force me to add significant mileage until late July. Hopefully between now and then I can access some relief to my personal vulnerability.